Clarke Plastic Tank For the Honda Cr250r
Clarke Plastic Tank For The Honda CR250R
EVALUATION
A few months ago we started hearing good words about a firm in Oregon that makes plastic gas tanks. Plastic tanks for motorcycles aren't a new idea, Don Vesco and a couple other firms have been producing plastic tanks for several years, but most are based on one shape. The biggest difference between the tanks from Clarke Manufacturing and the other guys is the broad range of styles available. Instead of using one basic shape and trying to adapt it to many different machines. Clarke designs tanks for specific bikes, with the outside shape and underside fit as part of that design. This means a minimum amount of bracketry and fiddling is required to mount one of their tanks.
Some Clarke tanks use stock filler caps, some use a cap of Clarke’s design. The Clarke cap is made from plastic, has an Oring seal and a recessed vent spigot. All tanks are made from color impregnated polyethylene. Available colors are red, white, blue, orange, yellow, silver and green.
We ordered a red 3.1 gal. tank to fit a 1978 Honda CR250R. The tank came with the Clarke cap and instructions for mounting. It bolted to the stock frame mounts at the front (longer bolts were supplied to compensate for the plastic thickness), and the stock CR rubber strap hooked to a steel bracket that was attached to the rear of the tank. The stock Honda petcock is utilized and screws into brass threads that are cast into the tank. Total installation time was less than 10 min. The left side of the tank has a recessed bottom to allow for pipe clearance and the underside of the tank has clearance for the coil. It is one of the few accessory tanks (3 gal. or larger) we have used that doesn’t make the bike ugly. The shape is similar to the stock humped back design and doesn’t wrinkle the seat or protrude. It is slightly wider than the stocker but isn’t wider than the seat, so that goes unnoticed when riding. The filler hole is large enough to make filling easy and doesn’t leak a drop. The plastic that Clarke uses doesn’t scratch as easily as the plastic tanks we have used before, and decals will stick fairly well to it.
Fit and workmanship are good and the price is reasonable at $49.95. If your dealer doesn’t have them or you want a free brochure showing all of Clarke’s tanks, contact Clarke Manufacturing, RT. 1, Box 576 Mulino, Ore. 97042. Phone (503) 8292156. S
