[Popeye8526]

Hello,

I was wondering if someone could offer some advice...
I was riding my bike ('90 Ex500) and I stood it up in the grass to put air in the tire. I was in the garage and I heard it fall. I came out and the bike was on it side. :x It fell against a clothesline pole and put a huge dent across the tank. Does anyone know if this is fixable or how i can fix it? I hope i do not have to get a new tank.

 

[webwarrior]

probably the easiest way to repair it is to take the tank off, empty all the gas into a gas container, take off your gas cap, get a small hammer and try to insert the hammer into the tank and very lightly hammer the tank outwards.. Make sure the tank is VERY DRY and doesn't have ANY gas in it though..

 

[Imposter]

Ouch, that looks painful. I would suggest buying a foot for you bike's stand if you do that a lot. Next time you put it down in the grass it will stand on a solid (foot) surface. Also if you have a wet battery check to make sure you didn't loose all your water. It happened to me when I was newbie noob. Otherwise get a sealed battery. Hope that helps you. No one told me anything like that when I dropped by bike. I might save you 60 or so bucks for that tid bit.

 

[89ninjazx6r]

Bash the rest the tank in to where its comfortable to sit on, look like a stunt bike...

 

[Whitey]

I have heard of people using compressed air and "popping" dents out by somehow sealing the tank but don't how it works. I would check ebay, ya might get lucky and find one cheap.

 

[Teknik]

Another method is to weld something onto the top of the tank to pull the dint out, (this is risky due to the petrol), possibly use glue?. Or using a large sucker to pull it out. However if you have creased your tank, and it looks like you have that mark will stay. I have a dint to the side of the tank where the crease for your leg is (right side), i took it to a local garage and was told that since its on the crease on the tank it if not repairable, however i have decided to live with it till i replace the fairing (which is also badly crunched) and am going for a total respray.

 

[gogs11uk]

you will have to watch if you try compressed air as it can also put the tank out of shap. i had this done years ago and the tank never sat right on its mounts afterwards.

To be honest m8, looking at the pictures you have taken its best to go for a new tank as you will never get it right again without using a shedload of filler.

 

[Uncle Bob]

You could weld on a drag bar in the crease for your passengers to hold on to. LOL

Sorry couldn't resist, that doesn't really look like it can be easily fixed, if you don't have bodyshop skills I would start looking for a replacement or shell out about as much to have it professionaly repaired.

 

[rlovrin1]

Sorry to hear about the damage.

I have to agree, look for a new tank or used tank. Start with looking on eBay then salvage yards. Worse case, get a new one at the dealer.

The only way I see to fix it would be to weld a piece of sheet metal over the affected area, bondo, sanding, and a repaint. Basically, hide the dent.

I actually invested the $6, and bought one of these for my bike from the dealer and use it all the time on hot days, grass, dirt, gravel driveways.....

Kickstand Plate, Street Saver

The perfect accessory to insure that your motorcycle's kick-stand has a firm foundation on soft surfaces.• High impact ABS plastic for durability
• Solid black with retrieval line
• Gold Kawasaki logo

Item# K81000-052.

 

[nate480]

Don't know if you got it fixed yet or not, but the only way to fix that, is to use a stud gun which will lightly weld studs to the damaged area, and you can attach a slide hammer to it to pull the dent out. If you do it this way it has to be filled and sanded primed and painted afterwards though. I run a collision center and I've tried alot of things on my own bikes or friends bikes that just don't work so we have to do it right and paint it anyways.
You might as well do it right the first time, it shouldn't be that expensive to fix at a local shop.