Roadster Tank made in India – PartsParadise51 (2013)

I have recently made the decision to get a new fuel tank. I have a fibreglass tank that was repaired and repainted a few years ago; unfortunately (as I was warned would happen) it is beginning to degrade. It is probably good for a while yet, but I recently had a side cover fall off while riding, which ruined the paint work on it. Given that I will need to replace the tank at some point, and looking at the degradation drives me crazy, I decided to get a new tank now and get the tank and side panels repainted together.

That decision was helped by some cautiously positive comments on the forum about Partsparadise51 tanks, and an article in our local NZ Norton Owners newsletter from a member who had purchased a Partsparadise51 tank; he said it “looks and fits real well, very happy with it”. On the strength of those comments I bought one.

Generally, I agree with that assessment. My biggest complaint is the finish on the back of the tank, and in particular the way the curve in the back is cut where it goes over the frame. The two sides of the curve are not uniform, and the curve is a series of straight cuts rather than a smooth continuous curve. It looks a bit amateurish. Once the tank is mounted and the seat is on the bike this will not be visible; so unless you have a concourse bike this may not be a concern to you. It is possible to smooth it out to a very minor degree, but the bottom of the tank is welded pretty closely to the bottom edge at parts, so there is a strict limit to the finishing that you can do without risking splitting the bottom from the top and creating a leak.

Apart from that the finish appears good. I have posted some photos including one of the tank placed on the bike – without any foam supports underneath; so it will sit a bit higher when it is properly mounted. There was a lot of reflection in the photos, and some of them suggest that the tank has indentations where there should not be; that is just a trick of the light.

The tank fits fits fine on the bike; the forks don’t hit the tank at full turn, and the seat doesn’t need any adjustment back (70 Roadster with older style seat). The front stud holes line up with the supports on the frame.

It is pretty close to the style of the fibreglass tank. I think that the indentation on one side of the tank is slightly shallower than the other side, but not obviously so.

Being a copy of a metal tank the mounting for the fuel cap is set for it to open the opposite way to the fibreglass tank, and front of the tank has a lip protruding from the base over the curve which clears the frame.

I have tapped out the threads for the mounting studs and screws; they were threaded but have been painted over with primer and were a bit tight. The inside of the tank was pretty dirty; I have washed it out and soaked the whole tank in a phosphoric acid rust inhibitor; which in turn probably means that I or the painter will have to treat the exterior to ensure that the primer adheres properly; I understand that this treatment can result in primer not adhering.

The total cost including shipping was NZ$385 (roughly $308 USD and 192UK Pound at today’s exchange rate), and delivery was about 12 days from ordering. It was well packaged.

If anyone else is thinking about ordering one of these I suggest that they raise the issue of the finish at the back with Partsparadise before they order. It probably only needs to have 10% more care in the finishing to get a significant increase in quality; basically it seems very good to me; just let down with the final finishing. They have a shop on Ebay, and I can provide their direct contact details including email address if desired.

I would give the tank about 7.5 out of 10. Given the price advantage of these over tanks from western sources (if available; that seems to be an issue at times) they seem pretty attractive to me. Now off to the painter.

It does not look too bad, did they omit the lugs for the rear elastic band?

Was it fuel proof, especially the fuel filler cap?

I have gone to another supplier, Parts Paradise did not have a Fastback tank model, but would have been happy to have my one to copy.

Roadster steel tanks do not have the rubber band, instead a metal strap is bolted to the underside of the tank which also runs under the top frame tube, you can see the bolt holes in the rear on the underside.

Interesting. Chris, is your frame a pre-71, that is your fork stops are little weldments on the headstock and bump into the bottom fork crown? Like this?



I had Anil at Classic Tinware tell me he would make me a steel tank just like the fiberglass tank, but have been worried about a lot of things.

Seems like partsparadise51 is not listing his tank in the US ebay.

