Clark 4.7 tank | ManRack (coming soon) | Dirt wheel (coming soon)

Thumper is our 2007 Honda XR650L dual-sport motorcycle. There’s a lengthy blog post here about how Thumper came to be part of our family.

The first thing you should know about me is that I am cheap. Not frugal. Not penny-wise. Cheap. If I can do it myself rather than pay someone, I will. If I can buy an older model on clearance, I will. If I can make it myself, even better.

JK Cycles is a local wholesaler and they list some of their bikes and quads on craigslist. They were kind enough to let me take the bike for a spin and it was love at first shift (when the front tire lifted in 2nd gear). $3500 was a screamin’ good deal. The bike had a brand new rear tire, aftermarket exhaust, and the “smog kit” removed to save weight and squeeze out some more power. It was also covered in product stickers. I’m guessing the original owner was some kid who wanted to look like a racer. I removed all of those, but the 7’s on the number plates just weren’t worth the effort.

The first order of business was, of course, riding gear! We are fortunate to have a Cycle Gear store near by. Their website is great and the in-store staff are very helpful. Plus they’ve got a good selection of clearance items.

The great thing about helmets is that they come out with new models every year and most brands have dozens of paint schemes. That means there’s always a healthy supply of last year’s models on sale. I picked up my Fox V3 (Fox’s top-line motocross helmet) for about half price. Tammy’s Scorpion VX-14 (an entry-level bucket, but still good) was also on clearance.

We also picked up a pair of last-year’s Frank Thomas XTi II mesh jackets for half price. I just want to point out that, living in a hot climate, the XTi II is a fantastic jacket. It’s got armor in the back, shoulders and forearm/elbows. It fits well. But best of all, the mesh is really mesh. You can see my t-shirt through the chest and back. Thus, it’s like wearing an air conditioner while you ride, even at low speeds.

Later, I picked up the matching XTi II pants. These are not mesh. They have a tiny, 6″ mesh area on the thigh, but otherwise look and feel more like snow skiing pants. And they are hot!! I returned them and am still on the hunt for true, hot-weather, mesh pants.

Now, on to the bike.

I knew from reading forums that the first mod would be a larger, plastic gas tank. The stock, metal tank is only 2.8 gallons. Riding to work and back or surface streets, I get 40 mpg. That means I hit the reserve tank at 80 miles. Not good enough. I opted for the Clarke 4.7 tank in red, and I love it. The install was a easy. I even did some recommended fabrication to keep the tank more stable (see below).

With a couple of sockets and allen wrenches, tear down was a piece of cake.

In this side-by-side, you can see that the Clarke is much bigger. It doesn’t have the “elephant ears” (which I think look really stupid anyway) but this doesn’t seem to effect engine cooling. The only time I notice the added width is when I’ve got Tammy riding shotgun and I’m skooched way forward on the seat. Even then, it’s not a concern.

Draining the old tank via the petcock took much longer than I expected (several minutes). I got tired of holding it and rigged this up. Even after completely draining the tank, there was enough gas to make a mess when I removed the petcock. In other words: *Don’t remove the petcock indoors! You WILL spill plenty of gas!* I only used one small piece of the supplied frame pad.

The Clarke comes with this heavy wire support. If you follow the instructions, the wire will go under your frame rail, but not actually connect to anything. I saw this mod recommended online. Cut the wire exactly in the middle. (I used my Dremmel.) There’s a frame tab that used to connect to the “elephant ears”. Put that bolt back in place, leaving enough space for the wire to go behind it. Connect the wire to the tank and bend it around the bolt. (Can be done with strong hands.) After you’ve got the right shape, cut off the excess wire (again, with my Dremmel). Now the tank is connected to the frame on both sides and is very stable. Here’s a before-and-after of the support wire.

Here’s the finished product. Before I ordered the tank, I looked all over for tank graphics, but now that it’s on, I like it naked. The color matches the factory plastics perfectly and now I can go over 150 miles on a tank! Probably close to 200 on the highway.

One downside to the Clarke (which was actually true of the factory tank). Both sides of the tank extend down beyond the frame rail. But the petcock only drains one side. You can end up with about half a gallon of gas stranded on the right side of the tank. The only way to get to this gas is to lean the bike left almost to the ground. I think of it as an extra reserve.