First time poster here... I've really honestly only ever used the forum for reference ,in the past... But now I have a financial dilemma...

Long story short... I just had my 2000 Sporty worked over.... New cylinders ,pistons ,clutch ,pushrods.... And a higher capacity fuel tank ,because I ride a minimum of 50 miles a day....

...anyway...

The first tank I bought (a Paughco 4.2 gallon "Porkster") ,the shop calls me and says the tank sits too high and doesn't sit level ,like there is something wrong with the mounting brackets.. So I'm out the cost of an item I cannot return ,plus shop fees for paint and swapping my old tank out and then back in again....

Then I go with a 4 gallon tank (I think it looks like a Custom Chrome model I've seen) that the shop assures me will fit ,and look good... And I find I have to put gas in it every day ,because the petcock is so high up in the tank I can only use about 2.25 gallons before I have to hit the reserve...

And here I sit... Nearly $1,000.00 into purchase ,paint and mechanic's fees ,for 2 fuel tanks that are more worthless than the stock tank I started with...

So I'm asking... Does anyone know of a high capacity tank that will fit a 2000 Sporty... She came to me used... I'm not exactly sure of the specific model (she has the 1200 cylinders from the factory ,but the 883 decal on the tank) because it looks like she may have been upgraded after she was originally sold...

This is my first bike... All of this is new to me.... I'm going broke ,just trying to do something as simple as upgrade a fuel tank???

Rich....

 

Going broke with a Harley is common, lol

How bout selling what you have and see if a 4.5 off a newer sporty would fit?

 

Tell me about it )

I think I know the tank you're talking about ,if it is the EFI model... And that would have been my first choice ,except that my bike is a plain old carbureted model....

Right now I'm looking to collect all the info and ideas I can get.... Then I'll see what suits my purpose best...

Worst case is I'll be cutting up one tank ,in order to use part of it on another...

 

How big do you need, there is a carb version of the 4.5 gallon stock tank. You can fix what you have, get the tank lift kit from DK Customs and use it backwards to lift the rear of your tank. If you need bigger call bargain bike barn in edgerton wi and get one of the new softtail 5 gallon tanks( you will need a tank sender plate). You can only make mods with an open wallet. Good luck.

 

All I'm really looking for is something over 4 gallon ,but that will honestly let me use the full 4 gallon.... I use my trike nearly every day and was getting just over 3 trips (that's work to home ,home to work ,work to home) from my stock 3.3 gallon tank...

And now that you mention a 5 gallon.... I see one piece and two piece softail tanks.... A one piece tank with a cap right in the center would be too perfect...

P.S. I don't mind spending the money ) so long as I'm not ending up with stuff that doesn't fit ,or that doesn't give what they promise...

 

Meanwhile, just carry a spare gas canister to keep you from running out.

 

Already on that ,believe me....

 

Most petcocks are adjustable as to their pickup height in the tank, have you tried adjusting it?

FYI and contrary to posts above, the 4.5 gal OEM tanks used on the rubbermount C model 04 and up Sporties will not fit 03 and earlier Sporties, the frame is totally different.

As a note, the 04-06 Sporties were carb bikes and the 4.5 gal tanks for those do have a petcock, not a fuel pump.

 

You could just get the fuel pickup moved in the tank. though it will require a respray of the tank.
Btw I don't think I would go back to that shop, They should have been able to make the first tank work. I would also think that they would use something like alcohol to check the usable capacity of the tank before paint. That way they could have moved the petcock if needed.

 

I've recently adapted an EFI tank to fit my Glide. The golden rule when installing non-stock parts is to prove it will work before actually modifying anything. I had several issues to overcome (using a 6 gallon 2009 tank on a 1990 bike), all of which took up my time and effort, but cost me very little cash. Only when I had solved everything did I get it painted, buy a new petcock, plus all the other parts I needed.

Unfortunately it sounds as if the shop you used did everything wrong! You do IMHO have grounds to ask for at least some of your money back, although best luck with that! They must be short of work if they can mess you around like that.