[Bryan Bosch]

Guys, Clarke is a small company. There isn't much heirarchy there. Call and ask for Chris. He's a reasonable guy and a good place to start.

[DougJ]

I have to say that if I was to have the experience that the original poster did, I wouldn't be all that upset about the leaky gasket. I would be pissed about recieving that kind of customer "service". I'll give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but when I get you on the phone and you're short, or snippy or whatever and don't want to service you're own product, then I've got a problem.

[Jim Hale]

Sorry to hear you're having a hard time with them. Have had my Clarke for over a year and have never had any problems with the cap or the tank.

[drzrobbcanuck]

Mr. Cannuck, what the poster did was TOTALLY acceptable in my book, you get bad service, this is where you tell people. Clarke has a problem and they should be dealing with it in a professional matter, I find it funny you want to keep it professional when clearly Clarke has not been professional. Far too often companies think they can get away with this shit with no repercussions. Where is the credit Clarke is due? For not fixing a known problem? If you do not force the issue, where can you make the issue known? This is also why TT has a thriving business, they are able to talk to their customers and make things right, they have done it for me and I would recommend the TT store to anyone. This forum is also a good tool to make things right with your customers for all to see. There are many examples on this board who have seen a business increase because of the word of mouth on this site. This site being a service to the public, is also a vehicle with which to make an online business more attractive because they have a real time customer service forum with all their customers in contact with each other saying good things about the TT store. It would be like having all your customers at the exit saying they love your business as you leave. This is where I have learned a good many things about alot of different manufacturers and I really appreciate the wisdom I have gotten from TT'ers. I would think twice about a Clarke tank now that I have heard some bad things about them.:thumbsdn: What would it have cost them to make a freind instead of an enemy? An O-ring and an envelope? :ride: vanram

good points.
I guess I came down a little hard on the original poster. I felt the title was over the top and confrontational towards a company that I found made a very good product. Have never had to deal with them though-bought mine through tt store and had great service.:thumbsup:
Have had no probs with mine or one a friend has.

[drz_dawg]

I am sorry to hear about the service you recieved from Clarke. I have a Clarke tank and would buy another without a second thought. I avoided the issue you are experiencing by buying an after market cap immediately after I installed the tank.

[stan23]

my issue is with the title of this forum. There are many very satisfied customers of clarke tanks, and and many others, very new to this forum, who will take a post such as the thread starter as gospel-and they shouldn't.
The point is that clarke has a bad c/s rep. Not that they are a bad company. Be sure to give credit when it's due, and, the corrollary: be sure to not bash a whole company when it is only an employee who is not doing their job well.
I agree that clarke should be held accountable for the problem but I don't agree with the way this thread attempts to force the issue-it is very unprofessional.
Apply pressure where it will do the most good (C.A.R.B.) not by publicly defaming the company.

Whoever wants to take the time to read my post, will note that I am merely informing my DRZ brethren of *my* experiences. While I don't expect every single person with the Clarke tank to agree with me, I am merely informing of what I went through. I did not lie or embellish my story in any way.

As for your statement of a single employee that is not doing their job well.. you have understand, that the person the answer the phones when I call Clarke, is in my eyes, a representation of Clarke.

If she doesn't treat me fairly, why would should I *not* see her as a representative of Clarke? I'm gonna take a wild guess that her paychecks come from Clarke, therefore she must work there, and since she is my only line of contact, she's 'Clarke' in my eyes.

You can disagree with me all you want. What I reported is not only a problem on my side, but from what I gather, a lot of folks has been affected. If only Clarke would handle this situation with a tad more grace, then no one would be complaining.

From what I read, the customer service over at IMS is superior. And from reading what other's have said, i'm thinking IMS will be my next tank of choice.

[stan23]

I have to say that if I was to have the experience that the original poster did, I wouldn't be all that upset about the leaky gasket. I would be pissed about recieving that kind of customer "service". I'll give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but when I get you on the phone and you're short, or snippy or whatever and don't want to service you're own product, then I've got a problem.

