A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

Matt · Member

Alternative and/or bigger fuel tank options for the TTR250

TTRfan · Super Guru

RE: Acerbis 22 litre for XR 250/400

GregP · Member

Hi, i have the Acerbis fitted to my 2003 TTR without any problems - 2 extra changes not mentioned in the Lambeth kit was to relocate the horn and raise the indicators, also i already had handlebar risers which appear to be necessary to turn full lock. Cheers, Greg.

Teamcharm911 · Newbie

Oversize fuel tank question

davecambo · Senior Member

Alternative and/or bigger fuel tank options for the TTR250

brindabella · Senior Member

RE: bigger tank installation

mww916 · Veteran Member

About to hand over some hard earned on one of these tanks on the basis of what I have seen on the web. MX1 australia have the acerbis tank on sale for $A350+ delivery. Can anyone who has fitted these tanks offer any further advice from brindabella's discovery so far?

Sireel · Member

Brindabella, you have pretty much identified the main issues i encountered with my install. i have a white 22L acerbis tank from mx1 (very helpful) installed on mine. took a couple of hours fiddling but fits nicely in the end. i will give a brief run down of the what and how. might be able to dig up some photos at some point too.

what i used (this is not the only way to do it)

tank details from packaging:
acerbil 22L honda xr600 88-99
part # 0001569.030 aka 1569w
other number: 2044310002

fitting parts:

honda xr brackets from ebay $15 (N/A from honda) 17522-kn5-670

honda bracket rubbers* ($2.50ea new from honda): 17508-kn5-670

yamaha bolts $6ea from yamaha: 90119-06214

yamaha sleeve washers/crush tube* $10ish ea from yamaha: 3jd-24186-00 or m100610y shortened 2mm with a file to suit honda rubbers

* in retrospect i think using either honda rubbers and honda washers or yamaha rubbers and yamaha washers would be a better soution, preferably yamaha parts as the rubbers are a bit wider and help the brackets fit slightly tighter. if you could get a full honda mount second hand, with bracket, rubber and washer that would work and could be the cheapest option, honda washers are no longer available new. i used what i had and it works well.

yamaha rear tank securing strap, extended a few cm with wire that loops over an acerbis supplied bolt on the tank

rubber/ high density foam frame packing. i used a combination of rubber frame spacers supplied by mx1, hd foam i had lying around and strips of old radiator hose. i packed front and back of the tank so it sat with the mounting holes lined up.

a piece of 40x30 mm aluminium box, cut on an angle and bolted to tank to receive seat tongue. the size is a bit large so i wrapped the seat tongue in some rubber self amalgamating tape so fits snug.

bracket mounting position:
the brackets can be fittted several ways, which make slight, but important differences to how the tank sits. the only way i could get it to sit well and have the seat go on easily is as follows:

firstly they need to go in the 200/400 position

the honda brackets have writing stamped on one side (KN5)

as you would sit on the tank, the left side bracket should have this writing facing inwards (visible). the frame bolt on this side needs to be inserted through the rubber before the bracket is bolted to the tank.

the right side bracket should have the writing facing out (not visible as it is pressed against the tank).

i also needed to do the following for everything to clear the tank:

reposition horn on existing mount, didnt need to extend wires or anything, took 2min

reposition (stock) front indicators higher/further forward. i used some 40mmx3mm aluminium bar i had lying around. easy as, just 3 drill holes.

reposition brake hose guides. i just removed the white plastic guides and remounted them in the same place but with the hole towards the inside of the fork. wouldnt strictly be necessary but it is neater this way and the hose is probably less likely to snag a stick or branch.

my bars were already raised 20mm, this is needed to clear the tank for me, but that is only because of the mounting position of my barkbusters. others may or may not need to raise the bars.

i used a round chainsaw file to lengthen slots that the seat bolts go through about 2mm. may or may not be required for others.

i also added a small fuel filter before the fuel hoses go into the carb.

