do-it-yourself tubeless rims

hey motokid, thanks muchly for posting my pics, i was about to commit hara-laptop! i built the tank out of sheet steel scraps, gas welded. the top part i scavenged from my 81suzuki dr500 tank, which i hung on a nail in 1982, i knew it would come in handy one day! i sealed it with PIR tank sealant. i was aiming at 5gals, but it came out at 6-5gals. the pump had to be mounted outside so it can suck from the lowest fuel level. i built the cannister out of a chunk of allu pipe etc. the tube structure its mounted on is, (i hope ) to protect the gas taps when (not if!) i dump the little bugger! the rock shield is too flimsy and will be replaced. i built a case protector around the front sprocket out of 3/8 allu i no likee the plastic factory one. inboard of the sprocket i mounted a brack-prastic (limey humour) shield to keep crap and small animals out of the seal. on my first baja trip the chain forced a small rock through the seal, damaging the case and causing a bad oil leak. yamaha refused to warranty it . i don't know if the "r" has a seal protector like the 450, if not it sure needs one! i thrash this little bugger in baja my buds all have 650s trying to keep em in sight, but when we come to the twistys, oh boy revenge is sweet! on the right side of the swing arm is a restricter cable to limit the saddle height on the side stand when the suspension unloads, i'm only 5-11 so they must have a really tall factory tester! i never liked the effeminate purpley- blue colour of the plastic so i sanded it with 320grit and sprayed it black, (the factory copied it !) so far the plastic spray paint is staying on. i shortened the indicator stalks and remounted them, they stick out way too far stock. the engine drain plug did'nt have a magnet in it, mine duz now! i built the rear carrier, butt ugly (as i am) but is handy to pull the bike on and off the stand, etc. triker

Wow! Quite the fab job.

Additional photos from Triker.

thanks gediehl4, i appreciate you guys with this pic posting stuff, it's a mystery to me, i'm still wondering at how a cell phone works without being attached with a wire! and as for sliced bread wow! my first bike was an ariel red huinter, in 1951, so i'm somewhat used to motorcycle stuff, but this electronic crap can only be a passing phase, and we'll all be better off when we revert to solid rubber tires and candles etc. (that pic of the seat makes my bum feel fat!) , oh well, its much more comfy than the crotch-prop it comes with. triker

is your tank shroud below the fule pump ?

Nice looking work, triker.. very impressive!

Hi Triker:

I am actually really impressed with the seat shape as it appears to be a 12-hour one vs. the OEM 1.5

Interesting mods and who here would not love a center stand for changing tires after a flat on the road!

Wayne

Wow! Fantastic work. Very impressive.

thanks gentlemen for the kind comments, no one has yet questioned how much weight my mods have added. i don't know, it doesn't feel heavy, even with the tank full, (they are only heavy when you have to pick-em up!), it's way lighter than my last bike a 96 bmw gs 1100 great power, lousy off-road handling, and very heavy to pick up! (it threw me several times to the ground , harshly!). the pump has to be mounted below the lowest fuel level, and the reason it's mounted at an angle, instead of horizontal is cos i didn,t want too much air in the cannister in case the pump ran too hot, being submerged in fuel cools it. the center stand can be removed with two nuts, in fact most of the mods are easily reversible, and cheap to do, (being a cheap bastard myself i do as much as i can myself!) so if necessary i can put the factory tank and plastics back on, though i wont. i read you guys comments on what not to like about the wr and i absolutely agree with them. the factory had to have a reason not to morph a 450 into what we have, maybe they have something up their sleeve. i worked for the suzuki factory in about 1973-4 as a service rep (we were soon to be up-graded to '' service technition", though no more$), and factorys are quite brutal in their secret attitude to their customers, the bottem line is all that counts, moola! money! profit! working for a japanese company was an eye opener for me, though many years ago i worked as a roadtester for NSU , germany, so i kinda expected a culture shock, and got it! if yamaha had only asked any of us future wr owners if we would rather buy a 450 wrrx, with a 3-5 gal tank a bit better seat and a manly colour scheme, (apologies to the guys that like the purple-blue of the 08, it reminds me of a bridesmaid dress colour!) although, during my pro-creative years pink was my favorite colour! i digress, i'm turning into a blog-hog, and reading you gentlemens posts your a tough crowd, so i'll quit while i'm behind ! triker

Are you really 75? Damn. I hope I can still be as big into moto when Im your age.

thanks kjharn, but age is only a number, enjoy what you can, while you can, but quoting eubie blake, if i'd known i was gonna last this long i'd have had fewer crashes along the way (mostly during 6yrs road-racing in europe), triker

That is an amazing feat of shade-tree engineering. I don't know what I like the best about your bike.

I'm ok with the Yamaha blue, but your nod to the RZ350 and bumblebee YZ/MX days is appreciated.

You said you "gas welded" this all together? I assume you mean oxy-acetylene, not TIG or something similar?

to twday, thanks for the kind words re my wr, yes the tank is oxy-acetelene welded steel scraps, i was aiming at 5gals, but maths ain't my strong point, so it came in at 6.5gals. the bike still handles good even with the tank full, alot of the weight is actually lower than that of the stock tank due to the 'saddles'on the sides. any further info let me know..triker