Looking for tips and advice. My fuel tank has a couple of new dents in it. The larger dent is about 3" or less across and maybe about 1/2 inch deep. It does not leak, but doesn't look good. I am wondering what is the best way to take care of this. Should I just take it to a body shop, or try to fix it myself. I don't have body work experience, but am willing to give it a try if I can get decent results. Any help is appreciated!

If there is not a crease in the metal you can do it with a suction cup or something like that dent popper advertised on TV. These are double wall tanks so you can't push it out from the inside. It's thin metal too, and most body shops will just want to bondo and paint. Your local dent doctor should be able to do it too.

take it to a body shop. they'll most likely want to fill it w/ bondo. however, i would insist it be filled w/ dyna-glass. you could attempt it your self. imho, applying filler and sanding to the correct shape or angle is an art form. you have or you don't.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Marine/Home/Products/Catalog/?PC_7_RJH9U5230GE3E02LECIE20S4K7000000_nid=K5T2F1Z1KJbeS38K155C5Rgl

Hey Mudslide,
Pretty sure there is no crease, but some of the paint did break away in the center of the dent. I just rechecked it; it is 2 3/4" across and only about 5/16" deep. Never tried a 'dent popper'; are they very effective? I am assuming it would take quite a suction to pull this one out. And finally, would it be a mistake to just 'bondo' it? thanks for the help

rballew, thanks for the tip and the link about the dyna-glass.

Mudslide, I didn't know the tanks were double-walled. That is good to know.

Try finding a "paintless dent repair" place. Hotrodstar got his tank repaired by one of those guys & had good luck. According ro Hotrod, they came in from the inside & pushed the dent out. I have a dent on my tank too & I'm trying to find a guy to repair it the "paintless" way.

thanks bigflip, Unfortunately, my tank will need to be repainted.

while were on the subject of dents...How about straightening out a dented stainless steel lower front fork cover? It's not a bad or severe dent, but it is out-of-round (no damage to the internal piston, etc; thankfully)

Like BigFlip said, paintless dent repair. I got a dent in my tank that went from the tank badge up to where the side of the tank rolls over into the top. I also had a small divit in the top where my helmet fell off the mirror

I made a few calls, rode the bike by a couple shops and found a guy named Rod willing to give it a try, if he didnt fix it no charge. Well I took the tank off removed the petcock and fuel sender and took it into him. 3 hours and $85.00 later NO DENT!!! Worth every friggin penny to me not to have to paint my tank, just cant part with that striping...yet


These tanks are NOT double walled!!! the paintless guy would not be able to get the dent if that were the case. And its actually fairly thick compared to sheet metal on modern cars.

Good Luck with it.

Rod