Hi Folks,
Received my IMS KLR650 tank from IMS a few days ago. Initial impression was
both good and disappointing. The tank looks excellent. Really adds some
visual character to the KLR, that I thought had been missing. Tank appears to
be very strong and well built. The kit came complete with the required
hardware and the instructions were very clear. I did find some problems
though. These problems may, or may not, be prevalent with all tanks. The
reason I say this, is because IMS hasn't run any new tanks, except the
military green ones, for a very long time. Since I purchased mine directly, I
may have received an earlier version. Corrections may have been made to the
items I found, the IMS rep. is looking into it for me. Anyway, what I found
is minor and can be compensated for. So here are the bad points that I
located. First, the inlet hole for the stock petcock primary fuel stem is not
large enough to accept the stem with the strainer filter still on the stem.
The hole needs to be opened up about .040" to allow the stem and strainer to
pass through. Second, there is too large of a gap between the fuel tank and
the right tank shroud along the back vertical edge of the shroud. The only
way to shrink this gap is to fabricate two new mounting brackets for the
shroud. The new brackets will require a "S" joggle in them in order to move
the shroud back between .250" and .375". The excessive gap isn't overly
noticeable unless you are looking for it, but I would like a cleaner look.
Third, the left shroud overlaps the top of the tank where the Phillips screw
is used to secure the top of the shroud. The mold of the tank did not move
the material far back enough for the shroud to fit correctly. The end result
is that the top corner of the shroud overlies the tank by approximately 1.5"
to 2.0". Again, some modification work will remedy this anomaly. Fourth,
there is now a gap between the seat and the ride side -- side cover. There
was no gap before installing the tank. Again, a little work will remedy this
problem.
All of the problems I encountered ended up being cosmetic in nature. Even
though the mounting hardware was slightly off in location, it all bolts up
snugly. Many people that aren't super picky may never notice, or even care,
about these anomalies because they don't seem to affect the function. The
tank bolts right up and looks good doing it. As far as carrying capacity is
concerned, the bid is up in the air. The catalog claims 5.5 gallons. IMS
rep.'s will tell you 7.1 gallons. The pump meter at my local Mobil station
told me that this tank took 6.3 gallons of fuel. I know pump meters aren't
perfect, but they do have to meet a minimum calibration standard, so I'm
betting that the tank actually holds between 6.0 and 6.5 gallons of fuel. In
the light of weight savings, I believe that some has been accomplished. I
didn't have a scale to weigh them, but holding them by hand I am guessing
that the IMS tank weighs approximately 1/2 of the stock steel tank. The IMS
tank also appears to have less center throat material which makes it easier
to get fuel from the right side of the tank, over to the left side of the
tank. All in all, I am initially pleased with this tank. It looks really
good, went together easily, and it reduces the amount of weight that I am
carrying up high. I attached a Chase Harper tank bag with just a little
planning and intuition. Granted, for $200.00 I think the finished product
could be a little cleaner upon assembly. Once again, the IMS guy is looking
into this for me, anyway. If you want a light weight replacement tank, I
would recommend the IMS tank.
Ordered my Pirelli MT-70's today from Dennis Kirk. By the way, DK stands by
their claim of beating anyone else's prices. I had found that MAW had the
Pirelli's for a substantially lower price than DK was advertising them for. I
told the DK salesperson this, she verified the price at MAW's website and
then sold them to me for $4.00 less that MAW wanted, including shipping. The
result was that I saved $40.00 off the DK price. I ended up getting the front
and rear Pirelli MT-70 for $148.00. DK's advertised price was $188.00 and
MAW's was $138.00 plus $16.00 for shipping. So, if you like dealing with DK,
but have found a lower price elsewhere, let DK know, they will beat the
competitors price, provided they can verify the price. (IE; a website,
telephone quote. No catalog comparison though)
Going for a ride tomorrow, I'm on vacation, getting ready to move to Austin.
So, I am taking tomorrow off for a well deserved day of riding. Have a good
one my friends.
Jim Sherlock