Bad news, this sucker is nearly impossible. We have been working VERY hard on it but progress has been limited. The 2 main issues are how close the tank is to the steer tube and how high the tank goes leaving little room for the pin. We have skinned this cat many different ways and are not satisfied with the results. We just ordered some special material (shape) to try and resolve this but we have not successfully come up with a solution I feel safe releasing. For those of you that have this setup turn your bars full lock and see the lack of room for any post. Question - Would any of you be interesting if the post was a weld on unit? Also - how much room do you have in front of the tank before the steer stem? Mine has about 1/8th inch but I'm guessing they will all fit different. This sucker is going to eject my last few remaining hairs !
Kelly, I'm sure you thought of this, but what about using the gas tank bolt itself, it could be a dual purpose bolt; threaded to a certain height so the tank can be fastened to the appropriate height and then the top acts as the post...connected to the damper in a Scotts stepped link arm type of way. I'm just thinking here.... might not have enough lateral strength, but I'm just tossing ideas out there. I guess you could aslo incorporate a steering head clamp in to reinforce.
Very frustrating. Had they just widened the slot / hole we could have built a tower off the bolt area which would have been cool. I looked at modifying the tank to work with this but if you take a flashlight and look in the tank there is not much room and I sure did not want to perforate the tank.
You may have already looked at this, but I'm working on a front mount system, similar to the way BRP mounts the XR650 Ohlins dampers. It's got it's issues, too, but I think I can fet it to work. Clearance between the tank and steering head is the issue, that's why I'm trying the front mount. I hope that 1/8" will be enough material because I can put a lot of beef on the front side. I have the bar / sub mount cut out and I'm working on the "dash" mount. It will have to be mounted higher to clear the arm, but that shouldn't be a big deal. Clearing the wiring harness and keeping it clear of everything will be the problem. I don't know how that would work with your system, but I already had a couple of the Ohlins so that seemed like the cheap way out for me.
We looked into this as well as one of the mounts down by the front fender. I had a WER a long time ago mounted like that and hated the linkage slop and inconsistent damping left to right. As for top mounted but the arm out the front there is just way to much stuff to clear including the triple clamp itself. I don't see that happening. Appreciate all the suggestions. We are working on something but had to order some special metal etc. This is such a PITA !
I have weld on towers on both 510's - no issue at all. You can weld the frames of the pre EFI bikes without shorting out any electronics. Not sure about the new EFI bikes. I will weld a tower onto my new 610 for an under bars mount. I have no choice but to run under the bars mounts. Weld on is probably the best anwswer for the IMS tank bikes IMO.
The problem with that is it has to neck back over the tank making it impossible to install / remove the tank.
Just an idea for ya: Weld some 6mm all-thread where the current tank hole/bolt is. Then washer and nut for the tank. All thread goes up another inch or so. Then screw the tower pin into the top of the all thread.
I have an idea. How about it going under/over the tank like a C clamp and also around the head. It could work. you would have to remove the top triple to get the tank off but its a thought. Don't think I would like to look at this brand new thing sitting around much longer without use.
I'm as upset about this as you are. I have a 24hr race this weekend and will be putting the stock tank back on so I can use the stabilizer. This will mean more stops but will need the damper bad as this is fast and choppy.
What about flipping the whole setup around? So that the damper and post face outward. I'm guessing from the pictures on your site that you would probably have to make a different/smaller base and clamp, but at least no more issues with the tank... still would have to deal with headlight and computer, etc. Adam
I would consider a weld on mount. I assume it would work with both stock and IMS tanks. If it eliminates the current (minor) inconvenience when removing the tank, I might even prefer the weld on.
I like your idea surfer. I would imagine it would be easier to relocate the speedo then deal with that tank. How long has IMS been around, you think they would have caught that. If I was doing a TXC I would mount the trailtech Vapor on top of the bars like Protech does. My two worthless cents. TW
Hope that something works out. I like the 07 bolt on style, could the clamp be rotated and using the narrow part of the clamp weld on angled plates to come to another flat plate that could use the 08 tank mount for strength. Then the post could be used off the top flat plate/tank mount. Something like what Palmer described. Heat gun the front of the tank for needed clearance for the post mount? I'd go for a weld on mount.
I must have been dreaming about this last night; woke up with an oddball idea. A "beam" that runs from the tank mount to the center of the steering stem: At the steering stem, the stock nut is replaced with a taller nut with bearing (Heim ?) in the center. A post on one end of the beam fits in there, the other end of the beam bolts to the tank mount, the pin for the damper arm goes in the middle of the beam. It would take a thicker mount plate for the damper to raise it a bit for clearance.
