BD Technologies!
F2 Tank Mod
It was our intention, realizing the wickedly horrible inadequacy of the hawk
that the subminiature stock tank is, to realize our first million selling
giantized tanks to wildly exuberant customers. But after years of over
engineering, the solution has been boiled down to something so ridiculously
simple that we are embarrassed to have spent the greater part of our
collective adult lives working on it. It should be more of a Tip/Trick than
something we should be taking advantage of customers with, so with the
intention of bringing Good Will to the world at large, it is our decision to
reveal the Innermost Workings of the Tank Conversion, so you can each
scuttle out to the garage and do it yerself. Sure, we'd like you to buy the
brackets from us, but you don't have too. High res pics and a write up will
follow, but for now, just words.
Caveats: this setup has so far NOT been found to work with the stock airbox,
only with Uni Type pod filters, and therefore stage 3 jetting. It is
currently suspected that running the airbox top off and slight trimming of
the rear of the airbox will work, but this is still in Development at this
time. We think that a hawk without an open intake and Stage 3 jetting is not
worth riding, but you are entitled to your own opinion. We do give the
people what they want, so the airbox friendly version will be completed,
even if it takes us the remainder of our adult lives. You also have to toss
that bracket that collects the hose and wiring under the back of the tank,
right above the shock mount, but who needs that, anyway? Since the drip cup
is gone, the gas overflow thing, you'll need to attach the drain hose to the
tank directly.
The Rifflehawk tank is actually F2, 1993 vintage. Differences between F2 and
F3 tanks are minimal, functionally only involving a puzzle shapedness of a
hawk/F2 gas cap, and a missing mating detail in the F3 tank. If you flip
open yer hawk cap, note the little protuberance that fits into a cutout
detail in the tank; there ain't no cutout in an F3 tank. A quick an easy
solution is spending some quality time with yer file, flattening out that
bump on the cap.
Details, people want details...Previous claims stated that the tank was 4.5
gal, going by some remembrance of F2 details. But when I went up to the gas
station to use their calibrated pumps for measurement, it rang up only 4.2
gal. After recovering from the wooziness related to spilling half a gallon
of said gas in the hatch of the running to the gas station shitbox, I
checked the specs of a long discarded F2 owners manual, also 4.2 gal. I
offer my most sincere apologies, and everyone is welcome to stop by and
spank me for this transgression. It would be possible to pound in some dents
in the bottom of a tank to recover the lost 0.3 gal, but I have not verified
this yet.
Somebody else asked about the seat on the Rifflehawk: it is a slightly
trimmed stock hawk seat, trimmed so that it fits better, eliminating the
"wings" that wrap around the tank. The F2/F3 tank doesn't have recesses for
this part of the seat, so the wings get kind of splayed out. Trimming is not
necessary, save for a slight flattening of a plastic seam on the underside.
Key Necessary Ingredient: Pingle Petcock, single outlet street version with
reserve. The stock F2/F3 petcock is absolutely giant, something about the
vacuum on/off part of it, and the hawk one is largely the wrong size.
Other Key Details: 1" trimming of the tank flange at the back, touch up
painting the newly created exposed edge, poking a new mounting hole, bending
up two simple brackets out of aluminum stock, and sticking on some rubber
bumpers.
So there you have it. Watch for high res pics in the not too distant future,
hopefully with printable instructions. Would you buy the instructions?
Mike Pescetto
President - Big Dick Technologies!
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