overall i am very pleased with the result. no vibration, comfortable to ride with and awesome fuel range. the seat is a little harder to fit but not difficult, the wrinkles in the vinyl cove disappear after about 20min

there are a few things i didnt like about the tank: the part plastic fuel taps feel nowhere near as robust as the original yamaha item, but i understand metal replacements are available. the fuel cap thread is fairly fine and easier to cross thread than the original. the supplied fuel hose is very thin walled clear tube and the y toint is plastic. they may be fine but i didnt trust either, so i bought a brass T and more durable rubber fuel hose.

also note: it appears that because of the way the tank sits and the location of fuel taps towards the rear of the tank the full 22L is not available unless going uphill. depending on your suspension setup and weighting there may be up to 1L unavailable at the end of the tank.

another option i was considering if i couldnt get honda mounts was to get some aluminum angle, bolt this to the tank where the honda brackets would go then bolt the full yamaha bracket to this. it looked doable but i think the honda bracket path is fairly quick, cheap, easy, neat and robust.

you could probably make custom mounting brackets similar to the honda ones for a slightly better fit but i think it would be a royal pain for not much benefit.

i'll try get some pics up later

hope this helps

brindabella · Senior Member

and thanks from me too, Sireel - super informative post!

[I already replied yesterday but somehow that got swallowed up as spam, maybe because of some links, so now a shorter reply..]

suddenly a lot of tank issues are more clear..

I reckon there are THREE acerbis tanks that are actually identical except for fittings:

acerbis 22l XR250/400 1996-2003/4
acerbis 22l XR600 1988-1989
acerbis 22l XR650L 1993-1996 (nb NOT XR650R)

For example my (STILL unfitted) tank is supposedly an XR250/400 tank, but it has alternative screw inserts marked as "600 650", "600" and "250" - ie two possible bracket positions and two rear pull down screw fittings.

And none of the associated brackets in the fitting kits would be good for our TTR250s.
Somehow you discovered that honda part 17522-kn5-670 would work.
[an antique XR600 part fitted at the XR250 position!]

It looks like this bracket was only fitted to the XR350 of 1985 and the XR600 of 1985-1987 (NOT the XL models of those years).
Unfortunately it is invariably listed as "not available", so you have to be lucky to get 2nd hand brackets.

Pretty much every picture of a TTR250 with a long range tank seems to be this tank - which has a very distinctive look.

I know it is a lot to ask, but if one day someone with these brackets could post the dimensions:
eg (at a wild guess): flat plate, 5mm wide at the lower tank mount hole, 2 holes for 6mm bolts onto tank with centers spaced 40mm, one larger hole of diameter 18mm, with its center being 63mm and 68mm distant from the other two hole centers.
Hey, please don't anyone build brackets with my above *pretend* dimensions as they would be wrong!!!

Sireel · Member

No probs, I had a hard time finding specific info so I'm happy to get it out there. Agreed about the same tank with different fittings. When I looked there were about 4 ebay auctions that included the brackets I used, all in the US. I think I searched ” xr tank” and looked through the results. I might be able to arrange something when I next take the tank off. I'll put a scratch guard on my scanner, scan one and upload it, should just be able to download, print, transfer and cut. In theory anyway. Didn't seem like the mounts were particularly rare though.

brindabella · Senior Member

I have installed an Acerbis 22l tank on my 2011 TTR, and I'm very happy with it. It has the capacity, is unobtrusive, doesn't vibrate or obstruct any part of the bike and fits securely.

In case someone else wants to do the same thing, here are some photos and notes on the fitting process. The photo below indicates how it looks from the riding position. the breather hose is the standard TTR one. handlebars are totally standard, indicators relocated. no problem with knee room and has proved resilient in minor crashes.

The next two photos show the view from each side. the left view shows how I chose to connect the acerbis "Y" to the tank and carb. the cross-over connection goes under and comes out on the right side near the remote shock reservoir. Acerbis supply the taps, the "Y" and a couple of hose clamps and some clear hose. I chose to buy some some hopefully better fuel hose. I would have used a metal "Y" piece instead of the one supplied by Acerbios, but I couldn't find one.

