Hi all I haven’t posted for a while so I thought it was time to update on the mods to my Honda CB550 Café Racer.
If you followed the build thread last year you will know that I originally built the bike with a replica fibreglass tank, this proved to be a bad decision. I ran the bike at the Thundersprint then started to put some road miles on it with a daylight mot.
After about 100 miles the tank developed a pinhole leak so I dropped it off cut out the affected area & reglassed it, on a Sunday run out to the Snatch MCC rally when I parked up I noticed a paint blister on the side of the tank. When I pressed it petrol came out ! a speedy return home & I dropped the tank off & drained it.
The cause ive since found is the ethanol in modern fuels it attacks plastic & fibreglass tanks (this has been well documented in articles in MCN & CMM)
I decided to mod the bike for 2011 as with a few miles under its belt a few niggles had shown up, I decided to mod the rear sets, build a 4 into 1 pipe upgrade the master cylinder, drop the fairing & fit an alloy tank. All these things were relatively easy except the tank. I found it very difficult to find anyone skilled enough to build an alloy copy of the tank, luckily I found Tony Holt – sales@holtworks.co.uk this guy is a master in alloy fabrication with many many alloy tanks & parts under his belt.
Check out his site
www.holtworks.co.uk, I sent Tony the fibreglass tank & he tooled up to produce replicas in polished alloy, The tank he built is a work of art complete with a Monza cap & all polished, it will fit the HONDA CB550 – CB500 – CB400 & many other bikes.
I dropped it on today & it looks spot on, its sitting 10mm high but will sort that in the morning, I think I will have to ask Tony for a alloy polished bum stop to finish the bike.
That’s all for now, im racing in the Thundrsprint in May & then doing a good few ride outs on any sunny days we get.
So for alloy tanks & parts email Tony – sales@holtworks.co.uk www.holtworks.co.uk
Any Biker clothing e mail Andy or Suzy on info@superbike-bitz.com
www.max-mph.comAll the best Andy
All the best Andy