Dave,

my frame is date stamped June 1970, and has those lugs; so I think that this tank would work for your bike; and the seat has a gap too; slightly less than the gap between the fibreglass tank and the seat, but probably between 5 and 10 mm -although mine is not the original seat pan; it is a reproduction but faithful to the original seat; as opposed to the later model roadster seat.

I had trouble finding this tank on Ebay too; especially given that I have not used Ebay before this purchase; over here the dominant internet auction and sales site is "Trademe" (a real success story in its own right; young entrepreneur starts from nothing and sells to major Australian media co for $750 million; now publically listed for about twice that). For some reason these tanks don't seem to show up if you search for a Norton fuel tank; you need to go to the partsparadise shop on Ebay where it is listed on about page 7 or so; and I had trouble finding that. I was able to email them through Ebay but their direct email is partsparadise51@gmail.com phone 00919811051239. They also list an Interstate tank, which they state is made from tooling.

I have a few more photos of this tank side by side with the fibreglass tank and of different views; if you pm your email address I can send them to you, or if anyone else wants to see them I can upload them here if asked to do so.

I bought this tank without a fuel cap, I will transfer my original cap over, so I can't confirm whether it is sealed at the cap. I have not pressure tested the tank; I don't have the facilities or knowledge to do that; so am relying on the integrity of the seller and its Ebay approval rating; and my visual examination, and the check that I made when washing it out.

Because this tank uses a tank strap at the back rather than a rubber band with lugs I have bought a strap for $10; I contemplated making one from a piece of aluminium and sticking some foam on; but for that price it didn't seem worth the effort that it would have taken me. I probably could have bought the strap from partsparadise too, but I have used a local vintage parts dealer; I like to be able to support the businesses that support us where I can.

Which I guess leads on to the topic of why tanks are generally difficult to get and expensive, and why some of us take the apparent lottery of buying through third world suppliers where there is a distinct possibility of buying rubbish. I would probably have been happy to pay more for my tank (but probably not 100% more...)and acquire it from one of the major dealers if they were accessable at a reasonable price; but it seems that they either are not accessable; or that the price is stunningly high. There must be an opportunity for the major dealers to partner with these Indian suppliers, tidy up quality control issues, and offer a product that bike owners can purchase with confidence. I get the impression that there is considerable demand for fuel tanks; both from owners of bikes with fibreglass tanks, and from owners of bikes with steel tanks that are rusting out.

I agree ,

I have a feeling that its the quality control bit that's the problem . Our local dealers can't deal with the inconsistency of Indian suppliers . Whereas if our suppliers send us crap we raise a problem with eBay/PayPal and likely or not get a refund

Thanks for all that info Chris. I've looked at the partsparadise store and all I see is about 7 items listed. I wonder if they have a different one for UK and NZ? Right now I'm happy using avgas but maybe if I come onto a few $ I may spring for steel one.

I have to push my FG tank all the way back in the mounting wings so the stanchions don't hit the tank.

I can only assume the standard Norton dealers just don't think there is enough money in selling tanks, or maybe it's the problems too. I'm sure the Andover one will be rather expensive.

Are you going to prepare the inside with something? There's a local powder coater here that does some sort of phosphoric treatment before he powdercoats, I wonder if he could do it for the inside of the tank? I would think the less inside the better until it starts leaking or rusting and how can we prevent that with this ethanol crap.

yes I have the same issue with my fibreglass tank hitting the forks if not pushed back. This tank does not have studs at the front yet, so I have only roughly put it in position, but I have checked that the stud holes line up with the support on the frame; they do, so I am confident that it can be put into place without touching the forks.

I have treated the inside of the tank with a phospheric acid wash, as recommended by Bill on one of the other tank threads. Based on that thread, I have decided not to coat the interior - there seems to be a real possibility of ethanol fuels degrading the coating. The product that I used was a local product called "Rust Free" or something similar and was sold as a rust remover at the local hardware superstore; its active ingredient is phospheric acid. The instructions were to dilute it 10 to one and soak the product in the dilution for 10 minutes - or to paint on in a higher concentration; I had a large plastic container that could fit the tank in; I put it in with the solution and rolled it over a few times to ensure that the whole of the interior was soaked.

