New Tank

[Eveready1100]

Actually, Jonezey, the Lock barrel out of my donor E is what's in the lock of my now retired Special tank sitting on the shelf in the garage. I stuck it in there so it wouldn't get lost between the Shed / garage / carport transition. Was just a fluke that the numbers matched and the key fitted. I now have a spare lock barrel to go with the set off the donor E.
Still have the ignition switch from the "E" that I've just tested that key in and it's a good fit and will not pull out of the switch in any position other than on, or park.

[makzy]

My ignition key will open three different tank caps, and it will come straight out of the ignition switch when in on position,  havn't checked to see if will open helmet locks tho, me thinks the tank locks a fairly generic, probably only made a few different types ?? And it only goes half way into the helmet lock.

[Jonesy :-)]

I m thinking a ring tab off a soft drink can would of almost done the same thing.

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Show'n your age now Jeff......   those were the days, when a bottle of soft drink needed a bottle opener and when you opened a can you'd stick the ring tab inside the can, or make a spring loaded projectile out of it,

[BrettS]

Love it when a plan comes together
I know when I was organising a replacement key for my boat there was only a certain number of different cuts. So that was my first thought here when I saw the matching numbers? 
Tha reminds me I need a spare key cut 

[Christian Raith]

I checked and I have a couple of locks that will open with any key tank and ignition.
Will be looking around for some replacement blanks soon and taking the locks apart to see what is worn and what can be changed.
Retirement is taking too long to get here.........

[excess.11]

For what its worth................i understand the stamped no is to identify the type of blank key needed for that particular lock.
I also used to  have the stamped no on the tank lock......albeit scratched over.
The fact that the key unlocked the tank is a double bonus.......although due to the age of our bikes I m thinking a ring tab off a soft drink can would of almost done the same thing.

[Fred]

Mate,

both the tank lock and the helmet lock on my "78E have a number punched into them and no "PUSH" word

[Jonesy :-)]

how lucky is that? to have that key waiting for the "new" tank to join it.
Does that mean somewhere along the line that the lock barrel in your new tank was once from your donor bike?

[Christian Raith]

Now to go buy that lottery ticket....

[The General]

Wow!..What are tha odds?. Looks great too!

[Eveready1100]

My new Standard tank arrived Friday.


^Pulled it out of the box and made sure it had no fresh dents from its trip up here, but all was good. Some minor scuffs and marks as stated, but nothing I can't live with.



I knew it had no taps with it but didn't realise the cap was locked with no key supplied.


^ was just getting prepared to put a screwdriver in the lock to twist it open when i realised that the lock barrel had a number on it


^ as opposed to the Standard "push" as stamped into the normal tank lock. I'm thinking that maybe the lock centre had been taken out of a helmet lock, as that's the only place on my bike where a number is visible. Someone chime in if they can tell where the barrel mechanism would be the same as the cap. Tried my key in it, just in case the tumblers had been filed down creating a dummy lock, but no joy...................................


^ then I happened to glance up at my old Special tank, which has the lock mechanism out of my donor E model fitted to it. I pulled the key out and ..........................


^ couldn't believe my luck! Took my hopefully matching key over to the tank, inserted it and gently tried turning it ( it did appear that the cap hadn't been opened for a long time due to the dust down in the gaps each side of the flap).


^ You beauty! No surgery required after all.


^ I had been a bit concerned about the tanks condition when I'd asked the seller to post up a photo of the inside, but he didn't, so I was relieved to see that the inside was very healthy with only 1 tiny speck of faint surface rust to be seen through the filler hole.
Things happened very quickly from this point. Took Geoffs tank outside and drained it, removed the cap lock and fuel taps, refitted the taps to the new tank and swapped over the lock centre then fitted her up.
NOTE - All the spots in the 2 previous photos are actually particles of the foam packing in the box. (it's pretty old and crumbly, but it did its job!) Not marks on the paint or chrome.


^ Really looks the part now, though it didn't look too bad before with the bluish tank as a contrast


^ Shiny tank with gold lettering really makes my sidecover badges look like shit! After seeing a few badge refurb threads over the years, I have to have a go at prettying them up a bit (maybe another "how to" thread if they turn out alright).