XS360 gas tank on an XS650

I set the swap meet XS360 tank on my '75 XS650 and loved it.

The only real issue is the petcock. It has a large vacuum petcock and doesn't clear the engine. I might be able to find a small aftermarket non-vacuum petcock that will work, so I'll have to check around. If not I'll block it off, weld in a bung farther back, and use a screw-in type petcock.


The two front mounts on the tank only needed narrowed up 1/8 inch on each side to fit. The rear tank mount needs a new bracket on the frame. When making the mount, I made it to sit lower than what I thought it would likely need. This way later on I can use large flat washers to shim it to just the right height.


Here is a scrap piece of flat steel and an old piston pin. The pin is to cut down to use as a sleeve inside the rear tank mount rubber bushing.


Cut, bend and drill.


I welded a nut on the bottom, then positioned and welded to the frame. 


The tank is mounted. I had to throw on a set of clubmans to see how it would look. This is the XS650 that I traded an old utility trailer for in 2010. Ugly, but ran decent. I then found cam chain guide pieces in the sump filter, which needs the engine removed to fix. When that happens I'll sandblast and paint the frame. The original plan was a scrambler/roadster, but I picked up the '79 XS650 since then, so might go with clip-ons and rearsets on this one.


I also test fit the exhaust system from the swap meet. I like it, but might shorten it up a bit, and give it more upsweep. The gauges and headlight will likely be lowered also.