'08 IMS tanks

The baby is upset. Bottle is too small!

Since Husqvarna changed their tank design/location now 3 times alone for the TE/TC 250/450/510s since 04 and IMS carries tanks for Japanese bikes that are running the same tanks for years and years, Halls Husqvarna has always stepped up to produce 100 tanks to get the design going since 04.

With all the major Husqvarna dealers and private owners in the USA crying whats up, Hall's keeps putting up their own money to see this happen. And they usually sell those first run of 100 tanks right away. You would think that with other large Husqvarna dealers here in the USA that come to mind, not to metion Husqvarna USA or before 08 Cagiva in Italy (Large USA dealers such as MS, Uptite, FBF, Taskys, MX,10WEST, etc.), one of them would join in with Hall's and split the cost of the pre production tank runs. Maybe Hall's is tired of footing the bill alone after three separate production runs?

Back in the 04 model year, George Erl of Uptite Husky made one off conversion tanks, running the Suz DRZ 400 tanks for Husky TC models. Maybe he is doing this again for the 08s? I used a Clarke tank in the middle 80s after Vesco tanks no longer fit Huskys. I raced an Husky 510TX in 85 that used a modified by my team, Kawasaki KX 250 IMS tank too, before Clarke made large, 4 gallon tanks for Huskys. They both held up fine back then. I've run IMS tanks since the late 90s and they have held up good too.

I have read where some owners have had issues with IMS tanks splitting, but I haven't seen one personally either here or in Baja in over 10+ years of using them myself. And from what I have heard, those issues were from IMS changing manfactering companies and they were always dealt with right away, with a new tank being sent out if the tank split naturally and not from being thrown to the ground, i.e. endo, high sided, dropped from truck, etc.

Hopefully, the new Husqvarna company, i.e. BMW, will keep the design of the bike and the fuel tank, the same for years to come, so that one tank will fit them as well. Anyone that has been involved in the production end of making a product for mass sell (R&D, R&D, more R&D, then initial molding, more R&D, another molding, fitting them up to be sure they really work as will be advertised, then making an initial batch, trying them one last time, then shipping out to dealers) will tell you, its no easy task to design from start to finish.

I personally hope Husqvarna (BMW) leaves the tank location/design alone for a while. I'm looking forward to hopefully buying an 09 TE 610 and a large tank is nescessary for trips in the desert and down in Baja Mexico and mainland Mexico.

Ah, if I could only get one of my old Vesco 3.5 gallon tanks in my garage to work on a new TE 610, that would be heaven.

Couldnt agree more. Husky needs to sell the TE's with larger tanks, and the TC/TXC's with smaller tanks. And they need to be interchangeable so TE woods guys can go small, and TXC desert guys can go big.

When i built my Dakar bikes i contacted every tank manufacturer i could find.
Its amazing how many little companies there are in places like Spain and France and Brazil and Australia. It wouldnt be very hard to get one to make tanks for us.

Just takes getting 50-75 orders prepaid. Its $10k to start production.

Come on Coffee! How about a 'I want a tank and heres my paypal' sticky?

Also--as much as i am bummed about the tank situation--a big warm fuzzy to Halls and Uptite for working with IMS to get us tanks in years past. THANKS!

I was #1 on the list in '05 for a Halls IMS race tank, and spent a fair bit of time on the phone with them during the design phase...

I hear ya. Im just frustrated not being able to get a tank, and so not being able to buy another Husky. Just venting and throwing out ideas.

I know you have 127389553 other things to do.

Can't help but wonder aloud here, the way George make those Suz DRZ 400, 4 gallon tanks with the big wings, fit the 04 Hus 250s and 450 TCs so well, seems he could fashion that same design technology he used there to make mounts for the 08s, at least the TXCs and TCs. I know the TEs have FI and the injector is inside the tank bathed in fuel, as is the TE 610, but even that doesn't seem insurmountable. Can't you just hack open a tank, install metal screw holes, make a gasket and install the FI inside an existing tank design?

I'm no where near an engineer of any kind, just thinking aloud here. Hate to see any guy here not buy a bike simply because he can't get a tank for it. You know, the 04 TC 450s got 62+ miles per 2.1 gallon tans at trail speeds back in 04/05/ Racing desert and baja with large gearing (15/44 or 46), they got between 48-52 miles per tank. That would still allow you to do most BITD races, all desert races and most Baja races with an organized pit crew helping out.

Tanks take time to design and this new 2008 style Husqvarna 4-stroke tank is really pretty complicated when you look at how it holds fuel in the frame as well as the differences between carbureted and EFI models. Also take into consideration that this tank is being used for all the TE/SM and TXC models as well as the NEW WR125 and it gets even more complicated.

