Hi All, I've just bought a junker of a '97 M900 (see my thread in the builds & projects section for the whole sorry tale) and I need a bit of advice from you Monster experts. The tank the bike came with is plastic and the fuel pump bolts in from underneath, like a 916/ST etc... I suspect it came from a later, injected bike (the S2/S4 shape?) Although it does bolt up to the frame the seat doesn't fit around it properly. I think I'm right in saying the correct tank would be steel and the pump would go in through the fuel cap hole, like a carbed SS/SL, is that right? If so does anyone have a decent tank for a '97-era bike? Thanks Darren
The carby tanks have an external fuel pump which is vacuum controlled from one of the intake manifolds, 900ie tanks have the internal electric pump, both are steel. As you suggest some later models got a plastic tank If you want to keep your tank then get a seat from a later model (fuel injected) as it will be shaped to suit the later tank, this might be a cheaper/easier option than a new tank. I found this on the 'net whilst looking for a tank for mine; "General rule of thumb for all "steel" tanks goes like this. They're backwards compatible. If you've got an older bike and are trying to fit a newer tank it will fit, but might need a few mods or a change(s). Unfortunately putting older tanks on newer bikes will take more work than most will want to do/bother with for either PITA factor or $$$. Specific differences are below from 1993 - 1999 All the carbed tanks fit the same (but the cutouts for the seat are different from the newer 2000+ designs) and they only have 1 fuel line coming out which uses either 5/8" or 8mm fuel line. All steel tanks have 2 drain lines which are 1/4" or 6.35mm sized lines. All carbed models have their fuel filters/pumps outside the tank. You can use a newer tank, but you'll have to also use a newer seat to fit the cut out of the tank (it's only a little off and if you're not a perfectionist, it's liveable) In 2000 & 2001 Ducati made both carbed and FI tanks. The most obvious difference between them is that the fuel filler on top either has just a fuel cap (for carbed models) or a fuel cap which is just inside an aluminium ring (for the FI models).(FI) All FI tanks have their fuel filters and fuel pumps inside the tanks. And you would remove both the fuel cap and the aluminium ring which the fuel cap mounts to from the tank (gently using the wooden handle of a hammer) to gain access to both the fuel filter and pump. It helps if you've got small arms to fit inside that hole. On the bottom of these tanks there are 4 lines coming out. All 4 of which are bent at 90 degrees. 2 are large for fuel (5/16" or 8mm) and 2 are small (1/4" or 6.35mm). The cut out underneath for the airbox and battery are different than the newer design and will NOT fit newer tanks without a lot of relocating of parts or modifying. (carbed) These are the rarest tanks as they are for carbed bikes and have the newer seat cutout (which fits everything from 2000 to current in the Monster line), but have the smaller hole at the top of the tank for only a gas cap and NOT the extra aluminium ring. But it's fairly easy to make any FI tank fit this bike with a little work. Closing off one of the fuel lines and adding the extra aluminium ring (which didn't come with the original carbed tank) and has 8 2mm allen bolts holding it into the tank. All tanks from this point forward are FI only. The 2001 S4 tank is special as it has the underside shape of the newer 2002+ style tanks, but it came out in 2001. (FYI- this was the first Monster to use the ST style frame and 5.9 "immobilizer" electronics, all Monsters going forward use this) From 2002 & 2005/2006 Ducati also went with a different location for the battery and airbox underneath the tank. So the cut out underneath is larger overall (hence why the older tanks don't fit) also the fuel filter is held inside the tank with a C clamp in these tanks, rather than just floating in the previous FI tanks. The easiest way to tell the difference between a 2000/2001 FI tank and a 2002/200x FI tank is by the fuel lines coming out of the bottom. Specifically the 2002/200x tanks have 4 lines coming out of the bottom, but only 2 are bent at 90 degrees (the smaller 1/4" or 6.35mm ones) are bent at 90 degrees and 2 the larger (5/16" or 8mm) ones point straight out of the bottom towards the ground when on the bike. In 2005/2006 (in the US at least) all the tanks went to plastic. (But there's still a few Metals that were being depleted from stock, hence the 2 year span to actually completely change to plastic) simple check to confirm, just check to see if a magnet sticks to it. These tanks have the same cutout underneath for battery and airbox. But have a different fuel filter/pump system that bolts into the bottom of the tank. They only have a gas cap on the top of the tank and they use a different mechanism for the hinge. 2007 From what I hear, the S4RS tanks are very differently shaped too. But I've not seen one to tell you what those differences are compared to others."
Dukedesmo, thanks sooooooo much for posting that, just what I was looking for! So I could run with the tank I have (or a better condition one of the same shape) if I had a matching seat? Believe it or not I have an S2R seat in my parts stash, I've no idea where it came from but there it is. Sometimes things get thrown in when you buy stuff from someone having a clear out... I'll see how it mounts up tonight. Then all i need to worry about is the fuel pump, so maybe a tank like final-edition's with a carby supersport pump inside could work... Thanks again Darren
My Monster is a carby version but I have a (steel) tank from a 900ie which has the internal pump. I had to add wiring for it and devise a 'loop' to return the excess fuel to the tank but nothing difficult. I also use a later version seat and everything fits fine.