New TRM TANK Concept

[The Renaissance Man]

Since I began producing the TRM Convertible tanks I've had many suggestions for many other possible tanks to make. I'm not interested in simply reproducing existing tanks but I do have several ideas for new designs.

One of these ideas resurfaced recently when someone contacted me asking if my tanks would fit a Schwinn Stingray. The Stingray as you probably know was one of the most popular bikes that Schwinn ever made and has somewhat of a cult following. Along side of the Stingray were the Slik Chik and the Fairlady offered by Schwinn for the girls. As with most girls bikes, they are less desirable and less expensive among vintage collectors so they fit perfectly with the TRM conversion concept. With 15 years of production there should be plenty of these bikes to be found. So I'm thinking that even though it's a specific bike, it's not a rare bike. Plus with a little creativity, there may be many other frames that it could be used on.

For this design I loosely echoed the cantilever frame of the Stingray but approached the lines with a more custom feel rather than the retro look of my last convertible tank. The new tank will not extend beyond the head tube nor will it have tank lights that would interfere with using a springer fork. As with my first convertible tank, this one will mount on the bike without any modifications to the frame.

Here's the concept:

So let me know what you think!

The original TRM Convertible Tank sells for $189 and I fully expect this one to be in the same price range when all is said and done. Before I commit to all of the work and expense involved in getting this into production, I'd like to get an idea of whether or not it will be worth the effort. I'm starting here where my journey began with the RRB family to get some feedback but I feel like it will most likely generate the most interest among the lowrider crowd. So be honest, I can take it!

 

[G-Matt]

Nice idea Jim I think your onto something. Great look for a 20" bike [emoji1320]


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[OneHorsePower]

Look awsome!
if you could somehow make it longer to acomodate 26'' frames too it would be great !
cause as little as i know , schwinn owners are mostly purists when it comes to muscle bikes

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Look awsome!
if you could somehow make it longer to acomodate 26'' frames too it would be great !
cause as little as i know , schwinn owners are mostly purists when it comes to muscle bikes

Good thinking on the length! I will have to play with the lines to see if I can make it work for both. Thanks!

 

[Fv2]

Love this idea/design.
It does have a lowrider feel to it, and agree it would be cool to see for a 26. But I think you're onto something.

 

[Fv2]

Looking again I can see extending the lower part of the tank to the downtube, that would make an option of removing the upper tube for a lowrider build. But I don't know how safe removing the upper tube is.

 

[A.S.BOLTNUT]

Something looks abit out of scue not quit sure wat it is ? Maybe extend the lower part of the tank to go to the lower tube or bulk up the top part of or the tank to cover the bottom part , hope that makes sense?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Looking again I can see extending the lower part of the tank to the downtube, that would make an option of removing the upper tube for a lowrider build. But I don't know how safe removing the upper tube is.

Something looks abit out of scue not quit sure wat it is ? Maybe extend the lower part of the tank to go to the lower tube or bulk up the top part of or the tank to cover the bottom part , hope that makes sense?

I did play with what you are both describing, but it looked too much like an after thought with the top tube serving no purpose. The trick is to some how include the top bar into the overall design so that it (hopefully) looks like was purposely placed there. That's not easy to do though because it of course was not designed to be used this way.
Thanks for the input! I'll fiddle with it some more with that in mind.

 

[furyus]

Built a Slik Chik for my wife frame up; you'd be astonished at what it took to find all the NOS bits.



I like this concept a lot, I see a market for it and think your original Convertible Tanks are brilliant, but... too angular to my eye. The sharper edges need to be rounded and softened. Rounded seat, rounded fenders, back half of a rounded cantilever frame, round head tube - they all clash with the sharp edge of the tank. Another thought is that the girl's frames have longer head tubes, and most springers won't fit without mods. I've seen a few that were poorly executed, point being that perhaps a dual light tank that extends beyond the fork may be more popular than you'd think.

Just my two cents. You've definitely got the vision and talent thing going for you, and I enjoy your work.

furyus

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks @furyus !
Your two cents is what I'm looking for. Ataboys are nice (and I'll take those too!) but any input is useful at this stage. Can you measure the head tube for me?

Nice bike BTW!

 

[furyus]

Thanks @furyus !
Your two cents is what I'm looking for. Ataboys are nice (and I'll take those too!) but any input is useful at this stage. Can you measure the head tube for me?

Nice bike BTW!

The head tube on the Chik is 5 1/2", obviously not including the cups. The boys' head tube is 4", sans cups.

Thanks for likin' the bike. My wife loves it and she made the streamers and the flowers for the basket.

Lots of these girls frames around and some are cherry. I'd have to strongly consider a tank with dual lights, or at least represented by shape. Give me an excuse to build another bike.

furyus

 

[Fv2]

I can say the original trm tank looks good on the huffy I got from CRASH, so maybe a lighted tank will work on the schwinn.
Just gotta figure out how to make a muscle tank.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Just gotta figure out how to make a muscle tank.

...And that is another ball in this juggling act. Muscle bikes do not have tanks. So the challenge is even more complicated to make something that is not very big and overly tank looking. That is why I tried to somewhat mimic the cantilever frame lines and keep it as slim looking as I could (which is another reason not to include lights).

I have another 26 cruiser tank on the drawing board and this would be much easier to do with another tank for ballooners, but I felt like it would be good to expand into a different area with this one.