I chose to wrap a coil spring around the right side hose for a bit of added protection. note that you can see the fuel level - I ordered the translucent tank rather than the opaque white tank. A slightly irritating thing is that while both left and right taps are standard "lever down = ON", the OFF position has one lever pointing forward and one pointing backwards.

below is a view showing the critical left mounting point. It is important that the bolt can be easily accessed. I will discuss the mounting brackets below, but here note that they are drilled to suit a standard yamaha rubber grommet fitting. The bolt that goes into the left side is also standard yamaha and is effectively "captive" in the grommet, due to the confined space, and its own captive washer. However, as fitted here, the tank is quite easy to remove and replace. there is no need to remove that bolt completely to remove the tank, but if for some reason you wanted to, you could modify the washer or just twist against the rubber a bit.

and below is the extension to the rear rubber retaining strap. it is made from galvanised iron (e.g. as in common guttering etc) and folded around the loop of the original rubber strap to extend it. My acerbis kit didn't have a screw for the tank, so I had to find a screw and also a short sleeve to go on the part of the thread over which the trap extension hooks. The receiver for the tongue of the seat base is screwed in above the hook bolt and is also made from galvanised iron. I though this might be tricky but it was easy with tin snips and a file and drill, following the shape of the original receiver. The two screw holes involved here are originally for two possible mounting strap positions for different honda models but luckily they are well situated for the yamaha.

the next shot is with the front guard removed, looking at the brackets and the frame. there are no clearance issues under there.

you might be able to see the horn (still loose in this pic). It almost clears the tank in its original position, but needed to simply be loosened, rotated downwards a bit and retightened (with loctite for good luck).

next is a photo of the left front indicator and the brake hose guide.I wanted to get the indicators as close as possible to the wiring harness as I could while clearing the tank and this is the bracket I made from steel sheet (about 2mm, I think). I put a bend in it so that the indicator stalk pointed a little up and forward. The brake hose guide is relocated to slightly guide the hose inwards away from the tank. In the end all of the indicators, fork tubes, headlight shroud, horn etc were at least 10mm away from the tank in all steering positions.

The next photo shows the home made brackets, with grommets, and the foam support. I used a very high density foam block which was actually sold as a yoga exercise block. It is supposed to be fuel resistant, and I have used the same material on a "postie bike" (honda ct110) long range tank without problems.

The foam needs to be carved with a convex top to fit the inside tank spine, and a concave base to fit the top frame tube. The TTR frame is luckily straight and of fairly constant diameter, so the job is fairly easy. The photo here is how it might be done if you replaced the existing yamaha rubber mount, but then I decided to leave that mount in place and carve the foam so it fitted over the existing mount.

An important thing to note is that when the tank is fitted so that good even clearance is maintained from the fork tubes, and good fit to the seat base, the tank spine is pretty much parallel to the top frame tube. The way I fitted it, the distance from frame to tank (ie the foam height along its length, centrally) was about 33mm.

Below is another photo of the brackets. Since then I filed them a bit smoother and slightly relieved the inner top surface of one of the brackets, as the tank was not letting it lie parallel to its neighbour.

Compared to the honda brackets, mine make more contact with the tank surface at the top. There are actually 3 thread inserts each side of the tank (for various honda XR models), the triangular top part of my brackets covers the 3rd unused hole. the brackets are made of 6mm aluminium and it needs to be this thickness to hold the rubber grommets properly.

OK now more detail on the brackets themselves. Please refer also to the excellent post by Sireel for more information. I bought the 1985 XR350/600 vintage KN5 brackets from an ebay seller, but decided not to use them. Two main reasons: 1. to make the lower mount hole smaller (about 18mm instead of 20mm dia) so that standard yamaha grommets would fit; 2. to position that hole slightly rearwards (with hole center in a line parallel with the frame and coincidentally parallel with the two top mounting holes which are 40mm apart) so the tank was SLIGHTLY more forward (and more room for the seat at the back).

I found it useful to first make some mock wooden brackets out of masonite to make sure that the dimensions were appropriate.

On the diagram below, the cross is roughly where I made the hole for the grommet (on the tracing of the KN5 XR bracket next to that bracket). The only tricky part is that the bottom hole is bigger than the average drill capacity, so you need to use a special conical bit or something.

with the yamaha grommets, the fit is better if the hole has slightly bevelled edges. The grommets I bought were actually from a TT250 I think, but I am pretty sure they are identical to those on the TTR250 tank (but I wanted to keep them, with the old tank). These grommets were a good width to cover the distance from bracket to frame mount point.

