After visiting the Cardiff VJMC show I've decided I must, must, must crack on with Abigail, my long forgotten cafe racer project. I have a shed full of bits waiting to be fitted, so I thought I'd begin with the tank. The tank I've got is not from an XBR, but comes from a GB version of the bike. Good thing is it doesn't have the side panel mounting lugs attached. Bad things are... Well... it doesn't fit the frame! I can, with a bit of modification, get it to sit on the rear frame mount but I'll need to re-site the front mounts.
Another bad point is it's peppered with holes. The previous owner has tried to repair it with an internal epoxy resin but it hasn't worked. This means I also have to get the resin out before I can use it. Problem is that to soften the resin I need to use a solvent, but because of the holes the solvent leaks out. Answer is to wash out any trace of petrol, strip the paint off and solder repair all the pin holes before attacking the resin. Plenty to keep me busy. Anywho, here's a couple of pictures of the 'before' tank. You can just make out some of the paint blisters from the leaking fuel along the bottom edges.
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