Well, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted here and of course I forgot my password and had to create a new account since I no longer have access to my old email.
Anyway, I used to be just plain old Bubba…now I’m Bubba01…lol
I was riding the other day and felt like my tank was pretty loose. Thinking that I just needed to snug down my rear supports I took the seat and tank off only to discover that the rear bracket had broken all the way through where the plate meets the underside of the tank.
I’ve since taken the tank off, drained the gas, washed with soapy water, dried it with a hair dryer and sprayed the inside with WD40.
I was thinking about welding it but it’s pretty thin and I don’t want to blow through the tank.
Now I’m wondering if I should just make a bracket and spot weld a couple of bolts to the plate where the old bracket still exists on the bottom side of the tank.
That way I can fab a bracket that would be totally removable in the future. One issue I’m VERY nervous about is welding on the tank with my flux welder!!! Don’t really wanna go boom or blow through the perfectly good tank.
Also, I was considering just using JB metal stick putty to fasten the bolts and see how long it lasts….maybe forever????

Kinda long winded post but was hoping for some input…
Thx in advance!

Thx Dave,
I may give it a go! I have a flux welder but I’m just an okay welder…
Mainly concerned about the tank going boom!
I’m not sure how to test if the fuel has been properly evacuated.
I also home brew and was considering purging it with CO2 while I try to weld on it.
Even if I decide to try the homemade bracket and just spot weld some bolts on I’m pretty nervous about the boom factor!

Thanks!
I guess I can try to weld the bracket back into place. If it fails, I'll try to fab a bracket and see if spot welding a couple of short bolts to the tank will allow me to make a new bracket that I can just bolt on.
BTW, I had done the seat mod years ago and I'm wondering if anyone knows if that tends to make the bracket susceptible to break at the weld to the bottom of the tank?
P.S. it's crazy how much a new or even used tank costs....

Little boy to stewardess:  How often to planes crash?

Stewardess to little boy: Only once, dear.

Where are you located?  I could fix it for you, but distance may be a factor.  I am in northern Nevada.

The guy who welded mine says he just puts a little water in the tank when working on gas tanks. And zevenenergie just cut a big hole in his tank to remove some parts and welded it back up. He lived to post about it.
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1687177183/15#15

Bubba01 wrote on 07/06/23 at 13:59:02:

I bit the bullet and paid a shop $175. It's a solid weld from what I can tell.
Quotes from some welders I found on the NextDoor app and some calling around were the same. Didn't have the ability to drive around to small shops to find a cheap alternative since they're only open when I need to be at work.

https://foxfabricationandwelding.com/
https://www.foxfabmoto.com/

They're in Denver at 2401 S Delaware Street. Janky looking outside but a cool shared space inside.

I dropped it off and the guy stayed late one day to knock it out, so it was done in a couple of days. Got lucky since it was during all the rain in May/June so I didn't miss much riding time.

Bubba01 wrote on 07/13/23 at 16:53:21:


That is really nice work!

I wish I could weld that nicely!