Yesterday, most of my work on the electric motorcycle conversion revolved around the gas tank. Of course an electric motorcycle really doesn’t need a gas tank, but it looks so much better with one.
In the end, the gas tank is really only going to be a cover. I already chopped the bottom off the tank when I originally converted the cycle to electric. Now, I just got it back from a friend, who was doing some paint stripping anyways, so he volunteered to strip the tank for me as well.
The only problem with that is that it means I DIDN’T have the tank with me when I was working on the battery rack. I knew the batteries were going to come close to the tank, but I wasn’t sure how close. Sure enough, when I put the tank on, it didn’t fit. It would have to come down about 3/4ths of an inch. Without the tank in the correct position, the seat can’t go on correctly either!
Only one thing left to do – HACK the Tank!
I marked the lines on the tank with my trustee purple Sharpie and then went to town on it with the angle grinder and cut-off disc. For the first time in my life, I ACTUALLY cut a STRAIGHT LINE! After that the tank sat perfect!
Since the tank no longer needs to hold gas, there’s no reason not to cut a couple other holes in it. I used the hole saw in the drill press to cut holes for a green power light and for a 300 amp ammeter. The cycle is really starting to pick up some character. I LOVE the brushed steel finish. I wouldn’t mind just clear-coating that, but I know that it acts as a blinding mirror in the sunlight. Oh well, paint it will be…
Take a look at the video – that explains it all.
