Central Alloy Oil Tank

When my bike was restored to a Cafe Racer, one of the critical features I wanted was a centrally mounted oil tank, underseat battery, and no sidecovers.

The original solution (sideways mounted stock tank) was a bit crude and brought with it several issues. After much subsequent rework on the bike, the original mounting arrangement was brought back, along with some ratty sidecovers. Although more serviceable, it strayed from my vision of the bike.

While looking for the end of the internet on my latest military deployment, I came across the good looking pieces that Norton Race Parts puts out. They have rather recently (I think) added a centrally mounted alloy tank to their lineup. When I came back from the Middle East in October, I decided to take advantage of the post-Brexit-vote collapsed GBP, and put myself in the queue. Several months later, it's now here.




The craftsmanship is impressive; this tank is beautiful. I'll be fitting it this weekend and post results from that. There is no drain plug, although one can be fitted if desired. I use Iron John's inline oil drain/ignition interlock valve, which makes draining the tank a simple task anyways (remove the line at the far end, open the valve, and you're off). Payment options for NRP were Paypal with a service fee or international wire transfer... Communications were very prompt. This tank is NRP 1007P and I ordered the fitting kit NRP 1008K along with it.

Cheers, -HJ

very interested to see it fitted along with your battery location.

madass140 said:

very interested to see it fitted along with your battery location.

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When I was using the oil tank in the 90 degree rotated position, I used a small Shorai battery mounted under the seat. The battery moved back to the standard mounting location when the oil tank was reverted to stock. I'm now getting an Alien Motion 4 cell (4 cm x 4cm x 10cm) to go back under the seat.

Hungry J0e said:

....The craftsmanship is impressive; this tank is beautiful. I'll be fitting it this weekend and post results from that......Cheers, -HJ

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It sure does look fantastic! Thanks for posting this thread :mrgreen:

That tank is a work of art.

Very sweet looking tank, looks well made.

The wife decided she wanted new curtains hung last weekend. I've got to work tomorrow, no time to scrub it down, so a couple pics in all its greasy glory. Proper photos will follow later.







Quick observations:

- The tank is a very nice piece of kit. It follows the lines of the frame almost perfectly.

- Will take over a quart more than the stock tank comfortably. This may not be the right kit for chronic wetsumpers (or at least then, don't fill it all the way).

- The fill port interferes with my gas tank. So the gas tank has to come off to check or fill oil level. After a long period sitting, my technique is take off the seat, take off the fill cap, start the bike, and visually verify oil return. I can do that no longer. However, I have an Old Britts oil pressure gauge, so my old technique was sort of redundant anyways.

- Install and fitment was overall straightforward. The tank sits on two rubber topped pedestals that are installed on the back side of one of the Z-Plate bolts. The pedestal is made out of pretty thick aluminum... I had to run to the hardware store to get a longer bolt otherwise I didn't have enough thread engagement with the stock bolt.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers, - HJ

Hungry J0e said:

.......Thanks for reading.....Cheers, - HJ

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Thanks for posting Well, It might be difficult to live with, but it sure looks good on your bike. :mrgreen: Maybe later you could have the fill neck or cap moved, so it doesn't conflict with the gas tank.