650L alternate tank?

[robinelwood]

I may be searching wrong, and if so, apologies..

I have an '83 650 L...it's largely stock, but w/ less buckhorn-ish bars. The tank is in no special shape, and in sourcing a replacement, I'd love to put a larger gs tank on in its place to increase range. Has anyone gone through a similar search, and/or is there a good source of tank interchangeability out there somewhere? (the 'L'has the 2 bolt-hole tabs at the back)

Thanks, and, again, apologies if I'm re-asking a comon question.

[tkent02]

I have a 650E tank to sell, but I don't know how it would fit.

[Richsuz]

This has been discussed amply in this forum. I have the same problem, the same bike. I am waiting to finish cleaning the gremlins out of my XS to have something to ride, and I will have someone make the OEM tank wider. NO other tank fits this chassis, unfortunately.

[tom203]

I have a 650E tank to sell, but I don't know how it would fit.

Mr. Robinelwood, someone has to be the path finder! Ask tkent02 for some basic dimensions and you might be able to enlighten us. I think the L model lowered seat thickness at front and dropped the tank rear height down, so short guys like me could plunk both feet on the ground. If the E tank fits in the rubber bushings at front ( it should ), then you could probably fiddle with rear mount and seat stuff.

[Hammered]

This has been discussed amply in this forum. I have the same problem, the same bike. I am waiting to finish cleaning the gremlins out of my XS to have something to ride, and I will have someone make the OEM tank wider. NO other tank fits this chassis, unfortunately.

No totally true. Im pretty sure ( this is if you have the same mounting as I do with 2 bolts in the rear) that the 850 of the same mount will work. Im trying to get a donor to make 100% sure. Now if you have this mount and want something with the single horizontal bolt mount, make an adapter plate. Its easy. Im about to start my refit/rebuild of the 650 I crashed. The tank only got dinged, but it wont fit the cafe-ish look Im working toward. When I get a few, Ill try to draw something up real quick and simple to better explain.

[Richsuz]

No totally true. Im pretty sure ( this is if you have the same mounting as I do with 2 bolts in the rear) that the 850 of the same mount will work. Im trying to get a donor to make 100% sure. Now if you have this mount and want something with the single horizontal bolt mount, make an adapter plate. Its easy. Im about to start my refit/rebuild of the 650 I crashed. The tank only got dinged, but it wont fit the cafe-ish look Im working toward. When I get a few, Ill try to draw something up real quick and simple to better explain.

I had the oportunity to try a 850L at the Suzuki dealer, well not try, look at and off the bat, it was wider spacing in the front mount, and needless to say, longer by more than two incles, (eyeball), I dont want to change the seat, it is very confy, so, so far the only option I see is to widen the original.

[Steve]

I have an '82 650L and an '82 850L here. Kinda busy right now, not sure if I will have time to check it before next week, but I could give you a positive "YES" or "NO" by next week.

.

[salty_monk]

Dan the man runs a different tank on his 850L. I think it's an 80 550 tank... Not as big as a G tank but bigger than an L tank.

He documented fitment somewhere.

If anyone wants an 850G tank with one bolt hole that's in good shape (but needs paint) then please let me know... I have one.

[robinelwood]

thanks!

thanks for responses, gentlemen. Every bit of info helps; there's plenty of room inside my head. Much appreciated. Robin E

[DanTheMan]

Dan the man runs a different tank on his 850L. I think it's an 80 550 tank... Not as big as a G tank but bigger than an L tank.

He documented fitment somewhere.

If anyone wants an 850G tank with one bolt hole that's in good shape (but needs paint) then please let me know... I have one.

The tank I have on mine now, after many discussions is from a 650. It's a 4 gallon tank v/s the original 3.2 gal I had on the bike. Being an L model I had to move the mounting ears forward and weld a double bolt mount on the straight part of the frame. I also had to change the triple tree to one off the parts G that I have since the tank doesn't have the cutaway of the L tank. Since your bike is an '83, you might already have the 4 gal tank, I don't know what they put on the later model 650s. By '82, the 850L tanks had expanded to 4.5 gal I think. Steve knows the exact size, his wife's is an '82 850L.

[robinelwood]

Sounds like the seat still lined up OK? I have the 3.2gal....four would be an improvement. thanks for the info....

[Richsuz]

Thanks for the input Dan. So it was a 550 to which you adapted a 650G tank, correct? seem like a lot of work and a lot of mod to the frame, including a tripple change. Do you have pics of the process, or before and after pics? Robinelwood, share with us if you actually go forth with the change. I know a lot of people have asked the same question here in the past and nobody has actually done the change on a 650L. I am in the hunt for a tank to split and add 2 inches to each side. I think this will minimize changes to the bike itself and allow me to revert if I dont like it. Dan's project seems too radical and costly for me.