oil tank broken

iceteanolemon · Nov 14, 2012

just got home after a long work trip and decided to take a quick jaunt throug hthe canyons with my wife. Great ride but when I got back I was draining the oil when I noticed the oil tank rear mount was cracked off at the tank. I cant see it but I can feel it and rattle the tank back and forth so I know its busted off. I am too lazy right now to remove the tank and inspect but I gather I will get to it today....

Anyone have the same issue? I am hoping the mounting tab just popped off and all it needs is to be tacked back on and then painted again.

71 commando roadster

If anyone has any tips on removing it without pulling my hair out I would appreciate that as well.

Cheers,

drones76 · Nov 14, 2012

iceteanolemon said:
just got home after a long work trip and decided to take a quick jaunt throug hthe canyons with my wife. Great ride but when I got back I was draining the oil when I noticed the oil tank rear mount was cracked off at the tank. I cant see it but I can feel it and rattle the tank back and forth so I know its busted off. I am too lazy right now to remove the tank and inspect but I gather I will get to it today....

Anyone have the same issue? I am hoping the mounting tab just popped off and all it needs is to be tacked back on and then painted again.

71 commando roadster

If anyone has any tips on removing it without pulling my hair out I would appreciate that as well.

Cheers,

That is a fairly common problem. CNW does a mod for that.

http://www.coloradonortonworks.com/catalog/mods.asp

OldBalz · Nov 14, 2012

MY oil tank is presently at CNW awaiting their mod. They said that it should be ready to ship back to me by the end of next week.
My tank also had the rear mount break and it was brazed back together by the previous owner.

mike996 · Nov 14, 2012

You can do the mod yourself very easily HOWEVER, since it has already cracked you will have to cut off the bottom mount bracket and braze the crack first. This is one of those mods that, unlike many other Commando "upgrades," I personally believe is a really important one to make if you ride the bike much. With a non-cracked tank, it takes maybe an hour to perform.

willy mac · Nov 14, 2012

Hi There Fella

I've just been there myself but not with a broken bracket, the bottom mounting boss on mine had cracked the tank but the oil looked like it was coming from the banjo bolt so it's been out and in a few times until I found the problem.
If you've not had the tank out before it is a bit of a fiddle especially access to the bottom mounting bolt, but once that's out and the oil feed Banjo comes off then it's just getting the pipes off and in your case just the one top mount, the mounting rubbers at the top are easy to bust so watch that you're not twisting them.
I've put my tank back in without the bolt in the bottom, I've fixed a piece of closed cell foam to the bracket that the bolt went through and cut a slot into it which the seam of the tank sits into, I've also fixed a piece to the battery tray to stop the tank chattering against it, the tank is secured but allowed to move.

Torontonian · Nov 14, 2012

This one is a bugger at best. It's an awkward swear job much like the horn removal. The bottom mount is the real culprit as it is insulated from Vibrations by a pathetic little rubber that gets roasted hard as rock over the years ,stressing all 3 mount points. If you weld you can do it yourself or end it off to CNW and never have this PITA again.

iceteanolemon · Nov 14, 2012

yea 149 bucks to have cnw do it. Kinda steep for me on this one. I will definitely take it off and research what I can get done to make it right. I wonder if it has been redone another time earlier. I know I have replaced the rubber mount before. Always something happening!

swooshdave · Nov 14, 2012

willy mac said:
I've put my tank back in without the bolt in the bottom, I've fixed a piece of closed cell foam to the bracket that the bolt went through and cut a slot into it which the seam of the tank sits into, I've also fixed a piece to the battery tray to stop the tank chattering against it, the tank is secured but allowed to move.

I not only left off the bottom bolt but I used some industrial velcro to hold the tank to the battery box. It can move slightly but I won't get a cracked tank.

Torontonian · Nov 14, 2012

That pathetic Norton undertank rubber goes hard as rock in a very low number of yrs. I went to buy/fit a MUCH bigger one 5 yrs.ago but it too will harden up from heat. Yes next teardown I will leave out the bolt and rubber completely and fit a support pad as suggested. Or keep my welder friend in beerland.

1up3down · Nov 14, 2012

I've put my tank back in without the bolt in the bottom,

yes, I have not had a bottom bolt for 15 years now, did not put a pad or anything there

tank being held in place by the two top rubber snubber bolt things with no issues or problems all these years now

Torontonian · Nov 14, 2012

Yes, I believe the bottom long fine threaded bolt and tiny rubber is the real source of all problems. Leave 'em out sounds good.

iceteanolemon · Nov 14, 2012

well these are all great tips. I got the tank out, it was a pretty good puzzle. I had to remove the filter and a zplate bolt then do some rotating etc. When I got it out I saw the rear mount just as I thought was snapped right above the weld. The bottom screw with the flimsy rubber was screwed in but no contact was making with the tank, I guess the rubber had long since degraded and its been that way a while. I aqm going to find some stock thats a little thicker than the original mount and reinstall it. I think boiling it out and repainting while its out may be a good idea.

