A number of ISRAlites have asked how to increase the touring range of their bike and other than paying HUGE bucks for a custom tank, there is very little that can be done... Except this hot little tip from Australia. And it applies to all Stars, even though the picture is of a V-Star tank.

For some reason, Yamaha place a rather long filler tube on the inside of our tanks that actually make a very large air pocket that could otherwise be taken up by fuel. In fact after this modification, you should be able to get an extra 2 litres (or half a gallon) of fuel into your tank. Depending on what setup you have on your bike, this means an extra 20 kms or 15 or so miles. Not bad considering it will only take you two tools and about 10 minutes of your time.

What you will need is a long awl (a tool that looks like a screwdriver but all it has is a point on the end) and a hammer. DON'T USE A DRILL! The possibility of a spark is not a pretty thought and besides,
you will leave shavings to rust inside your tank.

To be safe, cover your tank with towel or blanket (in case you slip with the hammer!) and the with the awl and hammer, tap (pretty hard) on the filler tube till you pop a hole in it at the four compass points. That's it!

Yes, the picture below shows two holes close together but I discover later that this really is not necessary. In fact, some ISRAlites have reported that only one hole is required (which makes sense) but this would increase your filling time at the fuel pump, and I'm impatient so I'd stick to four holes. <grin>

Once you have done this little modification, you can fill your tank up all the way to the top (well, just a bit less or fuel will seep out from under the cap) with a minimum of time spent "topping up" and waiting for the fuel level to settle down.

There is only one caveat: For those of you that have an overflow tube running from under the speedo (early model 1997 Drag Stars to start with) this modification allows you to over-fill the tank and you will find fuel pouring out of the overflow tube running down the left frame strut. John "Pommy" Fell reports that it is still a time saver for him, since he fills his bike up while standing astride it in an upright position. This tank mod allows him to fill the tank up quickly and when he sets the bike back down on the side-stand, everything is OK with no fuel wasted via the overflow pipe. (Thanks for the feedback, John.)