Gas In A Box
GAS IN A BOX
IGNITION
BIKE LIFE
FOR THE LOVE OF A FUEL TANK
PETER JONES
Some things are attractive; some things aren't. Although the difference between pretty and pretty ugly has at times impacted the course of history, we’re often at a loss to name exactly why something is attractive and something else ain’t. This applies to everything from art to buildings to music to cars to motorcycles. Well, and to people, too, but we’re not going to talk about that.
I was reminded of this phenomenon while looking at new-for-2015 bikes. One bike had a harshly ugly fuel tank. Before the days of full-bodied motorcycles, we judged a bike’s looks primarily by its fuel tank or by whatever shape there is where gas tanks are supposed to be. It’s the core feature of a motorcycle, while all the other parts are merely limb-like, or something.
The fuel tank is pretty much the only item on a motorcycle that’s shaped just for shape itself, with the forms of all the other features dictated by function; engines have to house components, frames need to hold specific engine layouts, seats have to fit under our butts, and so on.
The shapes of some fuel tanks are iconic. We don’t just recognize them for what bike they identify. They speak of a time and a cultural moment of motorcycling. Take the Harley-Davidson Sportster peanut tank, for instance.
It’s perfect. According to Harley, it first appeared on the 1948 Model S, which was the rebranded DKW125 single from Germany. Yes, an imported bit of significant chopper history. On its bike of manufacture, it was just a fuel tank, but on a V-twin chopper, it was a way of biker life, a bad attitude, a badge of rebellion. It was everything that H-D was for the 1960s and ’70s, and it’s still going strong.
Before I was into motorcycles, there was a bike that kept grabbing my attention because of its fuel tank. It took a couple of years before I finally saw one while I was with a motorcycle enthusiast who could tell me what I was looking at: a mid-’70s Honda CB400F. At the time I knew nothing about bikes, didn’t care about bikes, and had no dreams of owning one. But I knew that if I ever did get into motorcycles, that would be the bike I’d have to own, simply because of the beautiful shape of its fuel tank. Why its shape is so appealing, even to someone who might not care about motorcycles, I do not know.
So, yes, after I started caring about motorcycles I’ve owned a Honda CB400F or two. It’s still a beautiful design.
Looking a bit further back in history, the Brough Superior SS100 has an unmistakable fuel tank of exceptional class and poise. Teardrop-shaped, rubber knee guards, twin caps—it’s a work of art. If you disagree, you’re wrong.
An iconic tank from Ducati was the “Imola” version of the mid-1970s 750 SS, so named for being on the bike that Paul Smart won that race with in 1972. It’s a fiberglass tank with semi-see-through strips up each side that allow viewing of the fuel level. An oft-told story about a production version of this tank is that one of them included a fly that was stuck inside the window strip, though no human has ever come forth with a picture of it.
Today the shape of fuel tanks is lost on bikes with full bodywork, blending into the fairing. Such is the nature of streamlining, heat management, water-cooling, rider comfort, and wind protection. The great designer Massimo Tamburini foretold of this with his Ducati Paso, a bike whose tank cannot even exist without its surrounding bodywork. Something lost yet something gained.
BY THE NUMBERS
2.2 GALLONS OF FUEL THAT FIT IN A HARLEY FORTY-EIGHT
2.5 GALLONS OF FUEL THAT FIT IN A SUZUKI DR-Z400
FIVE
NUMBER OFTIMES I'VE RUN OUT OF GAS WHILE RIDING A MOTORCYCLE
