Suzuki Drz400S

[Watchman]

Well, the next stage of the project was to change the petrol tank. The stock tank holds 10 liters, which is OK, but still on a long trip or when heading into a trail you're always on pins on if you can make it back. And for some mysterious reason my fuel consumption suddenly dropped from 20kmpl to 12. That's a story for another day).. Having to top up every 120km is a real buzz-kill.

So I did my research and there were a few options. I sure am lucky that the DRZ is a popular bike around the world. So there's a whole lot of after market tanks 12ltr, 13ltr, 17ltr and even 28ltr. The pro of the big tank is that you get longer range, but the con is that the bike gets pretty heavy and a handful in the dirt.

So i figured 17ltr would be a good choice, and as luck would have it, i knew a guy who knew a guy who was able to get me a 2nd hand tank for $170 whereas a new one would be more than twice that. The tank had been in storage for a long time and the decal was pretty much decaying..So I spent a few nights rubbing it with a 800 +1000 grit sand paper followed by some brasso and elbow grease. The tank came out pretty nice. The before and after...

I was gonna take the tank to a mechanic cos I thought the mounting points could do with some reinforcements, but then I realized I couldn't carry the tank on the bike, so it ended up being a DIY job.

I was advised against using the old rubber gasket and petcock cos the gasket could have hardened with age and hence, not sit well onto the new tank. So I got a new petcock off ebay. $12 only.

The what-not-to-do lesson: When cutting the length of hose to from the petcock to the carb, don't leave extra length for good measures. Once the tank settled down the tube becomes too long and bends, thus depriving the engine of petrol and the engine dying abruptly. I learnt this on an expressway, nearly shat myself a bit there.