I was not upset at the leaky cap. From reading other posts here, it seems this is a known problem.. As I mentioned in my original post, I had already ordered my XR650R cap, before calling them up. I just thought they may be willing to send me a 'grace' gasket or charge me for a 'fixed' gasket.

The lady in the phone was very short tempered with me and was not interested in hearing about my problems, and offered to sell me something in which "will fail again" -- her words verbatim.

[DougJ]

The lady in the phone was very short tempered with me and was not interested in hearing about my problems, and offered to sell me something in which "will fail again" -- her words verbatim.

Yeah, that's the part that's inexcusable for a business. I would give 'em a shot at making it right, but that kind of attitude is not going to help me spend my money there.

[Moat]

Obviously, they must have meant Ethanol, not alcohol.

FWIW - Ethanol is an alcohol (ethyl alcohol). The same kind found in beer! :applause:

[another drz guy]

The professional way to deal with this is to call clarke back and ask to speak with the customer service manager or sales manager. make sure you are speaking to the person in charge of the sales/customer service then explain your situation and your opinion on the matter. then see where that gets you. If they still want $15 for a defective seal, THEN you post here and explain your experience.
dealing with one phone monkey doesn't give you the right to slander their entire company. if that were the case we'd all have to slander every parts dept at every dealer in the country.


FWIW I have a clarke tank, use pump fuel with alcohol in it, and I have no cap seal issues, but I do know that others have posted a sealing problem before.

Yes! I couldn't agree with you more! If I could make the +1 sign bigger I would.

[bensdad]

I have a blue Clarke but have not installed the tank yet. Was going to do it tonight. Where exactly can I buy the XR cap? I looked in the TT store, no luck. Any better options?
I am guessing the XR cap is a stock piece? Or is it an aluminum?

Thanks

[cal_tony]

After my first full up with the clarke tank, I noticed that the cap seemed tighter. It seems like the inner rubber had swollen a bit. That was 6 months ago. Prior to this writing, I reexamined the inside of the cap very carefully. It seems to show some abrasion ( the shinny look is missing in a couple of places) Other than that, the cap still works, it's never leaked, its still a little tight. I have always been very careful removing and reinstalling it and it has always been my expectation, that sooner or later, it will fail

It may not... but if it does... I would not be surprised.

Tony

[viktobravo]

I had the same gas cap issue with my Clarke. When I called them I talked to a guy and he said no problem, he sent me 2 new caps and gaskets no questions asked. (think they realize that its a problem?) I then bought the Tusk billet cap from TT. Guess it all depends on who you get on the phone over at Clarke.

As far as CS from the TT store I have had good experiences when something was not right, they made it right, so I order from TT all the time now.

[twistgripper]

I have owned a Clarke tank for my XT, with stock cap, never leaked, very nice tank for the $$.
My buddy had the Clarke on his DRZS, and it was fine, no probs with cap.
My IMS tank for the DRZE, barely fit, cap leaks, and it cracked!
My beef with Clarke, is they never made a tank for the DRZE, or I would have bought it instead....

[beemerwolf]

I have owned a Clarke tank for my XT, with stock cap, never leaked, very nice tank for the $$.
My buddy had the Clarke on his DRZS, and it was fine, no probs with cap.
My IMS tank for the DRZE, barely fit, cap leaks, and it cracked!
My beef with Clarke, is they never made a tank for the DRZE, or I would have bought it instead....


No Clarke for the E.........:banghead:

This brings up an interesting point, we take E-Model Tanks from Acerbis & IMS and make them fit on our S-Bikes, so why won't an S-Model specific tank go and fit an E-Model???:confused:


Happy Riding !!
:ride: :ride:

[fredsnow]

Heads up when mounting your Clarke. Watch out for the two cable guides that are mounted on either side of the frame. If the tanks is mounted forward or shifts forward and is resting on one or both of these guides. They will dig into your tank and rupture it. I got very lucky and noticed this just before one of those guides punctured my tank. One side dug into the tank, but no leak. After I noticed this I just bent the guides forward just a bit. I Hope this helps.

