Street Scrambler or High Rider Tank from India

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Hi everybody,
a friend of mine and me are commissioned to rebuild a 1971 Street Scrambler to it´s former glory. The bike was delivered to the US in May 1971 according to to Joe Seifert´s
delivery log books and also the NOC´s data as a yellow Commando SS.
At the moment the bike looks like this:

Street Scrambler or High Rider Tank from India


Haven´t seen the bike personally so far.
We can get all of the parts for the transition from Norton Motors, except the fuel tank.
There are original fiberglass tanks available and also steel replica tanks from India.
Anybody has experience with those ?
I know the roadster tanks from this source are horrible.
I guess the SS tanks have a simplier shade which is better to reproduce by backyard steel hammering craftsmen?
Cheers
Uli
 
If I remember correctly, the 850 HiRiders had OEM steel tanks. I'd try to find a used one of those. The only difference would be the cap opens the opposite direction.
 
Don't buy an Indian one. Will only be an approximation. Wait until an original one comes up on ebay.

I have a good fiberglass Tangerine SS tank which I may sell soon. Get in touch with me via private message if interested.
 
Don't buy an Indian one. Will only be an approximation. Wait until an original one comes up on ebay.

I have a good fiberglass Tangerine SS tank which I may sell soon. Get in touch with me via private message if interested.


Good fiberglass tank? Good for what? Certainly not today’s ethanol gas. Not to mention the obvious shortcoming in the event of a crash.
 
If you do go the way of the fiberglass tank you can go on pure-gas.org and find ethanol free gasoline with high octane. A lot of marinas carry it. Here are just the first 4 here in Texas but they're all over the country once you get on that site. Wow 116 sounds pretty wicked!
Alba UNBRANDED 87 90 Lake Fork Marina 903-765-2764 275 Cr 1558 2013-05-26
Alvin GULF 93 100 116 Lee Oil Co 281-331-3445 1655 Bypass 35 S 2017-03-31
Amarillo UNBRANDED 87 89 91 Interstate Car Care 806-372-1155 1700 S Nelson St 2018-04-07
Amarillo SUNOCO 91 100 110 Sunoco Race Fuels 806-674-7536 8800 S Osage St 2018-08-28
 
I'd be curious about that seat. It isn't going into the bin is it?
 
As I mentioned I haven´t seen the bike, it will be carried to my friends workshop in the next days.
If it is an original seat base we can reuse it. the rear frame loop is also shortened what I can tell from the pic.
 
I got a very nice Roadster tank from Commando Specialties with a gas cap all for a very reasonable price.
1970 Roadster.
Street Scrambler or High Rider Tank from India
 
Street Scrambler or High Rider Tank from India
My 74 Hirider has a steel 2 gallon tank. Bike had been restored by a previous owner with a HD dealer doing the paint work ...so tank is very nicely finished. Was considering selling tank as I've converted bike to Roadster, even bought a repro steel 3 gal Roadster tank in unpainted condition. But, the small tank is growing on me and I'm getting 45-48 mpg on Highway so not sure spending big money on tank paint is worth my while.
 
As I mentioned I haven´t seen the bike, it will be carried to my friends workshop in the next days.
If it is an original seat base we can reuse it. the rear frame loop is also shortened what I can tell from the pic.

I have a 1971 project bike in boxes here. The frame loop was cut off it and I have been contemplating how that bike might look when I finally put it back together. I happen to have a clean 1971 seat with the strap as in the photo of the purple roadster above. I might be convinced to do a trade if that seat fits your rebuild. Let me know. I'm easy to find. I wish I had a nice metal High Rider tank to offer but I don't. Another member here, Tornado, recently purchased a 1974 bike with one of those tanks. I think he might have switched to a roadster tank. You could always make him an offer. By '74 that tank should have been steel if it was original to his bike.

(Ha, Tornado chimes in as I am posting!)

Russ
 
As soon as I get my hands on the bike I´ll let you know.
But I guess shipping across the pond is finacially killing me...
 
Should cost less than $100 to ship a tank from the US.

Don't you still have the choice of non-ethanol fuel there?
I was recently in Germany and I think I saw non-ethanol at the pumps.
 
@elefantrider:
The premium fuels like Aral Ultimate or Shell V-Power have almost no ethanol - so they say.
They are about 20 cents higher per liter than regular fuel.
 
Not seen it mentioned so far but the Emgo Roadster tanks as sold by Andover Norton seem to be generally regarded as the best quality after market tanks.
 
As mentioned before the owner wants the bike in it´s original look as a 1971 Norton Commando SS,
which had no Roadster tank but the same tanks as the High Rider.
Therefore we are looking for such a tank
 
I was just looking for pictures of a Norton SS in my Bacon book and couldn't find one. As I remember they had high pipes on each side and the front fender was hung from the underside of the lower fork trees? I know the S models used the same tank as the Roadster. Should be a very interesting project, good luck. Please keep us posted and post pictures.
The Hi-Rider tank and the Scrambler tank are not the same. The scrambler has tubes on the front underside to mount the tank and the Hi-Rider is like the Roadster tank using a stud and rubber discs to mount it.
Street Scrambler or High Rider Tank from India


John in Texas
 
I have an Indian made alloy tank (Interstate) here that I bought off someone for a small offering because the welds on the bottom look like bubble gum and the filler opening is poorly fashioned. However, the shape of the tank is pretty good when sitting next to my steel Interstate. I bought it because one day when I get my project list simplified, I plan to rework that tank into a modified Interstate. All the welds on the bottom of the tank will be redone.

The point of this narrative is that if you get desperate for an Indian tank that you are probably correct in the notion that with the shape of the tank being simple that it might look correct. You may however need to do some work on seams and filler as these seem to be the areas most often complained about in regards to Indian tanks.

I looked at a number of the tanks on eBay and the welds look much improved over the above mentioned tank. The sad fact is that if you find an original tank, you can't know for sure that the seams won't be rusted and thin. Either way it is a bit of a gamble.
 
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