Clarke is going to make new Tecate and 250R tanks!

[cliff2302]

i think shrouds for tecates would be a bigger seller than tanks. we found out that you can still get tank covers new for $50, so why spend $150+ on a tank that is going to fade again once you start putting gas in it? If they are willing to make these tanks though, i pray that they will be willing to make shrouds again. I caught myself almost bidding on VERY expenseive used shrouds on ebay recently. Hope this all works out.

[250rAL]

Tanks are blow molded and the other items mentioned(like shrouds) are injection molded. They may not have injection molding machines.

[a-camp]

I would spend that!! I would buy a tank and light too. I want to encourage and support any company making parts for old 2 Strokes.

[Apollo]

I just spoke with janet with Clarke Manufacturing. Here is what she said: 85-86 R tanks will be available in late Feb to March. She is not sure about 81 to 84 R tanks. She has my name and number and will call in a couple of months if she needs help with Tecate tanks. She says there is a real good chance that they will be available in April. I told her about Kawi red and she made note of it. She made note of the flat track tanks as well. As of right now, they are not going to do anything but tanks. Janet said Clarke is entertaining the idea of doing other plastic accessories, but are doing 05 model year tanks at the time being. Here is my take, lets hope the 250R tanks are right on the money and they sell like hot cakes to give Clarke more incentive to do other years and models. For Tecate and other trike owners, I would call and make your voice heard. The more number of different owners the better. I kind of think they are using the R tanks as a test to see how well our market responds. So everybody respond, but don't harass them. This is a good thing so lets get it right. I forgot to mention different color than stock tanks. The number is 503- 829-2156, Clarke is in Oregon. Oh yeah, she said they were going to produce 8 to 10 85/86 tanks on the first run and make more as the demand continues. Start looking in mid Febuary on the web site www.clarkemfg.com for these tanks if your interested.

[Dammit!]

As for the colored 250R headlight shells, you guys do know that Maier makes them, right? http://www.maier-mfg.com/shop.cfm?ac...10&modelid=152 they are availabe in black, blue, red, and white.

Yep. Unfortunately, they only make the 1985 R headlight plastic. The 1986 is different (and better imo). I know where I can get the 1986 frame but only in red. They also don't offer a 350x headlight plastic in black which is something I'm interested in.

They can always be painted but obviously a solid colored plastic the way to go if you can.

A white 250R tank could be interesting too. Never really thought too much about it but there's potential there.

[RacerRichie]

Just called and spoke to Dawn. I left my name and number and told them I would like to buy a tank for my 87 tecate. She said the more people that call and show interest the better. So I wait til they call me and tell me its ready now......

[250rulzes]

Well I hate to burst all the TECATE fans bubbles, but I also spoke with Janet at Clarke mfg. today. There is no plan to reproduce any TECATE tanks as of today; this includes 84/85 and 86/87 versions. 85/86R are the only tanks they will be manufacturing that are new. I asked her about quantity and how many tanks would they need to create and sell to make the endeavor profitable for their company? She estimated 200-300. She also suggested email would be a great way to contact them requesting TECATE tanks. Send in those emails...have a friend do it also...

Peace

[HRC1]

Well at least the good news is that they are doin the 250R tanks. I have a clark tank on my 350x and it's NICE! Stock shape, no probs except that plastic leaches gas through it. So it's jsut a matter of time and it will be yellow. Does anyone have a idea of something to seal the inside besides cream? it says not to use on plastic and requires etching the steel tanks before install. Does anyone know how polyurothane holds up to gas? I can't think of anything that will stick to plastic and stay in there. I put new stickers on it and in 2 days they were bubbling, and the inside is dark yellow already.

[Orangecnty250r]

Thanks for the link to Clarke. I just emailed them and put in an order request for a 85 tank. I said I would also be willing to buy an 86 tecate tank if ever produced. I suggested that if they don't have one already they should have a ebay store to sell these tanks to boost there sales. How many owners out there check ebay weekly if not daily and are not a member of this board. Many potential buyers do not know that this is even in the works. This would ultimately boost there sales and make this work for them as well as us.

[BigGreenMachine]

Well I hate to burst all the TECATE fans bubbles, but I also spoke with Janet at Clarke mfg. today. There is no plan to reproduce any TECATE tanks as of today; this includes 84/85 and 86/87 versions. 85/86R are the only tanks they will be manufacturing that are new. I asked her about quantity and how many tanks would they need to create and sell to make the endeavor profitable for their company? She estimated 200-300. She also suggested email would be a great way to contact them requesting TECATE tanks. Send in those emails...have a friend do it also...

Peace

Wow thats an end to that, this s u c k s a s s.

[tecate250RR]

here the reply i got from clarke when i emailed them about that tecate tank.

"James

We are considering it, but there are a lot of other projects under construction at this time. We will not be starting anything soon.

Thanks
Chris"
Clarke mfg co.

[Curtis-Tecate3]

I was going to post to this thread the other day but held back....It sounded like you guys were making progress.
My personal experience with aftermarket tanks starts with the 85 200X. I ordered a tank from a local shop and specifically asked for an IMS unit. The shop ordered and received a Clark. When I first saw it I thought it was the wrong tank but after speaking to Clark they confirmed that it was correct. There is a big difference between Clark & IMS at least on the 200X. I had the shop return the Clark tank and re-order an IMS. On the 200X the Clark tank just looks like it does not belong... It is shaped funny compared to stock or IMS and does not have any way to mount the factory air scoops. It also had a weird rear mount using a rubber strap. The IMS tank (for the 200X at least) is far superior in my opinion. More money for sure but a much better product.

Has anyone tried to contact IMS regarding these tanks? Their website lists tanks for every year 250R. For the 85/86 they have Red, White, Black & Natural colors all with 4 gal capacity.
http://www.imsproducts.com/index2new.html

No Tecate tanks though....

I am sure that Clark doesn't want to touch the 2nd gen. Tecate tank as the market is limited and the tank for the 86/87 is fairly complex. Lots of compound curves as well as the mounting nuts embedded into the plastic for the radiator scoops, rear mounts as well as the petcock.

The 84/85 Tecate should be easy but it doesn't appear that anyone makes them.

Good luck guys.

Curtis.

[Jeb]

...I am sorry to you Tri Z owners for I did not ask about it. I hardly know anything about that trike. Sorry Jeb. ...

Nothing to be sorry about Apollo! I was a Tecate guy way before Tri-Z and would love a new green tank for my 86.

I was really excited reading the first posts of this thread, but by the time I posted this I'm skepticle we'll ever see any KXT tanks.

But hey, since we're dreaming here...As far as Tri-Z tanks go, I'd like to see a replacement tank/airbox combo that would have a plastic gas tank that is the same shape as the airbox cover and fit just like it. Appearing to the untrained eye to be a stock airbox cover but actually being a blow-molded fuel tank. Of course available in black, red, and competition yellow! And then a black airbox to hang under the seat, similar to the old PlasticWerkz aftermarket airboxes.

250RAl is right about the fact that Clarke is a blow-molder and shrouds and fenders need to be injection molded. But you can vacuum form shrouds and fenders like Maier. The thing with plastics, no matter the type of molding, is the up-front tooling costs. Even when tooling is cheaply constructed it's still can be pretty expensive and you then you need a market to recover your tooling costs.

[Tecate250]

Any news on this?

[250rfan]

It's been 3 years!,,,,,,something should have happened.