TT250/350 fuel tank

[Colin Jay]

Over the weekend I found that the fuel tank for the '88 TT250 that I am rebuilding has a crack in. I have seen other TT250/350 tanks that have cracked / split and take it that it is a common thing with these tanks as they age. I am reluctant to buy a 2nd hand tank for this reason. Does anyone know if the TT350 Tanks that Maxwell MC have for sale on eBay are made by Clark? Has anyone any experience with the tanks?

[LWC82PE]

If they are brand new they would be Clarke brand. No one else does brand new plastic tanks for old bikes like that.

https://clarkemfg.com/tanks/product-category/yamaha/xtttrt/

[Nathan S]

In my experience, Clarke tanks are good, not perfect.

They all fit well and are the right basic shape, but they all seem to have a moulding ridge along the bottom edge (and sometimes the back edge, where they meet the seat) which is a bit clunky compared to the stock tanks.
And the white is usually very slightly dirtier or creamier than standard Yamaha white. Don't get me wrong - they're much, much better than every used 20+ year old tank, but it can be a bit of a let-down compared to the perfect new white radiator shrouds you've just bolted on...

That sounds quite negative, but I'm actually happy to keep buying them - just warning that they aren't exactly like a NOS genuine tank.

[Nathan S]

And now that I've offered something that's (hopefully) helpful:
Is there a big tank for these bikes? I can experiment myself, just hoping that there's a known conversion that's been done before?

[Colin Jay]

Thanks Nathan.

The bike is going to be ridden in reliability trials / enduros so being slightly "off" colour isn't a big concern, it will have red air shrouds and the rest of the plastic is original that has been cleaned up. It is more about getting a tank that I will be confident wound split the first time I crash, which will happen sooner rather than later.