ANYONE else have this problem?




I have a blue Clarke but have not installed the tank yet. Was going to do it tonight. Where exactly can I buy the XR cap? I looked in the TT store, no luck. Any better options?
I am guessing the XR cap is a stock piece? Or is it an aluminum?

Thanks

[rmcnelly]

Heads up when mounting your Clarke. Watch out for the two cable guides that are mounted on either side of the frame. If the tanks is mounted forward or shifts forward and is resting on one or both of these guides. They will dig into your tank and rupture it. I got very lucky and noticed this just before one of those guides punctured my tank. One side dug into the tank, but no leak. After I noticed this I just bent the guides forward just a bit. I Hope this helps.

ANYONE else have this problem?

Actually, I think there was a warning note that came with my Clark tank telling you to bend them forward if they were too close.

[Staxrider]

any vehicle runs better on corn than it does oil. henery ford intended his cars to run on it.


"How will ethanol affect your fishing, apart from possibly ruining your outboard motor? (Ethanol does this in lots of ways. Just ask David Blinken, the famous Montauk fly-fishing guide, who recen-tly spent $25,000 pulling his deck, replacing his fuel lines and tank, extracting aluminum-oxide gum from his carburetors and basically rebuilding his twin 100-horse Yamahas.) First, no crop grown in the United States consumes and pollutes more water than corn. No method of agriculture uses more insecticides, more herbicides, more nitrogen fertilizer. Needed for the production of one gallon of ethanol are 1,700 gallons of water, mostly in the form of irrigation taken from streams either directly or by snatching the water table out from underneath them. And each gallon of ethanol produces 12 gallons of sewage-like effluent."


http://www.flyrodreel.com/index.php/page/issues/sku/FRR2007_04/id/19252

[fredsnow]

Actually, I think there was a warning note that came with my Clark tank telling you to bend them forward if they were too close.

I just checked the instruction paper that came with the tank. Not a word about bending the guides. Maybe it was added later?

[rjboschjr]

This is my second clarke tank: 1st 05 wr450, 2nd wz250 smoker and never had a problem with the my tanks or heard of a defective gas cap seal. I've never had a problem with the lady at clarke, who usually answers the phones she's has always been courteous to me. Sorry if you had a bad experience with her. I would recommend to anybody to buy a (clarke) over IMS tanks JMO: Also from threads I've read on TT that clarke tanks fit better than IMS.

[waveCrest]

Being in the market right now it was very interesting to read this thread. I will not be getting a clarke. A huge part of my purchasing decision is based on how I get treated as a customer. Its true for almost everything I buy. There are plenty of other companies that make tanks for the DRZ and I have no intention of giving my hard earned $$ to a company that has treated its customers like that.

The customer is king!!

E

[rallyDRZ]

Just bought my Clarke a week ago, I was told the blue was backordered for a week...no problem and thanks for the heads up.
Tank arrived less than a week later, good customer service, great finish on the product, will be fitting this weekend but so far they have underpromised and overdelivered! :applause:

[dblj]

i just sold a clarke tank,and had great luck with it,no issues,good fit and finish(better then my current ims)as far as all the complaints about the gas cap gasket's, go buy a tusk $20 billett gas cap and go ride.

[bslammer]

I bought the Clarke model 1468-R: the 3.1 tank for KTM 400/450/525. It is for my 2007 EXC 525. BEWARE! The tank is has a design defect. The bottom at the petcock valve mount area is concave and will not seal with the factory o-ring or the Clarke supplied gasket. I found this out too late and learned from a thread on KTMtalk that this has been an ongoing problem. Clarke apparently charges a restocking fee of 20% if you return the defective tank. Others have sanded there tanks or purchased specialty O-rings. As for the earlier post about stop your bitchin - Stanley Marcus (founder of Neiman Marcus) If consumers don't complain then they are the only ones to blame for crappy products and bad customer service. I do not recommend the Clarke tank model I purchased.:mad:

[Okie1]

I have a Clarke tank that has been on my DRZ for over 3 years and love it, I would recommend their products to anyone. This is the third Clark tank that I have owned with no problems and exellent fit.

