Okay, so like many people out there, I have a crummy tank. The tank is banged up, bondo'd, banged up some more, etc. The inside looks okay i guess, but not great. I can not for the life of me find a early style tank for a decent price. ( used and dented up for 200+?!?!  )

So I went looking for options. Looks like the new style tank may fit up if I also swap the seat.

Is this do-able? I googled my heart out and could not find anything to confirm or deny my suspicions.

-j

Have you put up a WTB ad here? (Want To Buy)?
What's your price range for good tank, rust free, no dents and.......

1. Could use painting because last owner did a bad job
2. A few nicks and scratches but I can touch them up or live with them
3. Brand spanking new never been use tank in original box
4. Or good but may have been coated inside

People here do have tanks available. I have 2. I might get a 3rd bike and haven't decided whether to do a make-over or part it out.

If you try to put on a newer tank, you'll have to change the seat which means you also have to change the tail plastics and they are not compatible. More work than paying a little more for a good tank.

In fact, post here for whatever you need. People here are loaded with extra parts they'd love to sell.

Here is a tank available in Greece:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SUZUKI-GS500E-GS-500-E-500GS-500-GS-BENZIN-TANK-/150556156626?pt=Motorrad_Kraftradteile&hash=item230dd8a2d2
(I order lots of parts from Europe. Even tanks & wheels.)

PS: Good idea to enter your location into your profile. It helps when people have parts. I've found people right around the corner from me and now we trade all kinds of parts. Also helps because people can estimate shipping costs.

The newer style tank will fit on the older GS perfectly fine. To use the newer style tank you need to use the newer seat. To use the newer seat you need the new tail bodywork. The downside is that the newer subframes have some extra tabs to mount some of the bodywork. I'm not sure exactly how different the tabs are. I'm be willing to bet you could make it fit with some sheet metal and a rivet gun.

You can use the old seat on the new tank. The difference is that the older seat had that little lip on the front that went up the tank, and the newer seats wrap around the sides. I'm pretty sure last spring when I had my bike in a couple pieces I needed to test ride it around the block and I put the old seat on with my newer gas tank. I can't remember how perfectly it fit though. My bike is a 92 and has a newer tank on it now, but I have a whole different tail on mine so it was kind of a different situation.

I have an old style with a small pinhole and no dents, that will be for sale on the cheap in the next week or two. It only seems to leak when the temp is above 70.

You do NOT neccesarily need the new seat with the new tank. Before I did the FULL conversion I ran the older seat with the newer tank. As long as you can live with the 'banana" portion of the seat resting on the tank you won't have any issues. And with the newer seat you MUST convert the rear to the newer plastics which would also included the tail light.

If you're just gonna use the new tank with the old seat/plastics, the only thing to keep in mind is that the older tanks have tabs on them for the plastics to mount up to. You'll either need to come up with some random brackets and jbweld them to the gas tank, rivet them to the frame, or just trim the side pieces a little so they don't need those mounting tabs.

Tt, have u done this mod. This issue is not a factor unless u have ADHD. No flapping plastics or anything of that nature. I'm sure others like ben2go could attest to that. I rode for a year without any issues.

Older tanks do not have tabs for the plastics. The tabs are on the frame. Only bracket on the bottom of the tank is the same one the new tanks have: the front of the seat bracket which also is bolts the tank to the frame.

Then what the hell are the tabs with rubber bushings on the gas tank of my 98 for?

I can't find any good pictures, but there's definitely supposed to be some tabs welded to each side of the gas tank.



I did switch tanks on mine, but I also swapped tail sections too so it wasn't an issue. I'm sure you can use the old plastics without one, I just figured they'd shake around a little bit.

Here's another picture but it's super small.

Quote from: tt_four on February 06, 2011, 03:26:38 PM
I did switch tanks on mine, but I also swapped tail sections too so it wasn't an issue.

What kind of problems did you run into with mounting the tail's body work on the older frame? just fab up some mounting tabs?

I am going to be doing mine in the next couple weeks which is why I ask.

OK. Looked at Junior. Been a while since I took off the sides and put the Gimbel seat on.
Stand corrected. Sorry.

Quote from: adidasguy on February 06, 2011, 04:57:20 PM
OK. Looked at Junior. Been a while since I took off the sides and put the Gimbel seat on.
Stand corrected. Sorry.

You are forgiven. 

I had newer bodywork on mine, I just bent up a few brackets with a vise and pliers, and welded them to the frame.  before that though, I used a newer tank with the older bodywork, I cut the triangle off the front of the seat, and it worked fine.  the tabs on the side of the tank arent much of an issue, as the plastics were still sturdy, and didnt flap or anything

Quote from: jeremy_nash on February 06, 2011, 06:22:28 PM
I had newer bodywork on mine, I just bent up a few brackets with a vise and pliers, and welded them to the frame.  before that though, I used a newer tank with the older bodywork, I cut the triangle off the front of the seat, and it worked fine.  the tabs on the side of the tank arent much of an issue, as the plastics were still sturdy, and didnt flap or anything

Awesome.. that means its only probably a two or three hour job once I get the seat and what not all on the mock up panel placement...

Quote from: jeffdodge on February 06, 2011, 04:33:54 PM


What kind of problems did you run into with mounting the tail's body work on the older frame? just fab up some mounting tabs?

I am going to be doing mine in the next couple weeks which is why I ask.

Didn't really apply on mine, since I didn't put a GS tail back onto mine. If I managed to bolt this thing up, it really shouldn't be hard to get a different GS tail on the old subframe.

Its not...

Quote from: average on February 07, 2011, 03:59:11 PM
Its not...

Whats not?

UPDATE!

Picked up a clean. nice looking tank (sans gas cap, and ring [part #4 from tt_four's diagram]) for $60 at a local boneyard along with new fuelhose and an inline filter.

Fits PERFECT. The boneyard did not have a seat (was already sold), but the old seat seems to work fine. While doing the swap, i noticed the bracket/receiver for the seat is bent and busted. So looks like i'm in the market for that too.

THANK YOU everyone who helped me verify this solution.

I'll continue to update if/when I do the plastic, seat, and other swaps.

Any other parts from the newer gs's fit the older ones that make a good cheap boneyard upgrade?

You can pull that bracket off your old tank, they're the same. My newer tank didn't come with one either. Even though #4 is on the diagram, the newer tanks don't actually come with that piece. You can get some at pepboys for a few dollars though, sticks right on.

A lot of newer parts fit the older bikes, but most of the newer parts are the same as the older ones. If you need spares or anything like that go for it, otherwise I doubt there's anything worth grabbing.