Who made this oil tank and what does it fit>

[Lonnie]

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I recently bought the motorcycle parts from the estate of a former Sportster drag racer (his son kept the bike and memorabilia, darn it!). Almost all the parts are Sportster or early Super Glide. In this pile was this oil tank. I have never seen one like it and have no idea who made it or what it was made to fit. It is steel, not aluminum, and is very well made. Can anyone out there tell me anything about it?

Thanks.

[junkyarddog]

Looks obvious to me that it was home made and never finished. For a big twin. Style pretty much says late 60's up

Jim Rowin

[Slojo]

The cavity for the battery tells me it is a 6 volt tank. Probably a custom home made oil tank fabricated after the introduction of 12 volt oil tanks judging by the style of the oil fill port and the oil line connections.
Joe

[Lonnie]

I believe you guys are both correct, I have come to believe that it is indeed homemade, though by a guy who knew his stuff. It had been run, as it still had some oil and gunk inside. One end of the mounting bracket on the bottom had metal fatigued apparently and cracked off. The oil fill spout takes the '70 and newer oil cap. One suggestion had been that it was perhaps Sportster, but I can't see how it would have mounted with clearance for the removal of the battery. I have a Big Twin rigid frame chained up in the rafters and may try to get it down to see how it would fit in that and in a BT swingarm frame. The mounting, though, has me puzzled. An interesting piece, I wish I knew its history. Even back in the chopper heyday of the late 60's - 70's there were manufacturers of custom oil tanks. Whoever made this wanted the cooling effect of the fins, no doubt.