[bumtarder]

I had a cracked cap on my 3.9 last year a few months after purchase from TT Store.I called Clarke and explained what happened and they sent me a new one right away.The rep said that they had a bad run on some of the caps.Other than that I haven't had any problems with the tank.If I have any further problems with the cap I'll go to a billet unit.But I like the tank and need the extended range and will continue to use it and I would still recommend one.The tank cap is just a minor annoyance that is easily addressed.

[markjenn]

I'll add my somewhat mixed experiences with a Clarke for my 06 DRZ400S.

I ordered a new blue DRZ tank from a reputable Ebay vendor and it arrived promptly. I was busy and it took three weeks to get it mounted and I was leaving on a 4-day dual-sport tour the next day. Sure enough, I had a slow leak around the right "safety wire" insert. I needed the extra range, so I just lived with it, but finally had to jury-rig some fiber washers and o-rings to manage the leak and complete the tour, albeit making sure nobody was smoking around the bike. (I do have the usual 2nd detent choke knob interference issue but didn't have to rig new fuel or vacuum lines.)

When I got home I called Clarke and was told that since I didn't buy the tank from them directly, I would have to return it through the vendor I bought it from. The person I talked to on the phone was very cut/dried about this. So I got ahold of the vendor who responded immediately. He offered to intervene on my behalf to see if I could send it directly to Clarke and get a new one back directly from Clarke, reducing the turnaround. I sent him a picture of the leak which he forwarded to Clarke. I did end up doing the exchange directly with Clarke for about one-week turnaround which was excellent. (I don't understand why Clarke wouldn't just do this from the get-go.) I've mounted the new tank and so far, it is fuel tight.

The return was a big hassle and cost me about $8 in postage. Although I had drained the tank thoroughly and made sure it was bone dry, it still had a slight residual gas smell that I couldn't get rid of. While weighing the package, the lady at the post office got a faint wiff of gas smell and it was all over - she wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. So I had to seal it up in a plastic bag, repack it with fresh packing materials, and spend another 30 minutes in line at the post office.

The leak might have been a defect in the plastic around the insert, but I also noted that when you bolt up the safety wire, it doesn't lay very flat against the insert which adds bending stress to the insert and surrounding plastic. Probably the easiest thing to do is to skip the safety wire, but I'm not overly impressed with Clarke's plastic saddle mounts that engage the frame rubbers; they seem a bit flexy and not deep enough. I could easily see a good wreck causing the tank to unseat at the front and without the safety wire, four gallons of fuel might have enough lever arm to crack/split the tank at the aft mounting points. So on the new tank, I retained the safety wire, but was careful to bend it so the safety wire seats flat on the inserts. I also went easy on the torque.

I like the tank, but this was a big hassle. Clarke came through promptly with a good replacement, but I think they should accept back warranty claims directly rather than making us jump through hoops. And they didn't reimburse me for the return postage. (It was only $8 so I didn't ask them to, but I've had vendors volunteer or throw in a freebie to cover the hassle.) If you're buying one, you might want to order directly from Clarke in case you get a bum one like I did.

- Mark

[Shreddi]

there is a post showing an australian tank that uses the side scoops to store fuel as well. They looked really cool

[Motor-N]

Love my Clarke tank and found the folks to be top drawer. I too, got one of the caps that split. I was able to just add the difference in dollars for the alloy unit. Incidental, I installed, and still use the original seal.Purchased mid Summer '06, cap replaced 1-'07

[m22]

I have had a Clarke tank for almost a year, good fit and finish, no problems.

Mike :thumbsup: