Creative solutions for this dent???

The Professor

The Professor

Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
91
Location
Brockville, Ontario, CANADA
Bike
ST1300A
I have a tank dent that I would like to fix (see picture).

I have found a replacement tank in pretty good shape but I'm looking for a creative (read cheaper) solution.

Got any ideas?

I've seen the Bagster brand tank covers.

Is there anything easier like a tank pad or something that could be used to cover this dent?

All ideas are welcome. Thanks.
 

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Body shop can fill it, smooth it out and repaint. May be cheaper to find a used one on Fleabay
 
It may be worth $20 to try a "Ding King" dent puller (no drilling, no bondo). You may be surprised at how good you can make it look. If it comes up pretty well but the paint is scratched, well, that's a great place for a St-Owners sticker!
 
If that's one of those with the suction cups, I give it a thumbs up repair. I had two dents in my tank that I was able to pull the majority of the dent out with and then fill the remainder with body filler. I had a smooth surface worked out but ultimately gave up trying to match the black with a rattle can and bought a new pre painted tank.
pops13 said:
It may be worth $20 to try a "Ding King" dent puller (no drilling, no bondo). You may be surprised at how good you can make it look. If it comes up pretty well but the paint is scratched, well, that's a great place for a St-Owners sticker!
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There are businesses that are "paintless" dent pullers. They go to area car dealerships to pull out door dings out on the lot. They have different types of spoons to get the dents out. I'd try to look up one of them. They are pretty resonably priced. I bet to fix that ding might be under 50 bucks. I doubt that a suction cup alone would pull that out. It looks like there are other deeper dings in that tank.
 
skidlid1300 said:
There are businesses that are "paintless" dent pullers. They go to area car dealerships to pull out door dings out on the lot. They have different types of spoons to get the dents out. I'd try to look up one of them. They are pretty resonably priced. I bet to fix that ding might be under 50 bucks. I doubt that a suction cup alone would pull that out. It looks like there are other deeper dings in that tank.
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I think these are the same folks that repair a lot of hail damage, I was thinking they used heat guns some how to repair the minor dents.
 
tercol58 said:
I think these are the same folks that repair a lot of hail damage, I was thinking they used heat guns some how to repair the minor dents.
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I have only seen the "spoons" and irons of various lengths and sizes used on doors and side panels...
 
skidlid1300 said:
There are businesses that are "paintless" dent pullers. They go to area car dealerships to pull out door dings out on the lot. They have different types of spoons to get the dents out. I'd try to look up one of them. They are pretty resonably priced. I bet to fix that ding might be under 50 bucks. I doubt that a suction cup alone would pull that out. It looks like there are other deeper dings in that tank.
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I happen to be in that business, and most PDR (Paintless Dent Repair) guys don't/Won't do motorcycle tanks...The metal is considerably thicker than the metal on your car. It usually requires specialized tools and lots and lots of more practice and it takes 2-3 times longer...I don't think you will find somebody that will do it for $50 either..usually around one third the price of a new tank. You can call around to some bike shops (especially Harley) and ask if they use/ have any Motorcycle PDR guys..
I am trying to get the skills and tools developed to do Bikes, but I am not there yet. :-(
 
What if you leave the dent as is and come up with a really creative explanation for how it got there?

("Looking back, it did seem rather odd that a rhinoceros would be walking up my driveway....")
 
skidlid1300 said:
There are businesses that are "paintless" dent pullers. They go to area car dealerships to pull out door dings out on the lot. They have different types of spoons to get the dents out. I'd try to look up one of them. They are pretty resonably priced. I bet to fix that ding might be under 50 bucks. I doubt that a suction cup alone would pull that out. It looks like there are other deeper dings in that tank.
Click to expand...

This is the way I went to have a dent in the tank of a Vstar 650 I had until this last year. It cost me $75.00, but the guy spent over an hour making up and then re-adjusting a tool to get through the fuel filler. This will only work if the tank is single and not double walled. In my case, it worked perfectly and, when he was finished, I couldn't see any sign of the dent. Look for "paintless" dent repair in your area.
 
Bones said:
What if you leave the dent as is and come up with a really creative explanation for how it got there?

("Looking back, it did seem rather odd that a rhinoceros would be walking up my driveway....")
Click to expand...

Bones, the more of your posts I read the more I like your style! Thanks, that response made me laugh today at work.
 
The PDR guys have a tuff time with a real dent, they work best on the "push in" kind of dent, not so good with creases and secondary dents.

I've replaced a reall busted tank with one that looked worse than that. :D
 
I got paniced and accidentally hit my tank much too hard with the side of my fist at a gas station (-stuck gas cap syndrome in the middle of the night). Put a man fist sized dent in the tank. Anywho, a couple days later I picked up a $20, hot glue gun dent puller (from O'Reilly's) and through a series of small and incremental pulls, fixed it right up. I know there's a few small depressions remaining, but no one else has ever noticed them. Pulled the dent, didn't hurt the paint, didn't get busted by my wife.

I must admit that I was hesitant about the hot glue trick, but it worked excellent. There is a five minute sweet spot to pull the dent, and once the glue cools down all the way, just sideways pry the puller free of the tank.

Heck, for twenty bucks...
 
This is worth a try. Works best with smooth push in dents, but I was able to get @ 90% of the dent in my daughter's car fender to pop out using this technique. I used a HF heat gun on low setting. FWIW, you can also use dry ice
 
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