On my recent Moab trip, I tipped over when a bunch of us were stopping on the Pritchett Canyon trail. The engine was off and we were just parking...IDRIDR can attest to this...LOL!

Anyway, a couple of days later I noticed some coolant seeping from the overflow tank back there at the rear of the bike...not from heat but from a couple of cracks caused by that tipover. No big deal as I only had one ride left to do, and our KLX's could probably do without the tank anyway. Still, I like having the small security that tank can provide in an extreme situation.

I got home and ordered up a new tank at the shop I used to work at...surprisingly not that expensive even at retail. When installing the new tank, I saw a couple of thing I didn't like and that may have contributed to the tank cracking in the first place.

In pic one you can see the tank is pressed into the battery/coolant tank frame tube when it's tightened down. The old one had some serious rub marks from this spot. I used an old Oury bicycle grip to wrap the frame tube and tied it down with a pair of zip ties. Also the number plate/side panel has a stiffening ridge that had been rubbing the tank enough to start flattening that ridge. Not a big deal normally, but after a few impacts, that's a concentrated point of impact during some crashes...or tipovers. I removed some of that ridge so it's flat at that spot now. I also added 2 stick-on foam pads to the side panel for more impact absorbing capability. When bolting the overflow tank to the frame, I also used a pair of rubber backed metal washers between the tank and frame. This spaced the tank out just a hair to ease stress on the mounting tabs and isolates the tank a bit more from the frame.

Overkill?...most assuredly so...but it cost nothing with just some junk and spare parts around the shop. Never throw anything away...LOL! The tank is better isolated now from both vibration and from impacts causing it to be hammered against the frame tube. Not a big deal, but something you might do when working back there at some point, or if you have to replace an overflow tank in the future.

 

Nice fix, I will have to look at mine. Tanks for da heads up T&C

Dan

 

TNC's bike was so clean...this may have been the first time it's been down . It even looked like he cleans his chain! ---that fine red Moab sand sure finds its way into everything.

Thanks for posting. Definitely something to look at during scheduled winter maintenance.

 

Now see here...we're on a forum with deej. My bike doesn't even compare to anything I'd call clean in light of that...LOL! You gotta admit that it's one advantage of riding in the Moab area. Water and mud are pretty hard to find most of the time.

 

Well, TNC, by "clean" I didn't mean no dirt...like Deej's...but instead not as banged up as mine. I've been tough on it for only having it for nine months!

Water and mud were hard to find. But that fine red sand was just everywhere. I think I still have some in the bellybutton! When the wind blew Sunday night and Monday morning, I was out in a tent with a full-down rain fly, and I could literally feel the sand raining down on me from coming up under the rain fly.

 

Now Scott...I don't think we needed that mental image of sand in your belly button...LOL! Man, that wind and rain storm the next morning was brutal. I've been going to Moab since the 70's, and I don't recall rain coming down on main street horizontal to the ground. I couldn't even get out of the wind that day going all the way down to Socorro, New Mexico. The K&N in my van was packed with dirt when I got home.

 

Hmmmm. The first thought that came to my mind is: "You lie, and I'll swear to it!"

Ron

 

LOL!...it's unfortunately the truth. Believe me...I would rather have a had a stirring story of dropping into a steep, ledgy canyon at top speed with VW sized boulders everywhere, ending with an, "I almost cleared that last 10 foot gap" that ended in a spectacular crash. But alas...a Laugh-In style tipover at a dead stand-still is all I could muster...LOL!

 

Nice "upgrade"! Since I put on the Baker 1.1 Aux tank, I relocated my "catch tank to the front of the bike behind the left shroud. It's a smaller bottle than stock, but, as you said, the bike can probably do without one anyway.