DID ANY HONDA CB750 SANDCAST COME WITH NON WRINKLE TANKS

[1941wld]

This guy is sure this non wrinkle tank came on his CB750 sandcast. Could that be the case or was it changed along the way?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200937619170?item=200937619170&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME:X:RTQ:MOTORS:1123&vxp=mtr

He states:
So when I bought my sandcast: from the original owner; who put the dent in the tank (when it was new), somewhere/somehow from September of 1969 to my purchase in 1991 the tank morphed into a non wrinkle tank or it was switched from the tank featured in period photos with the owner (including dent) to another tank (with dent) - or- maybe it is the original non-wrinkle tank that came with the bike. It is not a wrinkle tank. It is the tank that came on the bike and I can assure you that #6655 is a sandcast.
I'm familiar with the sandcast site, my bike is on the registry. Some of the links from that site is where I found the data on the "two dimple" tank. If you have latter motorbikes with wrinkles, good. How they got there would be interesting I'm sure. However I'm confident this tank was original to my bike and it is not a wrinkle. Which is how all this correspondence started: I did not state the tank is a wrinkle tank. It is the tank that came on the motorbike. Solid chrome (no black stripe) trim piece and all.

[Bowswell]

http://cb750sandcastonly.com/smf_forum/index.php?topic=779.0

punch date anywhere?

[sandydogg]

I read somewhere on the forum about another case like this, I believe the consensus was that the wrinkle tank was likely damaged when the bike was transported from Japan to the States (or even at the dealership), and the tank was most likely replaced by the original dealer with an off-the-shelf brand new non-wrinkle tank before the bike was sold.

I can only imagine the dealer's wholesale price of a NOS fuel tank in 1969 was probably in the $30-40 range so if one of their employees knocked one bike over and the bars dented the tank of another bike, it wouldn't be a huge deal to swap it out with one from the back room shelf.

It is more than "possible"... I knocked a KX250 over a few years ago when my air tool hose got caught on the MX step stand... of course it dented the tank on one of my nice personal bikes. Unfortunately I had neither a low cost new one on the shelf... or an employee to flip out on! 

Regards, John

[kmb69]

Short answer - NO.

I was having a rough day today. His listing kind of ticked me off and I was part of the email back and forth with this seller. Purchased 1991 - new in 1969 - 22 years? John is probably correct if the bike was purchased with that tank, it was replaced by the dealer prior to purchase. But I have a hard time buying that. It would have to have been sold later in 1970. The wrinkles came on the K0's for some time. Hard to imagine a SC sitting on the floor for that length of time unless it was being held as a demo. But I doubt that. Back then, nobody knew that Sandcast meant anything - I was there. Demand was high and dealers were pushing them out as fast as they could - turning their money so they could order more.

Original owner may have been fibbing a little.

[CBman]

kmb69 is right. There was no chance to have non wrinkle tank on Sandcast and first diecast K0 when it left dealer´s shop. When you look at this tank cap lock, it is a key type, that was first used on K5 ! So this is 100% replacement fuel tank.
It is same fake as french sandcast about 16000 VIN. These all parts were changed after the sales date.

[CBman]

Even the VIC world is doing mistake in restoration. So if his bike is not redone 100%, so how can normal sellers be right?

[sandcastdoctor]

Just because the tank has the key-operated cap lock doesn't mean it was bought new in 1975. Back in the late '70's early '80's I worked at the local dealer in the service department and remember the recall requiring us to replace 100's of the 'dangerous' tank latches with the lockable ones. Wish I had just a handful of the old latches!!

[Wayne]

Isn't the bottom line this: We all know sandcasts came with wrinkle tanks and that's how we restore them. How THIS tank came to be is moot, even if Elvis owned it! The only value then would be that Elvis owned a non wrinkle tank, not a "sandcast" tank.  It's useless for a sandcast  restoration IMHO. I see the listing has been pulled.

[steff750]

  no  sandcastdocter is on the money, to me the lockable key latch is a dead give away too me also

Just because the tank has the key-operated cap lock doesn't mean it was bought new in 1975. Back in the late '70's early '80's I worked at the local dealer in the service department and remember the recall requiring us to replace 100's of the 'dangerous' tank latches with the lockable ones. Wish I had just a handful of the old latches!!

I bought a non wrinkle brand new tank fifteen years ago from dave silvers only to find it had a key lock on the fuel latch latch there was a call back on them mid seventies as they could flip open during a accident, so all new tanks came with a keylock I have a k0 frame#1017*** that came a wrinkle tank and I think that's about the cut off point for all wrinkle tanks

[sandydogg]

Me and my big mouth...  I was just voicing something that I had read in the archives... I didn't look at the listing until now, yeah the key lock wouldn't seem very correct. I should have looked closer!

[tomcourtney]

I think some did come with a non wrinkle tank. Why do I say that? Well mine didn't have one when I got it and I was told that it was the original tank, it had the short tap body too, go figure it is a very late one 6958 TC