So the consensus is to leave the bottom mount off the tank, I like the industrial velcro idea too...

Heres a pic of my handiwork so far! I am proud of being able to get that dam nthing out. I am fearing putting it back in.

Never mind the cafe seat, I threw it on to see what it looks like, damn ugly in my opinion.

airedale · Nov 14, 2012

Same problem with my oil tank - broken rear mount, DPO hack job to refit, with cable ties. I am planning to eliminate the rear mount in favor of high strength 3M Dual Lock like Swooshdave. I have a question regarding spacing the tank - did you stick it right against the battery box or did you add a spacer of some sort? I suspect (without looking) there is some space between tank and battery box in the normal set up, but don't know how much without putting the tank in and measuring. Don't want the side cover to look sunken in.

Also what kind of foam do folks use under the tank, and where did you get it? How about one of the gas tank pads?

May do the Col Norton thing if can find the $.

DogT · Nov 14, 2012

No problems with the central oil tank, sorry to say.

Dave
69S

cjandme · Nov 15, 2012

DogT said:
No problems with the central oil tank, sorry to say.

Dave
69S

Rub it in, Rub it in....

airedale · Nov 28, 2012

Bump bump, hoping SwooshDave will see this post and reply. Still looking for answers to my questions.

willy mac · Nov 28, 2012

airedale said:
Same problem with my oil tank - broken rear mount, DPO hack job to refit, with cable ties. I am planning to eliminate the rear mount in favor of high strength 3M Dual Lock like Swooshdave. I have a question regarding spacing the tank - did you stick it right against the battery box or did you add a spacer of some sort? I suspect (without looking) there is some space between tank and battery box in the normal set up, but don't know how much without putting the tank in and measuring. Don't want the side cover to look sunken in.

Also what kind of foam do folks use under the tank, and where did you get it? How about one of the gas tank pads?

May do the Col Norton thing if can find the $.

I've used a strip of rubber about 1/4" thick glued to the side of the battery box to space out the tank. The Foam underneath the tank is firm closed cell stuff about 1/2" thick with a slot cut front to rear that the seam of the tank sits into. I got the foam from a local upholsterer.

Snorton74 · Nov 28, 2012

airedale said:
Same problem with my oil tank - broken rear mount, DPO hack job to refit, with cable ties. I am planning to eliminate the rear mount in favor of high strength 3M Dual Lock like Swooshdave. I have a question regarding spacing the tank - did you stick it right against the battery box or did you add a spacer of some sort? I suspect (without looking) there is some space between tank and battery box in the normal set up, but don't know how much without putting the tank in and measuring. Don't want the side cover to look sunken in.

Also what kind of foam do folks use under the tank, and where did you get it? How about one of the gas tank pads?

May do the Col Norton thing if can find the $.[/quote

I put the rubber pad on the side of my battery box. I did the CNW mod for peace of mind.

xbskt · Nov 28, 2012

I would only recommend that if you do have the tank out consider upgrading the cheesy rubber mounts fore and aft with larger rubbers normally seen at the exhaust hangers. The baby rubbers hardly seem strong enough to me to be up to the job of holding that oil tank, full of oil on a bouncing and flexing and sometimes vibrating Norton.
All the little rubbers I've ver seen were either broken or sagged and cracked. This allowance to misalignment IMHO causes more of the cracks of the mounting tabs than any other factor. The result in the crappy little rubbers breaking down is aded stress on the lower center mounting bolt resulting in cracked bosses there.
The upgrade is a simple matter of drilling the rubber mounting bolt holes larger for the larger rubbers and of course sourcing the larger rubbers for minimal monetary output.

My 2 cents worth what you paid.

Jeff

mooskie · Dec 9, 2012

My Tank is out, still in one piece, I want to do what is best to prevent problems. Is the constant vibration causing the broken mount and cracks on the bottom OR is the trouble caused by the bottom rubber mount becoming hard which then causes the cracks because the tank is too rigid? . Am I correct that the best fix is to use bigger mounts on the top, and put hi density foam on the bottom, and definently leave out the bottom mount, allowing the tank to "float" somewhat?

oil tank broken

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