According what I have read when I googled phosporic acid that creates a zinc coating on the steel which inhibits rust. I don't know how long that will last for; I am guessing it is not permanent. I have also read that it might cause primer not to adhere, so we will have to treat the exterior somehow to get rid of the zinc coating; I guess by either sanding or using an etching primer or both. I am meeting my painter tomorrow and will discuss it with him. In the meantime it is nice to know that the raw steel is not attracting surface rust; I am often amazed how quickly raw steel gets covered in surface rust - but there was no rust on the tank when it arrived; it was well packaged and sealed in plastic and then bubble wrap.

Chris T said:

I am often amazed how quickly raw steel gets covered in surface rust - but there was no rust on the tank when it arrived; it was well packaged and sealed in plastic and then bubble wrap.

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Rust can form (microscopic) within 12 hours on bare steel so it pays to either preserve or treat the surface to avoid rust worm forming under the paint.
Glad you had a good result as I did (and posted with pictures) with the ParadiseParts51 supplied Interstate tank.
Looks like the steel Fastback tank threads went nowhere.

Time Warp said:

Rust can form (microscopic) within 12 hours on bare steel so it pays to either preserve or treat the surface to avoid rust worm forming under the paint.

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You must live in a dry climate ?!

After you've wiped over bare steel with panel beaters grade phosphoric acid (50%, as strong as it comes),
you can see rust forming on the newly cleaned bare steel in just MINUTES !!

I think it recommends it be wiped over with alcohol and then dried and primed within 2 minutes for best results....

After I had my barrels sand blasted, I had to clean it all out somehow, so I used the power washer outside on a hot sunny day. As soon as I finished power washing it, it took maybe 15 seconds for the whole thing to flash rust. Holey crap. I just put a bunch of WD40 on it and used scotchbrite on the large areas and a wire brush on the fins and rest and it seems fine.

I'm still up in the air about what to do with the inside of a steel tank other than keep it full, or empty it in the winter and put some preservative in it. The humidity here will rust anything. But not as bad as living next to the sulfur pits, like we did in Taiwan. Wood even rusted there.

That is just a reaction between water,the cast iron barrel/cylinder/jug and atmosphere in a non destructive way,same thing happens with early Ducati brake rotors on a wet day (after being parked)
One reason Brit bikes have plated rotors so they look pretty at the expense of actually working. :lol:

Within 12 hours is 0 to 12.
Destructive oxidization in a nano section would be a stretch,don't believe everything you see.
Microscopic oxidisation contained once oxygen is removed (painted) is one thing,it is worm with gas that can be a problem many months later.

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fairdeals2017 and partsparadise51 is the same company. Infact fairdeals2017 has been supplying norton parts to Andover norton, burton bike bits, norvil motorcycle. The quality on their petrol tanks is better than Emgo, also the company is based in Smethwick, UK, so you can walk in to their warehouse and buy the products directly from them. They have enormous variety of spares for classics.
The address is Phoenix Traders UK Limited 4-5 Cranford Way, Smethwick B66, They have even got a new website where the prices are lot better all the vat and duty paid and they can take the item back without questions asked if the quality on their products is not good. https://classicbikespareparts.com/ I hope that helps.

deekay said:

[
fairdeals2017 and partsparadise51 is the same company. Infact fairdeals2017 has been supplying norton parts to Andover norton, burton bike bits, norvil motorcycle. The quality on their petrol tanks is better than Emgo, also the company is based in Smethwick, UK, so you can walk in to their warehouse and buy the products directly from them. They have enormous variety of spares for classics.
The address is Phoenix Traders UK Limited 4-5 Cranford Way, Smethwick B66, They have even got a new website where the prices are lot better all the vat and duty paid and they can take the item back without questions asked if the quality on their products is not good. https://classicbikespareparts.com/ I hope that helps.

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Thanks for that information, I tried asking them if they were Fairdeals and could I come and get one through Fleabay with no joy.