Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

You cant go wrong having extra tanks, wish I had some mini trail ones also.

Have any of you guys thought about those paintless dent removal companies. We have 3-4 different ones where I live and I'm sure they are everywhere. They could go throught the petcock hole or gas filler to work em out, you should check into it. Sounds alot easier than cutting tanks in half and rewelding. Just a Thought.

Vin

Hi Vin. Great advice. I'm working on another tank right now and was able to get a few pretty good size dents out from the inside. One dent was on the cap side right where the Honda wing goes. Pretty easy to get to through the filler. Dents on the left side of the tank are much more difficult to get at though as the tunnel pretty much blocks off the left side. I had another dent on the left side right under the decal that could not be reached from the petcock hole and the tunnel blocked access any access from the filler. In this case I drilled a hole in the tunnel directly across from the dent. Using 3/8 steel round stock rounded off on one end I was able to push the dent out. Here's a little trick that really helps......use a magnet on the outside of the tank to help guide the steel rod to the dent. You can tell exactly where the tool is with the magnet. No more guessing where the tool is resting before you start pushing. This makes it much easier to avoid pushing on the wrong spot and creating more work for yourself.

great thread, I'm gonna have to do my '73 CR tank soon.

(behindbars posted: use a magnet on the outside of the tank to help guide the steel rod to the dent. You can tell exactly where the tool is with the magnet. No more guessing where the tool is resting before you start pushing. This makes it much easier to avoid pushing on the wrong spot and creating more work for yourself.)

LOL.. Great idea.. That's one of those " why didn't I think of that..

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Frankie
75 Honda 250 Elsinore
Findlay, Ohio

Nathan, great photos and dimensions for the CR tank paint restore. I have an MT250 tank that needs to be redone. Are the dimensions the same?

I can't verify the dimensions for an MT250 tank since I don't own one. However, if memory serves me correctly, I think the MT250 steel tank is slightly different in shape (wider).

Perhaps someone who owns one could verify the dimensions I have posted and indicate any differences. On the MT250 tank you would just substitute silver paint whereever the brushed aluminum is visible.

Is that tank sticker location for the cr125 pretty close to the 250?

I'm pretty sure the tank sticker is smaller on the CR125M. The shape of the tank is also different on the CR125M. Because of those two things I would guess my illustrations are not accurate for the CR125M.

I'm still having a hard time locating the silver paint to do my MT250...I've taken mine down to bare metal and this really got me thinking. (Yes, dangerous I know! )

What's the opinion of doing a MT250 steel tank like the aluminum CR tanks and then clear-coating the heck out of it to keep the rust off?

Could this work decently or would it be a disaster in the longrun with the steel's urge to rust?

it will be a desaster.

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80 CR250Ra
80 CR250Ra
78 CR250R
80 CR80
82 Bultaco Sherpa 340
78 Bultaco Pursang 250 MK12
76 Bultaco Frontera 370 MK10
76 Bultaco Alpina 250
73 Bultaco Lobito 125 MK6
76 Suzuki RM125A
90 Kawasaki KX250

I got my silver paint from randy at marble motors. I sprayed the silver and it looks good. I am gonna try to spray the green this week