Back in the shop

So this came today.

Ordered it on Friday, arrived the following Thursday, pretty fast for a European part!

Gunna mock it up to see if it fits with my pre-2023 fairings…I give it 50/50 from looking at it, but I was prepared to order new fairings anyway.

1st impression, the seat area is about 2.5 inches longer and about 2.5 to 3 inches wider. The hook in area is smaller than expected for my long femurs but that may allow me to get further off the bike.

The rear bolt for the subframe is an eccentric that allows you to adjust seat height a bit, in a similar way the HP4 RACE does, pretty cool.

Okay, in an epic bit of annoyance, after I all excitedly removed the tank and rear section of the bike I opened the seat and hardware bag, assuming the subframe brackets that come with the tank were in that bundle, they weren’t :-/

They shipped the tank without the subframe brackets needed to mount it to the bike that are supposed to come with the kit…

But, me and my son held it in place just enough to see how the pre-2023 V4R fairings would work with it, no dice, you COULD make them work by stuffing things in, it would be ‘functional’ but looks like ..... With odd gaps.

So Fairings on the way.

bp….i put the tank on the arm of the couch so I could get a feel for how it fits my size. I can get into a full tuck with chin on the tank without even being all the way to the back of the seat lol

And the slope of the tank from the back to the front is such that it’s completely out of the way. No rear tank angle digging into your torso.

how does that fit with the OEM tail parts?

Steven31371 said:

Okay, in an epic bit of annoyance, after I all excitedly removed the tank and rear section of the bike I opened the seat and hardware bag, assuming the subframe brackets that come with the tank were in that bundle, they weren’t :-/

They shipped the tank without the subframe brackets needed to mount it to the bike that are supposed to come with the kit…

But, me and my son held it in place just enough to see how the pre-2023 V4R fairings would work with it, no dice, you COULD make them work by stuffing things in, it would be ‘functional’ but looks like ..... With odd gaps.

So Fairings on the way.

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Man, European QA/QC is garbage these days…

STILL butt hurt!

bp_SFV4 said:

how does that fit with the OEM tail parts?

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The only part you use is the chevron shaped fairing, didn’t try to put it on yet. Will do today.

SuperDomestique said:

Man, European QA/QC is garbage these days…

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meh, they apologized and express shipped them today.

Overall my experience with them has been very good.

you might be the first person that has bought one of these...

KarlKani said:

you might be the first person that has bought one of these...

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There’s a guy in this thread a few posts up that says his buddy has one…but yeah, I guess they haven’t sold many yet, at least not in the North American market.

You could sell a stock tank and almost recover the cost…

Steven31371 said:

The only part you use is the chevron shaped fairing, didn’t try to put it on yet. Will do today.


meh, they apologized and express shipped them today.

Overall my experience with them has been very good.

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They had one job haha

What are the advantages of this tank? I get that it may provide lower cg but according to Bruce, that might be more a hindrance than anything. Basically, you don’t see superstock/superbike teams with these on their bikes.

SuperDomestique said:

They had one job haha

What are the advantages of this tank? I get that it may provide lower cg but according to Bruce, that might be more a hindrance than anything. Basically, you don’t see superstock/superbike teams with these on their bikes.

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Actually you do see them with tank like this, they are just custom fabricated from metal and a much higher cost. The ergos are WAY better, you move around on the bike easier, you get further off the bike with less effort, and the tuck position is easy and ergonomic.

It’s not so much about lowering the center of gravity as it is about moving the center of gravity toward the back of the bike, which IS advantageous.

So it’s mostly about ergos, partly about improved weight distribution.

And they are using modern technology to make getting this settup cheaper than custom fabricating an aluminum tank and tail section. The plastic unit costs less to produce, is easier to install, and is more crash resistant and easier to replace.

I think of this tank like my Sicom Rotors without the crazy costs and waiting period as the Sicom Rotors…it’s just technology involving into something better.

Kramer is already doing tanks like these OEM, I suspect that you will see more manufacturers doing these as OEM over the coming years.

So to answer your question, the reason to do this tank is the same reason WSBK bikes do them, except manufacturing technologies have evolved where we can now get WSBK style tanks and seating/tail sections.

Everything else aside you'll be able to climb around more readily and hang off farther and get less fatigued doing it. 2 seconds a lap on a 2 minute lap.

And if the CG's too low you can raise the bike then move the swingarm pivot down to get the same anti-squat. This thing is calling my name. I hate the shape off the stock tank.

Steven how much gas does it hold couldn't find anything on their website? From a maintenance standpoint it's 916esque. You're to the back valve cover in 5 minutes.

baggerman said:

And if the CG's too low you can raise the bike then move the swingarm pivot down to get the same anti-squat. This thing is calling my name. I hate the shape off the stock tank.

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The WSBK tank requires WSBK level setup. It also has a, WSBK swingarm, different forks, mass damper in the tail, and a lot more range of adjustments.

And if it’s such an advantage why are WSBK teams running alu tanks opposed to these?

If you want to raise cg without altering geometry, you only have about 5 mm to work with. Whether that’ll be noticeable or not is unclear. Would be interest to hear of @Calderara di Reno’s friend’s experience with it and what adjustments were made to accommodate it.

I hope it works out but seems like a lot of work for an unknown benefit.

baggerman said:

Steven how much gas does it hold couldn't find anything on their website? From a maintenance standpoint it's 916esque. You're to the back valve cover in 5 minutes.

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I think they said 19 litres in the video, assuming I heard him correctly.

SuperDomestique said:

I hope it works out but seems like a lot of work for an unknown benefit.

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That’s probably part of the fun of trying these things for the OP, although I thought the potential benefits are clear (ergonomics) rather than unknown.

If it does make it easier to move around and to hang off, etc, then it seems pretty cool and I’m looking forward to seeing what he thinks when he’s been able to try it.

It’s a fun thread and I always like it when other people spend their money to try new things.

Out at Chuck this weekend? Looked for ya last SoCal round but didn’t see your truck. And where the F is @Jolly Roger V4 ? No latte jokes in a long time

Kev242 said:

Out at Chuck this weekend? Looked for ya last SoCal round but didn’t see your truck. And where the F is @Jolly Roger V4 ? No latte jokes in a long time

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Man true story, I loaded my truck for that Friday session, then got a call on a big fire to put out at work that was gunna cost me just enough money where I couldn’t logically go to the track and push it off…was so annoyed at loading the truck for nothing that I didn’t unload it for 3 days.

Bike is apart right now, my next scheduled track day is January 13th unless I get everything buttoned up for some of the December dates.