84/85 Tecate Owners and Everyone Else

[BigGreenMachine]

Anyone with the first (or second) gen Tecate knows the gas tanks are awful and really bring down the rest of the machines look.

I love the look of my Tecate, its mean and looks the part. BUT the gas tank always gets comments like "you couldn't fix that?" or "did you run out of money?"

What can be done about these tanks? They are faded so Plastic Renew doesn't work.


Personally, I want an alloy tank. I had thought a 81/82 250R tank would be perfect and it might just be the case but I don't want to spend 30 bucks plus shipping to find out how it looks/fits. Also thought about a 70's XR500 steel tank.

Have been looking at aluminum old school mx bike tanks like Bultaco, Husky and Maico. Most aluminum tanks are in great shape and go for big coin.

Right now I am thinking about making a custom aluminum tank from scratch. 1/16th or 1/8th wall and just some simple bends for design. It would be nice to incorporate a short track style to it with more clearance for the forks to turn.

Anyone have some input about all this?:Bounce

[moose 53]

The tecate gas tanks are easy to fix . Just paint them, it all depends on the paint you use and prepping the tank. The tank on my KTM Tecate was painted.The tank without the KTM on it was off my 85 t3 and is 4 years old.:Bounce

[oldsking86]

The tecate gas tanks are easy to fix . Just paint them, it all depends on the paint you use and prepping the tank. The tank on my KTM Tecate was painted.The tank without the KTM on it was off my 85 t3 and is 4 years old.:Bounce

A picture of this would really do justice because we can't really tell what they look like ;)

[3Razors]

I have heard that you can get them re-dyed at auto upolstery shops.

[BigGreenMachine]

Tank covers rip and wear, paint gets scratched. Bare aluminum or a well painted steel tank is on my mind.

[BigGreenMachine]

Yes I have heard of dying them. Its an interesting idea. Wouldn't the gas damage the dye?

[tecat-z]

Well my humble opinion is we need to rally around either IMS or CLARKE to manufacture a oem duplicate. Cause as we all know first gen tecates have a big enough tank as it is, so we dont need a oversized tank. Both of these companies make tanks for many diffrent honda 3wheelers so i know there is a market for them. They also make tanks for kx dirt bikes in team green so color is not an issue either. Painting, tank bras, sanding, and dying are all last resort options for all of our UGLY tanks out there. If we had a brand new alternative i am sure we would all make a serious consideration.

[moose 53]

A picture of this would really do justice because we can't really tell what they look like ;) Here is a photo of my painted tank :Bounce http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k10/moose53_2006/DSC00705.jpg

[moose 53]

Tank covers rip and wear, paint gets scratched. Bare aluminum or a well painted steel tank is on my mind. What if you could prep a tank in 30min ,paint 3 coats color 2 coats clear ,wet sand 3 times and get very close to stock color. If it will not hurt a stock tank it will not hurt my painted tank.I have been in some good wrecks to prove it.:Bounce

[3Razors]

Ya new would probably be the best considering that all this tanks are pushing 20 something years old now. The gas fumes would be a concern with dyeing or painting. All options have their pro's and cons.

[scooterroo]

i painted my tank as well, came out beautiful and no blemishes. now i am going to use some of that red kote stuff to line my tank. i know people say they have had issues using it in plastic tanks, but then others like howdy have had success doing this. i have a spare tank to practice on before i go ahead and do the tank i am using on the bike. i also agree with pressuring ims\clarke, get them to produce us some. i am sure if they had enough orders they would do it. heck, i'll even give them my spare to make the mold.

[ccdhowell]

When I bought my Tecate it had a cover on it. Mind you it was a fine looking cover, but it was just something. Something I didn't like. I know I'm just a good ole boy from Louisiana, but I think my approach has merit. I took my tank to a guy locally that covers 4x4 quads with vinyl camo and had him cover my tank. It came out quite nicely, if I say so myself. Now I know camo isn't for everyone, but I bet you could easily find a guy to cover it about any color vinyl made. Maybe even print some pattern, skull, flames, words, etc on the vinyl before it's installed. The guy that did mine starts with a very wide printer and a white sheet of vinyl and prints the pattern on the sheet of vinyl, then applies it to a tank.

At least it's another alternative to consider.

[scooterroo]

now cover the entire bike in camo, and you have yourself one mean hunting machine. think it would scare everything with a heart beat and with in a mile away, but could be cool. you could definately blend in if you wanted to...

[ccdhowell]

Nah, I have no intention in covering the fenders in camo, but it sure did spruce up that old tank.


The guys I ride with in the deep woods down here are already scared of this thing...believe me, they are scared!!!!!!!!!

[Tecate250]

BGM Im getting into tank covers for atvs. I love the look of someones tri z with a normal style gas tank. My green tecate gas tank has a hole where the rubber gas strap hold down the tank. Go figure. Im going to test liquid hockey puck material on my tank. Only hard part is im not going to put stickers on my tank. So instead im going to brand the tank while its still wet.
Make it look like a engine side plate or something.

[oldsking86]

Here is a photo of my painted tank :Bounce http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k10/moose53_2006/DSC00705.jpg

hmm that looks really nice man, what exactlly is the paint? was there a lot of prepping involved?

[moose 53]

The paint is Industrial acrylic urethane ,used for dump trucks and heavy equipment.It is gas and alcohol proof and very scratch resistant.The trick I use to get it to stick to plastic is to sandblast the plastic with a fine carborundum sand.It leaves a fine Velcro like fuzz on the plastic that the paint really sticks to,and then I sand the paint which is easy.:Bounce

[scooterroo]

theres a high temp paint out there by duplicolor i believe called grabber green, thats what i used to do my t3 tank and rear fenders, it is off from the original color, but not by much. as long as you do the right prep work, it should come out fine and looks great to me.

[Tecate250]

Yeah I used Grabber Green. The paint is not very strong and flakes off easy. Thats why my bike is being painted.