Removing false "tank"?

Otay fellers(and feller-ettes)...I need to get the false tank off my '81 so I can check the coolant level in the raditater,and check/clean/replace the overflow hoses. can't be that hard to do, right? Problem is, I ain't got a clue where to start. I checked the Clymer manual, and there's nothing there. I have not looked thru the factory manual yet, but I certainly will.
Any helpful hints/tricks to getting the faker off without damaging anything else?
While I'm thinkin aboot it, my forward door on the "tank" doesn't seem to open very far...at least not as far as I think it should. It's a pain to check the fuses, because the forward door only opens about 1/2 the distance or less, than the rear door opens. Is that fairly normal, or should the door open almost straight upright?

Joel, to remove the shelter, you have to remove the seat because there are two bolts under the front of the seat that hold the back of the shelter on. There are also two bolts one on either side at the bottom front of the shelter. I have a Vetter faring and I have to remove my faring to get at the two front bolts (although my faring pops off by taking off four frame bolts). The front lid on mine only goes about 45 degrees open before it snags. I can make it go further, but not 90 degrees.

I just pulled mine for the same reason. three screws in the lower fairing on each side had to come out to get to the two bolts on the front of the shelter.
Yeah, about 45 degrees seems right.

The forward door on mines doesnt open straight up, Only about 70% of the way
First you have to take off the seat, There are 2 bolts holding it on, One on each side, If you have a 1/4 in drive socket set with a swivel you might be able to remove the bolts without removing the side saddle bag(s), I had to remove at least one to get to the bolts
Once the bolts are removed just pull the seat backwards towards the trunk, It has a lip on the front holding it down

After the seat is off you'll see the 2 bolts that hold down the false tank under the tip where the seat used to be
I believe there is only one bolt holding down the front of the false tank, I think its on the right side and you have to have a long extension to reach through the fairing vents to get to the bolt

I dont remember removing the front bolt too well cause i never put it back in :mrgreen: And you dont need to cause it doesnt move around without it, After all the bolts are removed, All you have to do is pull it straight up, Its made about an inch too narrow and scrapes on the way up so what i do is pull it up from the bottom side, While pulling it up i also pull outwards on the sides of the false tank to give it more clearance on the way up
Its more helpful when putting it back on to pull outwards on the sides of the tank to give it more clearance
Hopes this helps :salute:

I agree with Andrew.... I removed the front 2 bolts and have not put them back in.. just the 2 under the seat... if you get down and have a racheting box end wrench then you can remove the bolts up front or put them back.. clearence is tight there for them..

Thanks for the info and pics, guys! I was sure hoping I didn't have to take the fairing off...that would have made me put this off even longer. The wiring harness going into the fairing on mine looks like MacGruver(or his brudder "Bubba") installed it, and I just ain't up to messing with re-wiring it right now. :head bang:
At least it sounds like the door on mine is the same as ya'lls, in that it doesn't open up very far. What a goofy idea, eh?
I'm gonna give it a shot here after a-while. Wishes me luckies!! :mrgreen:
Thanks again for the tips! :good:

Hey Joel you can call me if you need instant help!!

Thanks for the fone call, Joep!! :clapping:
I managed to get the shelter off with no problems at all. Taking the lowers off gave me direct access to the two bolts on the front, with a 10mm socket , 10" extension, and ratchet. :mrgreen: The shelter pulled right straight up/off, with no interference anywhere.
Once I got the rad cap off, guess what I saw? Com'on...guess......NOTHING! That's right, NOTHING! :crying: Dry as a bone down thar! :Awe:
I found that the elbow fitting that the coolant hose attaches to from the rad to the overflow tank was basically deteriorated to the point of crumbling, and it had a fairly large hole in it. Soooo....I'm purdy sure that's why my rad is low, but the overflow is always full. Thanks to info from other threads here at CGW, I totally expected to see what I saw. :read:
I'm headed down to Pep-Gurls to get me an elbow for a replacement.


I DID manage to "modify" the front door on the shelter to open a full 90*, too!! :yahoo:

Pictures and updates at 11!!!(or as soon as I get to the point of taking them!) :mrgreen:

AApple":2wowmzr8 said:

I DID manage to "modify" the front door on the shelter to open a full 90*, too!! :yahoo:

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Oh yea? How's that? Mine can go a little further since the front bolts are missing.... Thanks to the PO
It doesn't move around when its shut, just a little when I'm holding it open
Mine probably would stand straight up but the bracket with the missing bolts gets caught on something

BigAndrew":dgs6ftw8 said:

AApple":dgs6ftw8 said:

I DID manage to "modify" the front door on the shelter to open a full 90*, too!! :yahoo:

Click to expand...

Oh yea? How's that?

