Fuel tank swap

[XSive Okie]

Will the the Standard tank bolt right on to a Special, and does anyone know what year range of Standard? I would like to have a little more capacity, and I am not to worried about keeping the bike OE. It's a daily driver and no showqueen! Thanks for any input.

[natemoen]

Depends on your gas mileage for the range.

The tank will bolt right on but you would have to put your fuel light sender in the standard tank because the standard has an actual gauge instead of the light. If you dont switch then your low fuel light will not work. Other than that its a straight swap.

I could take your standard fuel sender unit off your hands if you want to get rid of it when you find a tank. I have a special tank on my standard so I dont know the tank level unless I look in it.

[XSive Okie]

Thanks for the info, Nate. I would probably keep the sending unit so that my light would continue to work, but if that changed, I would PM you and let you know. I like the look of the Special tank better, but I also DON'T like the look of the gas station all the time! I know throttling back every now and again would help a little, but who can do that? These bikes are way too much fun! Now I guess I'm on the hunt for a Standard tank.

[natemoen]

You have a special so you need the sending unit you have now. I have a standard and need a standard sending unit. So if you buy a standard tank you would need to put the sending unit from your current tank into the standard tank. Then you would have the sending unit that came out of your new standard tank left over (if it came with the sending unit and worked) its the standard unit I want if you get one.

[DiverRay]

You will also have to trim the front of the seat pan about 1/2", or less. The standard tank does not slope like the special. The back of the tank is almost upright.

[natemoen]

You will also have to trim the front of the seat pan about 1/2", or less. The standard tank does not slope like the special. The back of the tank is almost upright.

Thats why there is a huge freaking gap in front of my seat! never thought of that. All the more reason to get a freakin standard tank!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Okie,

The other difference is that the Standard uses vacuum controlled petcocks, and the Special doesn't, it has the Octy for that purpose. I can't recall, but I don't think the special petcocks will fit on the Standard tank, but don't hold me to it. I do know that the special petcocks will fit on the XJ tank!

You'll need to connect a couple of vacuum hoses to the standard petcocks and to the intake boot ports to make them work.

I've seen this topic discussed several times before, so a search may also reveal more info.
T.C.

[DiverRay]

Petcocks from the standard and the special will NOT interchange. Bolts are about 10mm off, IIRC. It's easy to pull the octy, and use two vacuum lines, from carb boots 2&3, to run the standard.
And the float for the light on the special, it's on the other side of the tunnel! You will need to flip the sending unit over to have it work correctly. Then you could just reset the trip odometer every time you fill up!

[gareth]

I have fitted the regular standard tank and recently, the big Venturer tank to my SF. Both tanks fitted on fine. It is a bit of a tight fit for the special seat against the rider side of the tank, but it does squeeze on. I reused the special fuel-sender; just set it upside down as other posters have noted. I fitted the special petcocks, no octy, but had to make two adaptor plates from 1/8" aluminium plate to make the petcocks fit . Not a big deal, just a bit time consuming. Just looking at the standard petcocks suggested that there might not be a whole lot of room between the tank and the airbox chrome trim to fit them easily with the fuel lines. I liked the shut-off feature of the special petcocks anyway..
I vaguely remember one member posting that he was actually making adaptor plates for sale, but that was a while ago.

[fredintoon]

Will the the Standard tank bolt right on to a Special, and does anyone know what year range of Standard? I would like to have a little more capacity, and I am not to worried about keeping the bike OE. It's a daily driver and no showqueen! Thanks for any input.

Hi Okie,
I did that swap, here's the details:-
Any year Standard tank bolts right onto any year Special.
The Standard tank must have it's own filler cap and fuel valves as the ones from the Special won't fit.
You will have to swap the Standard's float style sender for the Special's thermistor sender or the red light won't work.
Because the sender opening is on the other side of the tank tunnel the thermistor
has to go in the Standard tank with it's connectors pointing forward or it'll be upside down.
You may have to lengthen the wiring to hook it up.
The Standard tank holds 5.3 USG compared to the Special's 3.9 USG.
If the thermistor is in right side up the red light comes on as you run onto reserve.
If it's upside down the red light comes on about a mile before the reserve runs dry.
You will also need to crop ~5/8" off the seat pan and refasten the front of the seat cover
or the seat's front retaining tab won't go into it's slot in the frame.

[Lamric]

Hi Okie, I put a large standard tank (there are two sizes of standard tank you know) on my SG and wrote it up here

I didn't have to cut the seat but did have to relocate the horns and front reflectors.

[XSive Okie]

Thanks for the responses guys. Sounds like this will be a good winter project, since I would like to take the time to do it right. Currently, the reserves are not even hooked up, so my riding range is even shorter. As soon as I see the light come on, I start looking for a gas station! Guess I need petcocks, as well as the tank, so once again all your help is much appreciated.

Natemon- if this all comes about, I will try to contact you about the Standard sending unit.

[fredintoon]

Hi Okie, I put a large standard tank (there are two sizes of standard tank you know) on my SG - - - I didn't have to cut the seat but did have to relocate the horns and front reflectors.

Hi Brian,
the larger Standard tank is eff-nigh unfindable in North America, installing one may explain you having to move the horns. Although even with the smaller Standard tank the front reflectors gotta go, I'd forgotten that detail.
Odd that your seat fitted without a nose job. The one on my SG would NOT latch in at the front until it was shortened.

[Rev.Rick]

I did the standard tank swap on my special with no problems. The petcocks that came with my standard tank needed rebuilding and I had just rebuilt the ones on the special tank so I thought I would swap them as well. I soon found out what you guys have said about the petcocks not being interchangable. What I did find out however is that I still had a set of petcocks from my 1980 xs850 special and they bolted right on the XS11 standard tank with no leaks or problems. Here's the great part. The reason I had the two spare petcocks from my XS850 is I replaced them with manual petcocks from Mikesxs. Soooo, I believe and correct me if I'm wrong, because the xs850 petcocks fit right on the XS11standard tank, then the Manual petcocks from Mikexs should be a bolt on replacement for any and all desiring manuel petcocks on their xs11 standard tanks. The part # for Mikes manual petcocks is 20-0019 and will fit either side. They are $40 each. but well worth the state of mind you get from the fuel cut off position.

[XSive Okie]

If the fuel hose nipples on the intake boots are plugged off with vacuum caps, would that mean I have the manual petcocks? If so, were the manual type OE for the Special or has someone changed them?