Mille/T5 style tank

[Red Dog]

Was this style tank ever produced with a larger fuel capacity?

[kfz]

Sorry dont quite understand the question.  Do you mean was the T5/Mille ever produced with a bigger tank?

Not to my knowledge.

Kev

[Red Dog]

Was that tank ever produced with a larger capacity as in 6 plus gallons?

I have an 89 Mille, I like that style tank & want more fuel without losing the style.

I can modify mine but would rather keep it so the bike can be returned to stock.

I can call Curtis Harper to see if he knows & possibly has one but the guy is so busy especially with his auction coming up that I was trying to do a little research on my own.  I was kinda hoping he might jump in and say.........

[Triple Jim]

Was that tank ever produced with a larger capacity as in 6 plus gallons?

(Do you mean six or more gallons?)  The Mille tank is almost exactly six gallons. 

[slopokes]

I think the sp2 tank was over 6 gal-and looks similar--

[rodekyll]

No, the tank is what it is -- and one of the larger capacity tanks out there.

The good news is that they are cheap, especially for imperfect ones.  So get yourself one with a leaky bottom seam for almost nothing.  Build it into one of those café racer-type seats with the bulbous knob on the back.  Make the seat pan go all the way to the steering head and make it a real 'pan'.  Then make the tank the pan top for the front half and the seat the lid for the back half.  The pan itself adds capacity, and bulbous lump on the back holds yet another gallon.  While you're at it, modify the tank tunnel.  I don't think these tanks were built exclusively for guzzi -- other bikes with other frames used them.  So the tunnel isn't as optimal as it could be -- there's more capacity hidden in the void.

I mapped this all out and built it from cardboard once.  I came out with a little over 9 gallons with a tank that was visually identical to oem, held that sacred café racer's horizontal line, looked like an accepted genre, and completely lost the ability to raise the seat without also removing the tank.  Then I decided that 8 gal wasn't enough and changed my design to hold 10.  You don't want to go there.

[Red Dog]

(Do you mean six or more gallons?)  The Mille tank is almost exactly six gallons.

Mine holds 5.2 dead empty!

[Red Dog]

No, the tank is what it is -- and one of the larger capacity tanks out there.

The good news is that they are cheap, especially for imperfect ones.  So get yourself one with a leaky bottom seam for almost nothing.  Build it into one of those caf� racer-type seats with the bulbous knob on the back.  Make the seat pan go all the way to the steering head and make it a real 'pan'.  Then make the tank the pan top for the front half and the seat the lid for the back half.  The pan itself adds capacity, and bulbous lump on the back holds yet another gallon.  While you're at it, modify the tank tunnel.  I don't think these tanks were built exclusively for guzzi -- other bikes with other frames used them.  So the tunnel isn't as optimal as it could be -- there's more capacity hidden in the void.

I mapped this all out and built it from cardboard once.  I came out with a little over 9 gallons with a tank that was visually identical to oem, held that sacred caf� racer's horizontal line, looked like an accepted genre, and completely lost the ability to raise the seat without also removing the tank.  Then I decided that 8 gal wasn't enough and changed my design to hold 10.  You don't want to go there.

I like this except for not being able to pull the seat separately.
I looked on Harpers & he has NOS tanks in the $650.00 price range & it hurts my head to think about laying out that kind of money then taking a cutter to it.
Good Info, Thanks

[Triple Jim]

Mine holds 5.2 dead empty!

Wow, and I've filled mine from dead empty, and it's almost exactly 6.  What a variation!  Has yours been dented badly and repaired with Bondo or something like that?  Or were they really sloppy about how the bottom was formed?  The spec says 22.5 liters, I believe, and that's 5.94 U.S.  gallons, which is 1% less than 6.00 gallons.

[Red Dog]

Wow, and I've filled mine from dead empty, and it's almost exactly 6.  What a variation!  Has yours been dented badly and repaired with Bondo or something like that?  Or were they really sloppy about how the bottom was formed?  The spec says 22.5 liters, I believe, and that's 5.94 U.S.  gallons, which is 1% less than 6.00 gallons.

Possible.  I've only had the bike since Nov 2015 & never had the tank off so it may have been repaired.

I need to pull the jugs & re-seal & plan to pull the tank & change points etc in the near future.

[charlie b]

Don't know if it is exactly the same but I've put 5.5 gal in my T5 tank.  I thought mine was supposed to be 5.7gal.  Reserve is right at 5gal.

[Denis]

I'm 99% sure that the Mille GT, SPII, 850T5. Spada and SPIII tanks are the same except for peripheral stuff like emblems, how they were vented, whether they had reserve petcocks, or not etc.
Reserve is .9 gallons if I'm not mistaken and those tanks hold nearly 6 gallons if it's dead empty when filling it up.

I have one spare tank for my SPII in original paint and other I bought on here recently. If Harper's does have NOS ones I'd be truly surprised. When Milles were NEW one guy we knew damaged his and waited almost 2 years for a tank from Guzzi.

As said earlier, they are pretty inexpensive but they are also some of the more rare Guzzi tanks out there. Numbering all the bikes I mentioned imported into the US, only the Mille GT is reasonably common.

[charlie b]

Might also try Reboot in France.  Their shipping charges are pretty reasonable.