Gas tank mod before repaint

Clifftex wrote:

I am turning it into an electric.

:sick: Why couldn't you have started with something other than a KZ?

Clifftex wrote:

As to the reason for the mod, I hope you fellows don't disapprove too much, but I am turning it into an electric.

I am so much interested in this project. Wow, a KZ Sparky! If I had more battery/electrical knowledge, I would find an old roling chassis and do this too.

There is a guy here in Berkeley who did this to a Suzuki GS. He said it ran well, but I am not real sure I believe him. He was an electrical engineering genius, but his metal fabrication skills were very crude. He later decided to power something else with all the electrical gear, and strippped it off the Suzuki. I was going to buy the frame from him, but it became clear that the electrical and other gear needed to redo the job right was going to cost big bucks, so I bailed on the project. I do believe I might try to fabricate an electric motorcycle sometime in the future.

Come on, guys, this one's easy!

I am about to modify my KZ650 gas tank. I need to cut into it. Is there a solution I can put into it so that the sparks from the cut wheel don't cause the tank to explode in my face?

Car exhaust! Honest! Two things:
#1. It's inert. Any gas molecules knocked loose will be non-flamable until completely dispersed.
#2. It's warm. It will bake any gas fumes trapped in heavy rust in very little time.
I've seen this work with a tank that was just emptied, and it was safe to work on in a couple of hours. In fact, if you leave the hose from your exhaust pipe in there, it can be worked on in 15 minutes or so.
If the tank is filled with carbon monoxide from a car's exhaust, you can still weld on it with gas still in it. What, no guts?