New alloy tanks in the UK?

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Anyone here from the UK (Southern England ideally) interested in a roadster style alloy tank in 2mm aluminium? Seems alloy Norton cafe racer tanks are available here, but not seen any OE type, and wonder if there is likely to be any interest in these?
 
an unpolished one sold recently on ebay, I think it went for about $750, are you selling one or planning to supply them if there is a market.
 
Carbonfibre

It all depends on price & delivery time. Two firms south of England making Seeley tanks £450 & £350. Unity are trying to sell their Manx tank for £750 plus! Alloy roadster tanks should sell. I brought mine from the man who does Unity stuff. Kempton Park £350.
Try putting one up for sale? Who many want one? Dont know. but good luck.
Chris
 
Chris said:
Carbonfibre

It all depends on price & delivery time. Two firms south of England making Seeley tanks £450 & £350. Unity are trying to sell their Manx tank for £750 plus! Alloy roadster tanks should sell. I brought mine from the man who does Unity stuff. Kempton Park £350.
Try putting one up for sale? Who many want one? Dont know. but good luck.
Chris


Seeley tanks sound very reasonable, and wonder who might be making them? Was the Kempton tank an accurate copy of your original Norton tank, and did it have OE type fuel cap?
 
I ordered my tank at Bartel. Still waiting for it to be made. it's about 360 gbp. alloy, 2 mm.
 
Orsonoce said:
Torontonian said:
What's the advantage over steel ? Seems al. would dent in easily er er.

availability


How long have you been waiting for your alloy tank I wonder? Some UK producers have a lead time of 6 months+, which seems an awful long time to be waiting.
 
Carbonfibre said:
Anyone here from the UK (Southern England ideally) interested in a roadster style alloy tank in 2mm aluminium? Seems alloy Norton cafe racer tanks are available here, but not seen any OE type, and wonder if there is likely to be any interest in these?

To create a significant interest I think most people would want to see an example first?
 
We are in the process of making tooling for Roadster tanks at the moment, but getting the feeling that the price of a top quality alloy tank may put off a lot of prospective buyers?
 
As interest seems so low for Norton alloy tanks, not sure its even worth making tooling for the Roadster ones? Guess people must be happy with the Indian steel ones, or prepared to take a chance on GRP with no guarantee and dire warnings to seal before use?
 
Carbonfibre said:
As interest seems so low for Norton alloy tanks, not sure its even worth making tooling for the Roadster ones? Guess people must be happy with the Indian steel ones, or prepared to take a chance on GRP with no guarantee and dire warnings to seal before use?

It's hardly surprising-considering what you've said so far.

Carbonfibre said:
Anyone here from the UK (Southern England ideally) interested in a roadster style alloy tank in 2mm aluminium?

That statement alone would seriously reduce the amount of interest-as the majority of potential customers probably do not live in Southern England, it makes you look as if you are not particularly interested in sending tanks to buyers living anywhere else.



Carbonfibre said:
Seems alloy Norton cafe racer tanks are available here, but not seen any OE type


Alloy (Interstate, Fastback) and steel OE tanks are available.
http://www.norvilmotorcycle.co.uk/pettank.htm


Carbonfibre said:
getting the feeling that the price of a top quality alloy tank may put off a lot of prospective buyers?


Punters will be put off if you can't or won't say how much they are likely to cost.
 
Carbonfibre said:
As interest seems so low for Norton alloy tanks, not sure its even worth making tooling for the Roadster ones? Guess people must be happy with the Indian steel ones, or prepared to take a chance on GRP with no guarantee and dire warnings to seal before use?

I think you're forgetting that in the UK and Europe, the majority of Roadster and Interstate tanks are OE steel. I don't think that there were GRP equipped 850s in the UK.

I seem to remember Unity asking getting on for £1000 for an alloy Roadter tank when they were showing them at Stafford one year. A lot of money if alternatives are still available.

I have no idea what it would cost to make an alloy tank to a high standard but it would need to be less than £500 before I'd be tempted to buy one just because they look nice. I'd suspect that prices of used OE tanks have not yet reached the level where a price of £1000 would be paid by anyone other than a committed special builder (and they all seem to want café racers).
 
I was not aware that alloy Interstate, and Fastback tanks were easily available off the shelf..........wonder why the person selling these doesnt also do Roadster tanks, which I would have thought would have been more popular?

Seen a few pictures of the alloy tanks for Norton that are available currently though, and to be honest I think the producers are looking to keep prices down at the expense of product quality.

The market for very high quality alloy tanks which can be supplied within a couple of weeks of customer placing order, but which cost a little more than what's around currently may not be that great, but personally I would be prepared to pay a little more money to have a better product which could be supplied pretty quickly!

Looking for someone in the South of England who might be willing to provide a bike so we can modify the design of the under-tank area so its easier to make, and holds a little more fuel.

Got most of the Roadster tooling made already, and will soon be in a position to go into production with GRP tanks made using the correct materials and production methods which will be supplied with a 2 yr guarantee, and these will provide a lower cost alternative to the alloy tanks mentioned earlier.
 
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