XL500 slash XL250 fuel tank renovation restoration remodel

What do you do with a motorcycle fuel tank when you do some customising? It seems that the fuel tank is a central design element of any motorcycle. All custom bikes have a custom tank or at least a non-standard tank. I got this XL250 tank with the XL500 which has not been restored in any way, its got a few dents and the paint is quite faded. But I still wanted to retain its character which tells us a story of its former life, but I still wanted some personal design input. So why not leave part of it as is and customise part of it? We see this in architecture all the time, so why not motorcycles? I have grown to like 'patina' on things, its not all clean and shiny, but rather wears scars of its life. So this is my first attempt at motorcycle tank renovation or remodel if you will. The top third of the tank I have taken back to bare metal and given it a rough polish, then sprayed it in clear coat and lastly added a black pin stripe to divide the old and the new.

KZ650 custom 16 x 3 wheel to XL500S - Job Done

A pretty straight-forward wheel swap. KZ650 and XL500S rear wheels both have 17mm axles, so just needed to modify the axle spacers. Has to bend the brake-torque arm slightly, but then bolts straight up. Brake cable bolts up, just had to trim down the wing nut to fit. Also fitted a new chain which I had also left over from the DR400 project.

XL500s with 16 inch wheels aka vintage supermoto

Really like the way these 16 x 3 wheels look on the XL500S. Rear wheel bolts right in with minimal modifications. The front wheel is a very different story, its a little bit too wide for the stock front end. Either USD forks or conventionals with wider leg spacing would do the trick. Looks like more brain-storming and research til late in the night is required....