The indian petrol tank saga.

alscomet

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Dear All,
Last week I said I would order a petrol tank for my Velocette from India,well here is the tale.

I placed an order with a supplier in India who was advertising on E bay,he promised faithfully that his tanks
were first class and his packaging would be strong and robust.
After a week I received a message from e bay saying that the item had been removed from sale and
a usual cause was that the goods were not to be sold via e bay ? or were an illegal type of product ,it
continued by saying that if the goods had not been paid for then ignore any further requests for payment,if they had been paid for by paypal then I would have to wait until my due expired delivery date
before I could try and claim a return via paypal,if they had been paid for by any other means it was just
my hard luck.
Well after receiving the message all the blood drained from my body,and I stopped eating currys as
a token gesture and went on a complete meat and two veg diet.
My hard earned earthly pounds were disappearing before my very eyes and it looked like I was going to have to look for a well rotten british tank. Well would you believe it,DHL on my doorstep this afternoon,big strong box with my name on it,opened it up its my tank,nearly perfect,one of the front lugs is squashed a little but will straighten and the petrol cap fitting is a strange shape but I can alter that ,the lug must have been done before it was wrapped up, it fits the bike a treat, its perfect.If I could upload a photo I would include it,its even primered underneath. Success
 

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vibrac

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
e-bay can get its knickers in a twist sometimes
A friend had his 7R advert refused because it did not show a numberplate and had no v5c
I think the checkers may be from a diffferent 'world' than us...
 

ClassicBiker

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VOC Member
It's always good to hear/read/see when something turns out well. Let's see some photos when it's all painted and fitted.
Steven
 

daevideo

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VOC Member
Well, well well well. I think I'm partly responsible. I'm Indian born in Birmingham and I own a Vincent here in the UK and another in India. This looks a replica of a Velo tank I bought in Sunderland. I went to India with 2 Brough tanks ss80 and Brough Alpine and AJS 7R and possibly a Dick Emery Norton Ton up boy special - and a Panther M20 all in my luggage along with this Velocette. They guy I was bringing the tanks for wanted to see if he can make Brough tanks and the rest were stuff I scored for him on eBay. The Panther tank is one of my favourites and was a pattern supplied by a good friend who knew the Velo man. I'm really very pleased that the Velo replica from my Sunderland source is quite good. I will be totally honest. The quality in India is variable. Some items are a disgrace, but luckily I have to go back for family reasons and so long as you tell the fabricators exactly what is required then some of the craftsmen are excellent. The Brough tanks which were made were shocking. I know how important it is to have the item made right. So if anyone asks me about the quality of INdian items I say - I don't trust them so long as I'm there to crack the whip because I'm probably unique in being able to bridge the gap of understanding which is required. The Vincent tanks I have seen so far are all wanting. I'm working with someone who I will allow to have access to my UFM. Most of the INdian Vincent C series tank replica are badly made as they have no idea what a UFM looks like or they need rubber grommets of an exact size to work. The Vincent design is very subtle. The worst thing to do is to pressure test with water INSIDE the tank.
 

Simon Dinsdale

VOC Machine Registrar
VOC Member
VOC Forum Moderator
Well, well well well. I think I'm partly responsible. I'm Indian born in Birmingham and I own a Vincent here in the UK and another in India. This looks a replica of a Velo tank I bought in Sunderland. I went to India with 2 Brough tanks ss80 and Brough Alpine and AJS 7R and possibly a Dick Emery Norton Ton up boy special - and a Panther M20 all in my luggage along with this Velocette. They guy I was bringing the tanks for wanted to see if he can make Brough tanks and the rest were stuff I scored for him on eBay. The Panther tank is one of my favourites and was a pattern supplied by a good friend who knew the Velo man. I'm really very pleased that the Velo replica from my Sunderland source is quite good. I will be totally honest. The quality in India is variable. Some items are a disgrace, but luckily I have to go back for family reasons and so long as you tell the fabricators exactly what is required then some of the craftsmen are excellent. The Brough tanks which were made were shocking. I know how important it is to have the item made right. So if anyone asks me about the quality of INdian items I say - I don't trust them so long as I'm there to crack the whip because I'm probably unique in being able to bridge the gap of understanding which is required. The Vincent tanks I have seen so far are all wanting. I'm working with someone who I will allow to have access to my UFM. Most of the INdian Vincent C series tank replica are badly made as they have no idea what a UFM looks like or they need rubber grommets of an exact size to work. The Vincent design is very subtle. The worst thing to do is to pressure test with water INSIDE the tank.

Many thanks for the above post. So is there any particular supplier of Indian tanks you would recommend over the rest? Only reason for asking is I am looking for a series C Vincent petrol tank and may be forced to go down the Indian made route due if I cannot find a useable original tank for sale at a reasonable price.

I see from studying photos of Indian made tanks for sale on ebay, there is at least two different manufacturers by looking at the shape of the strengthining indentations pressed in the bottom of the tanks.
 

daevideo

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Hello vin998. There are quite a few fellows in India seduced by the £££ or $$$ signs. All of them except 1 who is a friend of mine have simply jumped on the bandwagon. He has made the Panther M20 tank which my friend in Sunderland who supplied the pattern is very pleased with. Put simply any Vincent tanks on eBay don't understand the subtleties of the compound curves and the relationship between the front locating lugs and the rear fixing bracket.. MOST important are the slotted holes which is present on the bracket are there for a reason! Please get in touch as I'll be back in India soon working on a C series and I will bring one back, well he is using my UFM and original tank. my email: daevideo AT gmail DOT com
 

daevideo

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Just as a matter of interest I used a company called K.K.Engineering Works,trading as Parts Paradise.
Email ID :- partsparadise51@gmail.com.

I'm not familiar with this detail - but some Indians set up eBay accounts when the overweening sceptre of negative feedback just gets too much - and it''s easy to set up a new email acccount! But I'm pleased your Velo tank has come up trumps. In general the shaping can be top notch, but the fittings regularly let the side down. I'm trying to remedy this. For example the sheer joy of getting the mounting grommets to fit into the front locating lugs of the tank is dictated by the chamfer and diameter and a slight interfence fit. These need to be stamped out rather than cut and filed. I have cracked the whip and the have been done. I am tooled up as they say.
 
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