Interstate Tank, Side Panels and Seat

Dellis · May 9, 2021

Firstly this isn't an advert. I was in the process of making some half way rearsets for my Commando but due to the fact that I regularly ride with a pillion and also use panniers this wasn't going to leave enough space for two pairs of feet. With this in mind I decided that if I couldn't move my feet back I'd have to move me forwards hence I'm in the process of turning my Interstate into a Roadster. As an aside I wanted a Roadster when I bought my Interstate but after two years looking I hadn't found a decent one for sale so in a roundabout way I'm getting what I actually wanted. Now to the crux of the matter; I can't decide whether to keep or sell the Interstate parts so I thought I'd ask on here what people think they are worth, if they're not worth that much I may as well keep hold of them. So here goes, the tank and panels are original with Dream Machine paint done in 2012, the left panel has a din plug which I used to keep the bike on a trickle charger all are in good nick but there are a couple of paint chips and a small bubble at the from of the tank. The seat isn't original but it is a Leighton. Here are a few pics. let me know what you think.

Thanks
Dave

Gadge · May 9, 2021

Not an answer to your question (sorry!) but I have an Interstate with Norvil rearsets. I've moved the pillion pegs back and there is room for at least little feet . My wife is quite comfy on the pillion. Whether you could do it with panniers I've not checked. As you're only doing halfway rear sets it might work.

Onder · May 9, 2021

Well that tank sure looks great and the seat isn't far behind. I would think that a good Inter tank is a lot harder to find than a Roadster tank, in fact, I know it is.

Dellis · May 9, 2021

Gadge said:
Not an answer to your question (sorry!) but I have an Interstate with Norvil rearsets. I've moved the pillion pegs back and there is room for at least little feet . My wife is quite comfy on the pillion. Whether you could do it with panniers I've not checked. As you're only doing halfway rear sets it might work.

Thanks for the reply but The panniers are the problem then as there’s already limited room from the front of the boxes to the pillion pegs.

Dave

Dellis · May 9, 2021

Onder said:
Well that tank sure looks great and the seat isn't far behind. I would think that a good Inter tank is a lot harder to find than a Roadster tank, in fact, I know it is.

That sounds like “keep hold of it”?

Dave

peter12 · May 9, 2021

To be honest I would have thought between £750 to 1000 for the whole lot. I’ve had a quote from dream machine for the same colours! You may well get more on eBay.
You can buy good quality roadster tanks from Andover Norton, but not interstate. Original side panels are getting difficult to get too.

Onder · May 9, 2021

Yes keep it. Paint is getting to be expensive. Inter tanks, genuine ones, are thin on the ground. AN offers side covers but no idea how good the fitment is. Seats are less of a worry.

Dellis · May 9, 2021

Thanks guys. I’m still not sure what I’ll do but they’re costing me nothing sat here.

Dave

cliffa · May 9, 2021

Dave, Lovely paint !! I agree with peter12 on the value. Are you trying to make the riding position more ergonomic? If so higher bars will go a long way to improving that, and you can keep what you have. (+ It's a lot less faff).

hayabusaman0 · May 9, 2021

peter12 said:
To be honest I would have thought between £750 to 1000 for the whole lot. I’ve had a quote from dream machine for the same colours! You may well get more on eBay.
You can buy good quality roadster tanks from Andover Norton, but not interstate. Original side panels are getting difficult to get too.

Hi Peter, I believe the AN tanks are taiwan/indian made? Feked.com sell a Taiwanese tank for the roadster, however, I asked about fitting/guarantee & they said " some fettling may be required & there's no guarantee against faulty welds blah blah blah. Nothing like having faith in the parts you sell is there!

johnm · May 9, 2021

It cost me $3000 NZ plus to replicate what your proposing to sell. That's about $2000 US.

Mine had a new high end paint job.

Worth noting I believe the side covers are Mk 111 or maybe 11A.

Good quality repro Taiwanese Roadster tanks are very easy to find. Good Interstate tanks are almost impossible.

What your proposing to sell would be the best set I have seen in many many years and two years ago I would definitely have been interested.

I eventually found a bare Indian tank of reasonable quality. Spent another $200 getting it to fit properly. Got sidecovers and Leightons seat from RGM. A new petrol cap.Plus a good paint job. So US $2000 would be a low end estimate for all that.

In fact now I have added it up I don't want to think about it any more. :-(

Think hard about going to a Roadster tank. The volume is basically useless for practical use. You run out of gas all the time. Its a coffee shop poser tank.

The Interstate is a bit too big I think but at least it's useful. I wish Norton had made a tank of about 18 litres. I put a 20 litre tank on my DR 650 adventure bike and that's very useful.

I think the Roadster tank is about 12 litres which is going to leave you pushing in NZ unless you stay in town or on the state highways. Especially weekends or at night.

850commando · May 9, 2021

I'd be very reluctant to let those pieces go at any sellable price, buy a second modern bike use for when the pillion wants to ride along....

