PEX can attain mass-production level of pricing with the small numbers we make - but only when I limit the value of my time spent on the mold.The iPhone 13 launch video played a tune inspired by Dum Maaro Dum to describe the features of its latest phone. I saw they are an ideal situation in all ways save for painting them. Our Monster tanks were developed as a result from the knowledge gained from our other fuel tank projects. The nylon base material that goes into the OEM tanks costs our manufacturer more than $400 to purchase! The big difficulty with the crosslinked poly was having the red custom ground & re-extruded to match the color of my S2R. As far as I know, the closest priced carbon tank for a monster comes primed so you don't see the layup, doesn't use OEM filler, & is 3~4 times the price.Ĭrosslinked polyethylene (PEX) is inexpensive to buy and "easy" to work with. The reason these are not paintable is why they are priced so low.Ĭarbon fiber is expensive material and is labor intensive to make each tank. Meeting DOT isn't difficult, especially when the OEM filler cap is used. At least 400 hours have gone into effort towards making our MTT tank and its mold backwards compatible and accessible to carb'd monster owners. My goal and hope was to save carb'd monster owners from the expense of buying the fuel flange plate. It essentially mimics the round fuel flange on S2Rs and other new "plastic tankd" monsters, but adapts it to use on metal tank'd monsters, both carb'd and injected.īasically, what I'm saying is that if we can't get the "carb'd version" of the tank working, we'll not make it. This flange has the 30mm fuel sender bung and 1/4" npt fittings in it and a big o-ring.
We are currently having some inserts changed elsewhere in the mold and as soon as that repair is completed, we will be offering the tanks for efi applications.įor the carb'd owners, until we have sorted out the issue with the inserts, we will sell an efi tank and a fuel flange plate that bolts to the tank. The change I did to the mold for the efi flange is testing well. They act normal and then after a few months of use has gone by, they start leaking. Well, something about that special fitting isn't bonding the way that inserts normally do.
(In my mind, the carb'd version was a slam dunk and I was worried about the efi's big fuel flange) For the carb'd tank, we have a 1/4" npt fitting and a special fitting we had made for the fuel level sending unit.
In a curious turn of events, the efi version turned out to be the reliable version of the tank and carb'd one not so much. Right now, we have suspended sales of the carb'd versions of the tanks. Polyethylene isn't quite like teflon, but nothing really sticks to it. expect them to bubble up and/or fall off.
It would be really great to paint up the fuel-visible tank to look like the old bevel 900's!įor those playing along at home, I'm looking at these tanks for carburetted Monsters:ġ) Probably the efi seat will work the best.Ģ) Our tanks have 1/4" npt threads on the bottom, so it is conceivable that bulkhead QD fittings could be found.Ĥ) No not paintable. I am at least interested in putting some logo on the side, like modern DUCATI lettering. I was going to pick up a spare seat to go with the track tank so my street stuff and track stuff were kept separate and wanted to make sure I looked for the correct unit.Ģ) Is there a way to rig quick-disconnects that will facilitate an easy change?ģ) Anything I should get to make the track tank a bolt on/plug-in affair?Ĥ) Is the tank paint-able? Can vinyl graphics be applied. Is there a particular year seat that will fit the contours best? As I understand the contour of the tank and thus the seat changed, the seats are 1993-19+ (While the frame didn't change until 2002). I'm very interested in your sportbike shaped track tanks for the Monsters.