Fairing to tank bolt put hole in tank

[mhobie16]

Hello all,yes I did it,just screwing in the bolt to store it while I was doing valves and stuff,big whoops,anyway I used a 5mm set screw in the hole with some gasket goop that is gas friendly then put the fairing bolt in like you do when your all done and so far no leaks,got my fingers crossed,I wanna go cruisin!!

[kkim]

it'll leak, eventually. keep a close eye on it.

[mhobie16]

Ya I know its just a for now fix,my really cool local cycle salvage guy has one in stock so I may ask him to give me a good deal and get the sand paper and rattle cans out,paint it gloss black and hope I can make the carpet sorta match the drapes.I'm open to good ideas

[kkim]

either buy another tank that has no holes in it or have the hole in the tank you already have welded shut by a professional (someone who knows how to properly weld on a gas tank).

I used to recommend using JB Weld to fix these holes, but others have had even that come off after awhile.

[mhobie16]

Ya I am kinda not cool with JB inside the tank,hey on welding,I guess they can weld that little hole?I'll have to check with the guy that put the hardtail on my XS650 he may be able to do that for me,be cheaper and easier than messing with a used tank that doesn't match

[kkim]

just make sure he's welded tanks before. very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing... as in BOOM.

[mhobie16]

Ya he builds bikes from the ground up,makes tanks,cuts um in half rewelds um,I'm glad you mentioned welding it I'll go hit him up,I'm so jazzed about my ninja that I kinda forgot about my Harley and other such chopper mayhem roots,its kinda fun having a bike that's quiet,and doesn't have me visiting with the local authorities as they always seemed to think I was up to no good,same crazy guy,more cookie cutter bike,the cops don't even look when I er uh flyby

[CZroe]

I've heard about quite a few people doing this. IMO, the threads or bolt sizes should be different to prevent that sort of thing. I would consider it a usability design flaw except that it isn't something the user is expected to do (only the service tech, though they are often one and the same).

[Timon]

They did end up fixing this in the later models. I know mine is 2006 and all the fairing bolts are the same size. I noticed yours is 2005, so that was probably the changing year.

On that note, welding is really the only perm fix for it, but as mentioned it takes special treatment to weld a gas tank.

[mhobie16]

all 4 of my bolts are the same,it was really a nerd move on my part as I was cleaning out the threads with the fairing off and I had just done the left side thinking to myself not to far in,for some reason when I did the right side I lost my head,I wish I could blame it on design flaws or being stoned but the left side went well,and I have to pass drug tests at work so it was just me being a goon of which I am prone to.Thank the net for forums I say

[mhobie16]

I like to work on my stuff and I mostly save a ton of money which is good because sometimes I need to dip into the fund to fix the "learn from my mistakes".

[Jinx250]

This is why I replaced all of my upper fairing bolts with SS allen heads that are actually a tad shorter than stock. I get maybe 1.5 turns and it's tight.

[mhobie16]

I like that Idea,and the SS allen head bolts look good.

[m3fan4ever]

I did the same thing with my tank, but it turns out there was a recall put out by Kawasaki about this gas tank problem. I contacted my dealer and they put a brand spanking new tank on my bike for FREE! Hopefully your bike is part of the recall (mine is an 05 as well and it was covered). The recall was put out a few years ago and I am not the original owner, but they still honored it last fall. It is worth a try!

[kkim]

Originally Posted by m3fan4ever

I did the same thing with my tank, but it turns out there was a recall put out by Kawasaki about this gas tank problem. I contacted my dealer and they put a brand spanking new tank on my bike for FREE! Hopefully your bike is part of the recall (mine is an 05 as well and it was covered). The recall was put out a few years ago and I am not the original owner, but they still honored it last fall. It is worth a try!

yep... check here.

http://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/safety-r...-fuel-tank.htm

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by m3fan4ever

I did the same thing with my tank, but it turns out there was a recall put out by Kawasaki about this gas tank problem. I contacted my dealer and they put a brand spanking new tank on my bike for FREE! Hopefully your bike is part of the recall (mine is an 05 as well and it was covered). The recall was put out a few years ago and I am not the original owner, but they still honored it last fall. It is worth a try!

So, if you haven't punctured the tank yet, you just get new screws?

[m3fan4ever]

Originally Posted by CZroe

So, if you haven't punctured the tank yet, you just get new screws?

Probably. I have paint damage on my fairings from the gas pouring all over it and they didnt do anything about it. They just fix the dangerous part cause they have to.

[mhobie16]

Well thanks everyone for all the ideas,I went to the dealer and they looked up the VIN and its why my screws are all the same length as a previous owner got it fixed,any way the guy that does all my welding when I throw a Bobber together said he could fix me up by welding it so in a couple of weeks it'll be as good as new(gotta go to work and its a 2week grind)thanks again all for the help,gotta love the net and cool forums like this

[20ninja03]

Originally Posted by mhobie16

Well thanks everyone for all the ideas,I went to the dealer and they looked up the VIN and its why my screws are all the same length as a previous owner got it fixed,any way the guy that does all my welding when I throw a Bobber together said he could fix me up by welding it so in a couple of weeks it'll be as good as new(gotta go to work and its a 2week grind)thanks again all for the help,gotta love the net and cool forums like this

Glad ya got it all worked out man.