 

[furyus]

Outside the box, TRM. Muscle bikes can have tanks and don't have to be slim. Let's go to the source - muscle cars.

'70 Super Bee has a cool symmetrical look going on, with lights to boot. Not slim, by any stretch. Mimic this front end or rotate each grille 90 degrees towards center, one each side of the headtube. Tuff!

Those early 'vettes, 1960 in this instance, had some real inspiration for a tank. The left or right fender, your choice. Nice chrome trim down the middle, too.

Always loved the late '60s Chevelles. Such a subtle adjustment on the front fender where it slants back towards the front wheel and exposes the grille. Is there a tank idea in there somewhere?

Muscle tank! Muscle tank! 1970 Firebird!

Go old school. '32 Ford. Grille and hood (all three sides) that taper back as a tank, with louvers. Dual lights.

Here's the tank I'd love to see you build, maybe for a middleweight - 1961 Fury. I remember these barreling around town back in the day.

Well, there's another .02 for you, for a grand total of four cents worth of advice and opinion.

furyus

 

[Duchess]

I'm thinking maybe something more vertical, like two lights centered ahead of the headtube, maybe with a forward slant something like a 1965 GTO. Or perhaps it could be designed in such a way that the space to install lights could just be an indent like the side markers of a 1963 Riviera, allowing the builder to cut it however they want to install light(s) or even some stylized air intakes or a grille (which could maybe be backlit). It's a contrast to the more rounded and horizontal middleweight tank and the vertical orientation compliments the general look of muscle bikes with the tall headtube in this case and the high reaching handle bars, sissy bars, etc.

That said, I'm not a muscle bike guy, so it's not something I'm very familiar with, just some thoughts I had that may be of use.

 

[deven_science]

I've gotta agree on the sharp lines not quite flowing right. The sharp edges may make it more popular for lowriders, I'm not sure. I think expending your tanks to some other common frames or styles like this is a great idea.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Outside the box, TRM. Muscle bikes can have tanks and don't have to be slim. Let's go to the source - muscle cars.

'70 Super Bee has a cool symmetrical look going on, with lights to boot. Not slim, by any stretch. Mimic this front end or rotate each grille 90 degrees towards center, one each side of the headtube. Tuff!

View attachment 40816

Those early 'vettes, 1960 in this instance, had some real inspiration for a tank. The left or right fender, your choice. Nice chrome trim down the middle, too.

View attachment 40818

Always loved the late '60s Chevelles. Such a subtle adjustment on the front fender where it slants back towards the front wheel and exposes the grille. Is there a tank idea in there somewhere?

View attachment 40819

Muscle tank! Muscle tank! 1970 Firebird!

View attachment 40820

Go old school. '32 Ford. Grille and hood (all three sides) that taper back as a tank, with louvers. Dual lights.

View attachment 40821

Here's the tank I'd love to see you build, maybe for a middleweight - 1961 Fury. I remember these barreling around town back in the day.

View attachment 40822

Well, there's another .02 for you, for a grand total of four cents worth of advice and opinion.

furyus

All very good examples and ideas! I wish it were quick and simple, I'd make all of them! Keep'm coming.

I'm thinking maybe something more vertical, like two lights centered ahead of the headtube, maybe with a forward slant something like a 1965 GTO. Or perhaps it could be designed in such a way that the space to install lights could just be an indent like the side markers of a 1963 Riviera, allowing the builder to cut it however they want to install light(s) or even some stylized air intakes or a grille (which could maybe be backlit). It's a contrast to the more rounded and horizontal middleweight tank and the vertical orientation compliments the general look of muscle bikes with the tall headtube in this case and the high reaching handle bars, sissy bars, etc.

That said, I'm not a muscle bike guy, so it's not something I'm very familiar with, just some thoughts I had that may be of use.

I like the vertical idea! You guys are making it harder and harder for me to make my case for keeping the tank behind the head tube. Although the Riviera look could still work without extending beyond the front. I'm still trying to be conscious of any interference with a springer fork. Ironically I don't consider myself a muscle bike guy either.

I've gotta agree on the sharp lines not quite flowing right. The sharp edges may make it more popular for lowriders, I'm not sure. I think expending your tanks to some other common frames or styles like this is a great idea.

Yeah, the more I look at it the more I have to agree. I was going for a more modern feel but it doesn't really seem consistent with the bike. Thanks for the input!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Here's version 2.0 which does away with the sharp edges.

I completely agree with everyone that the softer lines match the bike much better. On this one I decided to reshape the canti-lines to mimic the Stingray a little more closely. I'm still holding back on the headlights or grills for now just to keep it tight to the frame and avoid any potential fork clearance issues. Even though this is a custom application, I feel the need to (loosley) stay true to the period that this bike came from. I also realize that tanks where not used on muscle bikes, but tanks with lights takes it even farther away from the era. As with all of my bikes, I like the idea of making it look as if it could've been an option from the original manufacturer so just adding a tank alone is challenging enough.

 

[A.S.BOLTNUT]

I think your getting closer with the smoother lines it flows much better , how about taking the lower part and following through all the way too the lower bar ?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I think your getting closer with the smoother lines it flows much better , how about taking the lower part and following through all the way too the lower bar ?

I feel like the top bar visually needs a purpose for being there after it is converted to a boys bike. Boys bikes never had two down tubes so without utilizing it into the design, it looks somewhat out of place to me.

Just to satisfy your curiosity, here's how it would look. I also made one without the bar to show how it looks out of place.