knee dents

has anyone dared take a hammer to a kz tank to make cafe style knee dents.
i have seen a lot of honda guys doing it. i would love to see any examples if you know of any or any suggestions on shaping metal.
thanks :woohoo:

Ouch! I put a giant dent (with my knee) in a KZ1000B tank a number of years ago...wished I hadn't:blink: On a more serious note, I took a GPz750 tank to an automotive body shop to get a big dent out and they did such a poor job, I ended up pitching the tank. The point I'm getting at, is that the number of people who can actually do bodywork is rapidly diminishing...the trend is that body panels are replaced not 'undented' and the art of metalworking is dying. If you do decide to try and do that, I'd find a place that restores old cars...they don't have the luxury of substituting new fenders or body panels...I tried that angle in east Texas, but none of the car people would touch my other tanks:unsure: = cars only...bastards...

id have the dents made from a seperate piece then have them welded in.that way you could experiment till you find the dent you like without destroying your tank.

I was thinking about doing it to my bike next year (when I get to paint). I'm thinking of cutting the little lip off and getting rid of the gas cap and miving the filler over a few inches with one of those flush mount caps. The neighbor guy is a body man and he wants $600 to do it. :S

I'm a cheap bastard so I tried doing mine at 60mph on the freeway. Kind of worked but is taking me 6 months to recover. Not looking forward to doing the other side!:woohoo: (sorry, I couldn't resist)

how about cutting mirror images out of one side and then flipping them to the other side?like the harley guys do to get the dished sides.then just fill in the gaps.

531blackbanshee wrote:

how about cutting mirror images out of one side and then flipping them to the other side?like the harley guys do to get the dished sides.then just fill in the gaps.

That seems the most cost effective. When you cut it just put the outside in, and the inside out. Just make a symmetrical template and then fine tune to your liking. Keep us posted on how it goes. This will take some patience and thought. Good Luck.

This guy did it with a ballpeen hammer, some bondo and some patience...He claims it was easy.I think somewhere on this site he actually did a tutorial on it, but it'd take a little searching.. If you follow this thread to the end,check out the pics on pg.29. www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=102475

What about cutting the tank apart at the inside of the seam and then doing it with either an english hammer or hammer and dollies? Then you braze it back together along the inside and you can get a good enough shape you should be able to leave it polished if you like. (not a body man, but it sounds good to me!) Maybe try whatever on an old tank first?

Bluemeanie wrote:

I'm a cheap bastard so I tried doing mine at 60mph on the freeway. Kind of worked but is taking me 6 months to recover. Not looking forward to doing the other side!:woohoo: (sorry, I couldn't resist)

:woohoo: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: ...thaaaaaaaaaaat's funny!

On a serious note: I'd get a couple tanks off eBay before I'd go 'experimenting' with a good tank...just my thoughts. But be sure to post up pics of your work! ...sure sounds interesting.
-KR