1964 XLCH Tank Painting

[billpedalino]

My tank and fenders are at the body shop for straightening and paint. I'll be ordering the paint from John Pierce this week and hope to have the sheet metal back in about a month or so. One of the first things that my painter immediately asked is whether or not I had a template for laying out the tank side panels, which I do not and I'm going to have a problem I'm having is laying out the correct shape of these tank panels and the 1/2" wide border stripes.

This is actually more tricky than I thought. Looking at photos of restored bikes, some look better than others as the panel shapes vary a bit and even small variations cause very noticeable differences in the overall look of the painted design. Even looking at photos of factory-painted tanks is quite tricky, as the angle at which the photos are taken can confuse the actual limits of the applied design. Furthermore, the front ends of the panels wrap around the front curve of the tank and this must be exact, as should the height of the panel near the gas cap.

I'm hoping that somebody has an original-paint tank that they could take some measurements or photos of. If so, please respond - I just don't trust my ability to correctly lay it out going by 'eye' and its quite important.

Thanks

[Chris Haynes]

Factory photo.

[billpedalino]

Chris - that's a great shot. Now if I can just get somebody to with an original-paint tank to give me some measurements, I can get the panel laid out. So many of the re-paints that I've seen have the top of the pattern to high and too far forward, thus giving the panel a forward-leaning appearance that (to me) is very noticeable. The original layout is is so much more pleasing to the eye. The industrial designer did a good job in 'seeing' the correct shape.

By the way, one interesting point I notice is that this must have been a photo of a prototype bike (only) as the 1964'came with a steel-covered speedometer cable casing and the photos shown a rubber-covered cable casing. The vinyl coverings came a couple of years later on production bikes. I've seen these anomalies from time to time in factory photos. The photos does however clearly show that the tank bolts were parkerized with cadmium washers, which clears up another question. I LOVE these fatory close-ups! Thank you for sharing.

[Chris Haynes]

Unfortunately I don't have a shot of the left side so i can't tell you if it is a prototype or production model without seeing the number.

[Sportster Jerry]

By the way, one interesting point I notice is that this must have been a photo of a prototype bike (only) as the 1964'came with a steel-covered speedometer cable casing and the photos shown a rubber-covered cable casing. The vinyl coverings came a couple of years later on production bikes. I've seen these anomalies from time to time in factory photos.

The speedo and tach cable in Chris' photo have the metal casing. The vinyl covered cable in the photo appears to be the brake cable.

[billpedalino]

Ah yes Jerry - I see it now.....

[kiwi tibbs]

Hi Bill,

I don't mean this to sound bad but any decent painter should be able to lay out that design with line tape by that picture that has been supplied.

You must have some talented sign writers/painters in New York?

Take care

Tony