So, a couple of years ago we jumped at an opportunity to get my wife back on two wheels by picking up an ST100 from @Jevers . Great guy and he was selling a well setup bike for the right price. All it took for her was a ride on our daughter's ST1100 for her see how comfortable they are.
Here are the ladies with their almost completely matching bikes:
Well, fast forward a couple of years and many miles, and the one complaint from her (and our daughter when she took my wife's bike out) was the auxiliary fuel tank. While the range was excellent (about 440 miles) it quickly became just extra weight. Both of my ladies wear platform boots so they don't have to tip toe at stops so anything to reduce weight is welcomed. That time finally came this weekend. We picked up another ST1100 for parts from @garwil locally (another great guy and local to MS) so I set out to pull the tank from that bike and put it and the rear fender on my wife's bike, assuming the inside of the tank was in good shape. I was told that it had sat for a couple of years so I had a concern that it might be rusted inside.
Step 1: Pull the pump from the parts bike and see. That would determine if this effort would go forward. I was thankful to see that the inside of the tank was pristine despite about half a tank of gas sitting in it.
Step 2 was pulling the tank from the parts bike. Not a difficult job at all.
Here is a shot from of the tank on my wife's bike:
I proceeded to pull the main and aux fuel tanks from her bike now. In prep for this surgery, we had to run the bike down to the last 3 gallons or so of gas so I'd only have to pump out a little bit of fuel instead of around 11 gallons. The challenging part was trying not to make a mess with residual fuel in the lines while snaking hoses back out of the bike. For those that are not familiar, the Ron Majors setup was unique in that it added the additional fuel without the need for a additional pump. Everything is gravity fed both in consumption and refueling. The rear tank also has a nice tube through it for running the electrical wires for a lighted license plate frame since the tank covers the lights that would normally illuminate the plate. While slick, it does make tire changes a bit more challenging.
Well, after a few hours with my son assisting, we were successful in the swap. Here are all the parts in their glory, showing the taps that were required on the main tank and the lines needed.
With the tank removed, the bike feels much lighter and I think my wife will be quite pleased with the change.
The stable:
Now to figure out what to do with all this stuff...
Here are the ladies with their almost completely matching bikes:
Well, fast forward a couple of years and many miles, and the one complaint from her (and our daughter when she took my wife's bike out) was the auxiliary fuel tank. While the range was excellent (about 440 miles) it quickly became just extra weight. Both of my ladies wear platform boots so they don't have to tip toe at stops so anything to reduce weight is welcomed. That time finally came this weekend. We picked up another ST1100 for parts from @garwil locally (another great guy and local to MS) so I set out to pull the tank from that bike and put it and the rear fender on my wife's bike, assuming the inside of the tank was in good shape. I was told that it had sat for a couple of years so I had a concern that it might be rusted inside.
Step 1: Pull the pump from the parts bike and see. That would determine if this effort would go forward. I was thankful to see that the inside of the tank was pristine despite about half a tank of gas sitting in it.
Step 2 was pulling the tank from the parts bike. Not a difficult job at all.
Here is a shot from of the tank on my wife's bike:
I proceeded to pull the main and aux fuel tanks from her bike now. In prep for this surgery, we had to run the bike down to the last 3 gallons or so of gas so I'd only have to pump out a little bit of fuel instead of around 11 gallons. The challenging part was trying not to make a mess with residual fuel in the lines while snaking hoses back out of the bike. For those that are not familiar, the Ron Majors setup was unique in that it added the additional fuel without the need for a additional pump. Everything is gravity fed both in consumption and refueling. The rear tank also has a nice tube through it for running the electrical wires for a lighted license plate frame since the tank covers the lights that would normally illuminate the plate. While slick, it does make tire changes a bit more challenging.
Well, after a few hours with my son assisting, we were successful in the swap. Here are all the parts in their glory, showing the taps that were required on the main tank and the lines needed.
With the tank removed, the bike feels much lighter and I think my wife will be quite pleased with the change.
The stable:
Now to figure out what to do with all this stuff...
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