The seat still fits well, and I did not need to enlarge the seat mount holes.

I agree with Sireel about the Acerbis cap - it has a weird "gap thread" design, and you have to be careful to get it lined up properly when replacing it after refuelling. However it does not leak and the taps don't leak either.

In riding the bike, I can't say I noticed the extra dimensions, nor the extra weight when full (even when picking the bike up from an almost upside down position!). So I am happy with it.

Now all I need is a good luggage rack.

Cubber · Super Guru

Wow thanks, Brindabella, what a good installation guide, with pictures. biggrin

Perhaps you should offer this detailed fitting guide to Acerbis - it'd save them issuing a lot of useless instructions for others. wink

I hope you utilise your endeavours fully and have no trouble finding and fitting your rack. aww

Martyn

petenz · Super Guru

larger fuel tank....

Cubber · Super Guru

Once again, a simple search on this forum would bring quit a bit of information, the tank question seems a regular one.

TRY THIS for information. Brindabella gives a heap of good advice. wink

TTR tank mounts can be modified or adapted to fit different tanks depending on your ingenuity and capability. confuse

Good luck.

Martyn

petenz · Super Guru

thanks...

looks like the 96/04 Clark tank might fit...

As it fits the same models as the Acerbis tank..

noeyedear · Senior Member

fitting a larger tank

brindabella · Senior Member

if you decide to follow my attachment method in those posts, make sure you find some decent HIGH DENSITY foam to sit the tank on, and make it full length. rough sandpaper wrapped around a pipe of the same diameter as the frame top tube is a good way to get a final fit.

Haggis Hunter · Veteran Member

Just a thought for a better fit. How about placing a strong plastic bag under the tank and filling it with expanding foam?

Why this came to mind is I have odd shaped parts delivered to me and they come in a box in which the part has been placed surrounded by a plastic bag which has been filled with an expanding foam so when it expands you get a custom fit.

It may take a bit of experimenting, but it may work......or it may not.

Peter

brindabella · Senior Member

that would be a cool solution if you could do it.
but some expanding packing foams are very light (because of postage fees by weight, and anyway the nature of the expansion),
and a full 22l tank is puts down a fair amount of weight at the rear of the tank, pivoting from the front mounts.

whatever is used should be fairly resistant to compression, moderate temperatures and probably also petrol.

of course the ideal would be "rubber" just like the original rear tank mount but the correct size.
dunno how you could do this unless some other bike miraculously has a mount which can be adapted.

or you could carve a mount from a block of solid "rubber" (if you could find one).

or you could just jam in and zip tie an old cut up shoe sole and a piece of car radiator hose and cross your fingers.

Gregiem · Newbie

Acerbis fuel tank

TerryK · Super Guru

Will be interested to see how you go, would like to put a larger tank on the TTR, when I sold my XR400 I had a 14.5lt Clarke tank which would be perfect for the Yamaha, I sold a 23lt Acerbis 5yrs ago, should have kept it to fit back onto the XR & used the Clarke on the TTR...another "if only"

Cheers Terry

petenz · Super Guru

What year XR is the tank ?...
I have a Clark XR250R 14.5L tank for a 96 to 04 XR

TerryK · Super Guru

Pete the XR400 tank all yrs will fit the TTR, slight issue with the seat meeting the tank

TerryK · Super Guru

RE: bigger tank installation

petenz · Super Guru

Nope.....

But I have a Clark 14.5 XR250/400 tank... Be interested to know aswell...

Markvan · Guru

Alternative fuel gas petrol tanks for the TTR250

Terrence R · Senior Member

Different TTR tank I

Terrence R · Senior Member

Here's a pic of a 96 TT350 with the same fuel tank:

Markvan · Guru

Looks like thats it alright. The TTR is on ebay australia. $450. Not sure if its a bid or buy now. This also a after market tailpipe $99.

petenz · Super Guru

It is a TT350 tank... looks a good fit aswell...