Also keep in mind, the design cost for Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Yamaha tanks we're picked up by the factory race teams when they had Lindsey Pirie from http://www.pirieperfprod.com/p3fueltanks.html design the factory prototype Carbon Fiber/Kevlar/Fiberglass tanks with quick-fills. It was these tanks that ended up in the hands of the after market tank industry who would copy the design and make minor changes for production purposes.

The problem now is Lindsey stopped designing tanks last year and the factories now have to scramble around and find someone else to provide those services which now falling back on the after market industry who has to create tanks from scratch for the big 5 first.

Throw in limited design resources and allocated dollars and you can now see what's complicating the process.

BlipBlip

Something new to learn everyday in life. I always took tank design for granted, probably the way most non engineers like myself take most everything for granted.

I just figured that since the guy above us here was involved in some small way with the development of the 05 IMS tank through Halls Husqvarna as he states, the fix here might be easy. He is also friends with George of Uptite, who made the fix for the 04 bikes as well. So all in all, you would think this is a fairly easy project if all the minds came together as one?

I Googled Mikes name last night and came up with his web site and his failed Paris to Dakar Husky entry from 07 and looked at that monster tank on his TE 510. Maybe whomever made that tank would take on the 08 models too?

My Dakar bike carries 9.6 gallons in 4 tanks with an external pneumatic fuel pump. The front tanks are available here:
http://www.mecasystem.fr/ - they are made with the original KTM Dakar bike molds in an Italian blow mold shop.

Here is another tank guy that would make us tanks if we had enough orders:
http://www.rvaqualine.com.au/home.php
Ive been emailing them from time to time for the last 4 years--they always say there just isnt enough interest. If enough guys emailed them willing to pre pay for a new tank or something similar we would have tanks. Better yet Husqvarna needs to call them and order some tanks!

to my knowledge, IMS is working on a 3 gallon tank,

I understand why Mr. Kay needs more - but 3 gallons is great for me - up to 3.4 would still be okay. Enough fuel to do 50-60 miles in tight trail without being too porky in the mid-section.

jeff

In '05 i got an IMS/Halls tank in late April-3 months after the bikes came out.
And they had 2 sizes, and they had a 610 tank. And there was a Clark tank soon after.

Now its '08, Husky/BMW are on a roll, and after 6 months we dont have any tanks at all.

Thats all i am saying with my rants. Nothing against IMS, nothing against Halls, nothing against Husky.

Well if that is the case, 3 gallons or even 3.4 will allow us to race the local deserts (D-37/38), BITD and Score races using the pits available now. It will limit us for long distance rides, but with Motosports rack and going back to my days when carrying fuel on your waist line was the norm, long rides can still be made off road.

Hopefully, the TE 610 will get a larger tank so taking longer rides is possible with out having to carry fuel externally. Considering all the other large bore, dual sport bikes have larger tanks for just this purpose.

as i was looking around i saw this,

i suppose that TXC (not available in Europe) are with carb

so your problem is solved with 07 tanks.......


TE still a problem with the EFI pump built in

My dealer says he has 15 ims tanks for the te450 (08) on order and they should be in in about 3 weeks. I told him to put my name on one. I guess if you don't see a follow up post from me in about 3 weeks my dealer is full of s**t.

Hall's told us the same thing in mid May. Nothing to do with the dealer as they are getting mislead by IMS.

every IMS dealer is waiting for the 08 TE tanks (including me)

is there an engineer that could tell us a way to use the 07 instead (where to put the pump or use another one??)

could somebody confirm my guess that the 07 tanks fit on the 08 TXC & TC??

As far as I know, it wouldn't work, different mounting points due to the new frame on '08s-up.

It would take time, but there probably is another tank in their (IMS) inventory that could be made to work. Back in 85 while racing the Baja 1000 on a new then 86 510TX, we ran into that problem. The bike had just come out in October 85, and there were not any large tanks on the market yet. The guy I raced with rode Kawasaki's in the desert and fashioned an KX 250, 3.4 gallon, IMS tank to our Husky, and made it work. It took time and a machinest abilities, but it worked great.

Speed forward to 04, thats what Uptite did for the 04 TC 250/450s. He took the Suz DRZ 400 tank (the one with the big wings out front) and made a mount to make them fit on the Husky frames. Like I said earlier in another post, it takes time, energy and sometimes a wallet and a hookup to different tanks. Hopefully the new 08s will be out before we have to go this route again.