Motorcycle owners, listen up! If you have ever gotten a dent in your gas tank, you may have wondered if it is possible to remove that unsightly dent.
Though it has been a puzzling repair job in the past, dent removal specialists now have it down to a science, or perhaps an art.
You can remove a dent from a motorcycle gas tank by going inside to push the dent out or by staying on the outside and pulling it out.
Both ways will help get the tank back to original shape.
Some gas tanks are double-skinned, which is like having a tank sitting inside another slightly larger tank.
Removing a dent from the inside on a double-skinned tank is very difficult because the applied pressure is mostly absorbed by the inside tank and the outside tank, where the dent is, does not respond to the pressure.
However, single-walled motorcycle gas tanks can be repaired from the inside.
One method experts use is to place an object similar to a flag inside the tank.
This simple device has a flexible mounting which can be adjusted to any angle, and has a rectangular shape (the flag) on the end with parallel black lines running the full length on a white background.
The flag is reflected in the shiny inside paintwork of the tank.
In a perfectly-shaped tank, the parallel lines are smooth; in a dented tank, the lines will converge, bulge, and be distorted.
With an expert using a special tool designed to remove dents, the tank is gradually massaged back to its original shape.
As the expert works, the reflected lines will begin to diverge and become less distorted.
Once the dent has been completely removed, the reflected lines will be smooth and parallel.
Though the shape of the dent can be seem on the outside, this use of the "flag" provides visual verification that the dent has been removed and the tank returned to its original condition.
In the old days, a dented motorcycle tank had to be removed, sanded, and stripped of paint.
Filler had to applied and then the tank was resprayed with paint and allowed to dry.
However, it has become much easier, more convenient, less time consuming, and less costly to repair dented motorcycle gas tanks.
Paintless dent removal techniques have completely changed the industry and made it much easier for motorcycle owners to repair their rides.