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Well, Andrew....I'm glad ya axed!! :mrgreen:
I just uploaded my pics.

click on image for link to my gallery pics of the stuff I did today :good:

Otay...here's my adventure for the day...
I wanted to get to the raditater cap so I could check the coolant level, as I thought the bike was running hotter than it should. The gauge has been running a bit over center, and the fan runs all the time in traffic. I got the top shelter off easy enough, thanks to the tips from youse guys. Took the rad cap off, and saw nothing but air in the top of the rad. I kinda expected that, so my suspicions were confirmed. I took the overflow bottle off, and dumped the coolant that was in it into the rad. It took prolly 1/2 quart or so to get it up to the bottom of the filler neck of the rad. My overflow has always been at the "Full" mark from day one...it has never changed. Once I filled the rad from the overflow bottle, it went down to the "Low" mark.
Now comes the actual reason it wouldn't flow back/forth from rad to overflow. The plastic elbow fitting for the hose from the rad to overflow was crumbling, and just wasn't allowing a transfer of fluid. The solution for that was to go to the parts house, and buy a small selection of vacuum fittings. The largest one of the "els" in the package was perfect for a replacement, so that was a fairly easy fix. :clapping: :yahoo:
I got the fitting taken care of, and replaced the hose from the rad to the overflow while I was there. I put the overflow back on loosely, and fired it up. I watched the coolant in the top of the rad for a while, and once it started coming up, I put the cap on. I let it run until the fan cycled on/off a couple of times, and I saw a few burps from the overflow tank, confirming the hose/fitting was working fine. I then filled the overflow back up to "Full". and bolted the tank down snug.
Then I moved on to the aggravating top lid of the shelter. :Awe: It just doesn't open up far enough to suit me, and it's a royal pita to check the fuses if needed, along with being next to impossible to get to the overflow tank cap.
Looking at the bottom side of the shelter revealed that there are two "tabs" that keep the lid from opening any further. The solution for me was to bend the two tabs out of the way, and....presto-chango, the lid now opens to straight UP. I did leave one of the tabs bent just enough to put tension on it while it is open, so it will stay open, and not just flop back down. The lid will not open all the way if the steering is turned to one side or the other, but it will when the steering is closer to straight ahead, and it doesn't touch anything else in the full open position. arty:


I also managed to break my other mirror in the process of trying to tighten it up.... :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: Anyone got a good used one for the passenger(r) side? :beg:
I need to get two new mirrors, since I broke the driver side(l) one last summer. I "modified" it to work, but it sure looks like crap...now BOTH of them look like crap....at least they match... :Awe: :smilie_happy:

The tank lid opening up like that seems more better, gonna have a look at mine. :good:

Mirror fix! If you striped the threads for the adjustment bolt hole, you can fix them with a little JB weld or thread repair putty, but remember to wipe the bolt with some grease or WD 40 so it won't stick solid. and don't over tighten it.

On both of mine, the stud that the small bolt threads into snapped off. :sensored: My "fix" was to drill a hole all the way thru, and use a small bolt w/nut. It works otay, but the bolt head sticking out of the top of the mirror base looks like doo-doo.... :blush:

I have the same problem as far as the plastic elbow piece being broken from day one of me owning the bike, I really need to fix that, Last time i had problems with my bike over heating i took off the false tank and had to add exactly 3 of those 16.9oz bottles of water to top off the radiator :sensored:

I'll also do that lid mod as well :clapping: :clapping: :mrgreen:

AApple":1tcjj58z said:

It works otay, but the bolt head sticking out of the top of the mirror base looks like doo-doo.... :blush:

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:smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: Im sorry but that cracked me up :salute:

Hey! I got a top box just like that! :good:

scdmarx":2vo9k555 said:

Hey! I got a top box just like that! :good:

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I just now figured out what you meant!! I've had that set-up since about '89. That's my home box....my big box is in storage, I'm using my "Corvette" box at the shop.

Ya know, with the front lid on the shelter opening up now, it's the first time I ever even noticed the two decals on the bottom side of it!! Never knew they were there....
We'll see this evening on the ride home if my coolant recovery repairs made any difference. :beg:

Just wanted to throw my two cents in;I replaced the two front bolts for the "Tank" with ones with Allen heads and use a long(about 6-8 inch)allen key with a T-handle to remove/install them WITHOUT removing the lower side panels.Just go in through the "Vents" on the sides.Makes tank removal a little faster and easier.Acually I`ve changed ALL the bolts on fairing,side panels,tank,handlebars,controls,radiator,etc.(everything that was 6mm thread dia.) with stainless allen head hardware and can now tear the whole thing down with just ONE tool,my 5mm allen t-handle!(before you guys start writing;my 6mm bolts have heads for a 5mm allen key)

But...having all of the fasteners one size would just be boring!! Where's the fun in that? :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy:

On a lighter note, mine DID run a wee bit cooler on da ride home this eve! arty: :yahoo: It is now running just a smidge(hi-tech term) over center on the gauge, instead of about halfway between center, and "Hot", or the red zone.. :yahoo: That's gotta be at least 5-10 deg cooler, eh?
The temps here have been in the high 90s....100s not too far away... :heat:

Mid gauge at 90-100 outside temps is about where mine runs.

Mine also runs a "smidge" off center! :smilie_happy: But then again, so do I! :smilie_happy: