So I have an 05 YZ 250, guess what color it is??? BLUE! haha, funny thing is I think you all knew that!

I bought the One Industries hurricane plastic/graphics kit, thus changing the color of the bike to yellow, white and black. The only think is the tank is still blue. I did some research and decided to dye the gas tank using Rit dye and boiling water.

Stage one today I prepped the tank for tomorrow's bath. Drained it. I cleaned it with simple green and a soft brissel brush. Then I used simple green car wash soap and cleaned it again. Then I thought I would grab some sandpaper, looked for the finest I had which was 2000 grit wet sand, and I proceeded to sand it. Well that was a mistake as I now had small abrasions all over, I was not to worried though as I had an ace up my sleave.

I have some airplane plastic windshield restoration kit which has a special fabric type micro sand paper. So I staged it with the windshield kit which starts at 1500 then about 6 stages to 6000 grit. Keep in mind this is not the same style sanding paper then one is typically used to. Then I used the the liquid micro sanding liquid which comes with the kit and now the tank looks better then when I pulled it off the bike, not as good as new mind you but looks good for even a used 05 bike.

Stay tuned as tomorrow its going for the big bath!

Is it a plastic specific dye?  If it turns out nice, I'm going to be bumming as I spent $180 on a new Black Clarke tank.

Thats crazy enough to work.  At one time we boiled the rc10 remote control cars parts in rit die to make them change colors. The dye did a good job. The cars parts ahd to be boiled for about 10 minutes for the color to take. I wondered how to find a big enough container for the motorcycle tank????

I hope this works.  I've got two tanks ready to go if it does.

I keep watching this as well.

What sort of container are you boiling it in??? How will you keep it hot enough to take the new color???

If this works, i will buy a used tank and make it black.

Here is a good link on doing small parts...http://findarticles....907/ai_n8867845

Something like a deep-fry vat used for turkeys and other big stuff should do the trick. Large enough and has it's own heat source, just add water.

We have one of those mom and pop hamburger stands nearby.  Their fry grease is dirty enough to make the color change. Just toss the tank over the counter and wait 5 minutes....

Ok the boiling phase has begun. Stay tuned.

Ok update.

After a few hours most of the tank is black, except near the top where the seat touches its dark purple. This I believe is from not strong enough dye mixture. I am going to let it sit longer as the water is still really hot. Over all I'm not worried if it still doesnt fully take as I will redye with a stronger mix.

I have learned a few lessons in the process and I will make a complete writeup after I'm done to make it an easy effective process for everyone. If I knew what I know now I'm sure I would have got it right the first time.

I'll give another update in a few hours.

You should save the mixture and perfect this. I have  feeling money could be made....I would much rather kick down some money for dye than have to try and source a large tank and a heat source.

I imagine a BBQ would work....??????????

One of the articles said vinegar would help the dye/water mix.

wow, this is really cool. would it reshaped or warp the tank?  if not, can this be done for all plastics?

Pictures man, pictures!

RCannon said:

Ok its a black/charcole. Looks not bad. As I was originally filling up the container I was thinking I did not have enough dye to water ratio. I believe this to be true. Tomorrow I will dye it again with a more concentrated solution and post the results. I used vinigar and salt and a little soap.

I'm sure by tomorrow night I will have it perfected, and I will post the results and the how to. I did not trust some of the information I read and it was good that I didnt. I will clear everything up once fully completed and take pictures.

And no it will not work on all plastics. Anything clear does not take to the dye much, ie rad vents, the little bit of clear around the gas cap on the tank, and depending on the material a clear clark tank might turn purple/grey depending how close it is to the rad vents platic type. Funny think the black gas cap turned.....blacker!

There is hope for a Hurricane Yellow for me?

^^may be hard to match the yellow

Please add some pics,I wanna dye my yellow rm tank black as well.

railer80 said:

I could dye my 3.6 tank black, yellow graphics
Black frame, every summer I take it down, good timing!

I am wating this, sparked my interest.

Let us know if the boiling affected the fit and finish of the tank and is possibel check the capacity to see if you did not get any shrinkage in capacity.

Thanks for trying this out, gas for you!

railer80 said:

Ya cant dye a blue tank yellow. The only colors you could dye the blue tank is brown, purple, grey and black. But a yellow tank would take black no problem, its the clear tanks I would worry about not taking black.

And dont worry I will write up everything and take pics. I want to give back to the community.

HollywoodMX said:

Ok thanks for clearing that up. and thanks for sharing, gas for you!