Holds 9.5lts same as the TTR250 tank...

-- Edited by petenz on Monday 23rd of June 2014 07:25:30 AM

ttboof · Super Guru

looks like a tt tank my tt 250.was the same .

with the 350.it was just the stickers and top end that was different with a slighty different stud pattern from the 250..

my recently moved neighbour has a 250.and a 350..both nice bikes miss drooling over them

Markvan · Guru

Other pics i found

de_laerra · Member

Another TTR250 with TT350 tank from Nahodka:

petenz · Super Guru

And with USD forks... Look like YZF units...

PS... Isn't his riding gear soooooo clean....

de_laerra · Member

> And with USD forks... Look like YZF units...

No, owner said that forks and front wheel were taken from WR. Side panels from YZ250 '90 are more interesting, as for me=)

Markvan · Guru

Alternative fuel gas petrol tanks for the TTR250

Terrence R · Senior Member

Markvan wrote:
Found this on Facebook. Owner said its a Xr200 tank and had to do mods to the seat and tank.

It looks like a metal tank to me, which the xr200's didn't have.

Terrence R · Senior Member

Oops, my mistake. After looking at some pics, it does look like an xr200 tank. The only xr tanks that are here in Canada are Plastic, with the exception of xr650L gas tanks.

Scaly · Newbie

What Tank fits a TTR?

TTRfan · Super Guru

Welcome to the forum Darren!

XT250 and XT350 tanks are supposed to fit - see the thread and pics here

Also repairs are possible - see here

Brian

rimtrail105 · Newbie

My 1999 ttr250 doesn't get enough range for me so i tested out some tanks from xr250 and xr400 and some from xr600's .All will fit.You may have to make some aluminun brackets for the front mounts.Currently I am using a five gallon Clark 5 gal. aftermarket tank off a xr400,,,,gives me range of 350 miles.
rt105

Scaly · Newbie

Do the xr tanks need seat modifications?

TTRfan · Super Guru

RE: Bigger tank for your TTR?

CUL8TTR · Veteran Member

19 litre

This should fit - shouldn't it?

I mean the distance between the fixing points should not be all that different from the Acerbis?

-- Edited by CUL8TTR on Thursday 5th of February 2015 05:45:05 AM

Fladdem · Senior Member

Are theses options all for later blue TTR's? Apart from a raid tank, which I don't want because I believe you need the raid seat too, what options are for open enduro models? I can make brackets, but I would rather avoid having to do so, if at all possible. Just wondering about maybe setting my OE up for touring.

rockcrawler · Member

Thanks for the useful guide to achieve this. I am in the process now and I understand what needs to be done based on the previous contributors.

Here's my tank mocked up with temporary plywood brackets. Lots of little jobs left to do yet.

pug · Guru

So it's been a crappy 4-5 weeks for me with a bad back plus winters hear an the norm at this time of year is to have a project on the go in the workshop well i could not find the right pile of bit's to turn into a bike this year so some mod's to the bikes i have just finished this tank fit to the TTr. the tank is an xr 250 -600 acerbis and is showing it's age a wee bit 22 years old by the date stamp on it. but it seem's to hold fuel a lot of fuel with out pissing it out everywhere. it was not a easy fit i will say with this thread being of help but the front brackets where not the same bolt spacing side to side on the tank for the front mounts will do a more how to right up hear in a day or two or it could just have been the age of the tank older than most people's bike on hear.

and the tanks not as white as it looks in the pic's it gone a bit yellow with age even after a go over with wet a dry from 120 up to 1200 an a buffing

pug

-- Edited by pug on Saturday 5th of December 2015 03:19:18 PM

-- Edited by pug on Saturday 5th of December 2015 03:22:32 PM

Cubber · Super Guru

I do like that, Martyn.

Oops - I'm meaning the front mudguard sticker. biggrin

Martyn

pug · Guru

Yep it's a lovey sticker have looked at a lot of TTr 's an pic's of TTr's and only ever seen one another bike with them like that maybe Brian can cast some light on what happed maybe they are very limited edition Totally TTr super special awesome one million customer type thing

Cubber · Super Guru

Mine has the ordinary sticker

Martyn wink