Alan L · May 9, 2021

johnm said:
It cost me $3000 NZ plus to replicate what your proposing to sell. That's about $2000 US.

Mine had a new high end paint job.

Worth noting I believe the side covers are Mk 111 or maybe 11A.

Good quality repro Taiwanese Roadster tanks are very easy to find. Good Interstate tanks are almost impossible.

What your proposing to sell would be the best set I have seen in many many years and two years ago I would definitely have been interested.

I eventually found a bare Indian tank of reasonable quality. Spent another $200 getting it to fit properly. Got sidecovers and Leightons seat from RGM. A new petrol cap.Plus a good paint job. So US $2000 would be a low end estimate for all that.

In fact now I have added it up I don't want to think about it any more. :-(

Think hard about going to a Roadster tank. The volume is basically useless for practical use. You run out of gas all the time. Its a coffee shop poser tank.

The Interstate is a bit too big I think but at least it's useful. I wish Norton had made a tank of about 18 litres. I put a 20 litre tank on my DR 650 adventure bike and that's very useful.

I think the Roadster tank is about 12 litres which is going to leave you pushing in NZ unless you stay in town or on the state highways. Especially weekends or at night.

Hi John,
you’ve rattled me up a bit. I angonised over whether to buy an Interstate or a roadster when i bought the Norton and eventually settled for the ‘coffee shop poser’ as you referred to it. Yes, it does keep the distance to the next fuel station in front of mind but increasingly I find that my once ‘interstate’ bladder and arse has now been replaced with the roadster version.
Some years ago heading south from Canberra late at night the closest fuel stop was Bairnsdale over 400km away. My desire to ride late at night is non existent these days
Seriously though, even living in quite a remote part of Australia the approx 120 mile range of a roadster doesn’t limit things too much. Spare a thought for Triumph Hurricane owners.
regards
al

cjandme · May 9, 2021

Dellis said:
Thanks guys. I’m still not sure what I’ll do but they’re costing me nothing sat here.

Dave

I have an old Interstate tank, that is somewhat beat up, somehow I won the e-bay auction for it ( funny really... I opened up e-bay and just happened to see the sale & (threw my bid out there just as it was closing) probably ticked off all the others who had been watching it and bidding back and forth on it. Anyway, yours look stellar compared to mine. You might want to go to an auto shop and get some touch-up paint that is close to your color and dab it on those chipped paint areas to prevent it from rusting while in storage. (even some clear or red colored nail polish would work).

johnm · May 9, 2021

Alan L said:
Hi John,
you’ve rattled me up a bit. I angonised over whether to buy an Interstate or a roadster when i bought the Norton and eventually settled for the ‘coffee shop poser’ as you referred to it. Yes, it does keep the distance to the next fuel station in front of mind but increasingly I find that my once ‘interstate’ bladder and arse has now been replaced with the roadster version.
Some years ago heading south from Canberra late at night the closest fuel stop was Bairnsdale over 400km away. My desire to ride late at night is non existent these days
Seriously though, even living in quite a remote part of Australia the approx 120 mile range of a roadster doesn’t limit things too much. Spare a thought for Triumph Hurricane owners.
regards
al

Hi Alan,

Perhaps I was a little harsh about the Roadster tank. It does make the bike lighter and more flickable to ride.

But I remember filling up in a little town called Waverly NW of Wanganui NZ and then rode up the Paraparas to Raetihi and Ohakune. And ran out of gas 5 km out of Ohakune. That wasn't even 90 miles but I was booting it mostly in second and third up the Paraparas which is a 2000 ft climb to the central plateau.

Very grumpy I was.

Dellis · May 10, 2021

hayabusaman0 said:
Hi Peter, I believe the AN tanks are taiwan/indian made? Feked.com sell a Taiwanese tank for the roadster, however, I asked about fitting/guarantee & they said " some fettling may be required & there's no guarantee against faulty welds blah blah blah. Nothing like having faith in the parts you sell is there!

The Roadster tank I bought wasn’t great to start with, the bottom edge wasn’t straight and the seam leaked, the top join also leaked but other than that... I had the seam welded and a couple of the edges built up then ground it all back which all in all was about a day’s work. It’s off at the printers now.

Dave

Dellis · May 10, 2021

cliffa said:
Dave, Lovely paint !! I agree with peter12 on the value. Are you trying to make the riding position more ergonomic? If so higher bars will go a long way to improving that, and you can keep what you have. (+ It's a lot less faff).

I’ve tried high bars but that didn‘t sort it. I have the Roadster bits now.

Dave

Dellis · May 10, 2021

850commando said:
I'd be very reluctant to let those pieces go at any sellable price, buy a second modern bike use for when the pillion wants to ride along....

I have a modern KTM which I mainly use for Europe, I like having her with me so the Commando needs to be pillion friendly.

Dave

Dellis · May 10, 2021

johnm said:
It cost me $3000 NZ plus to replicate what your proposing to sell. That's about $2000 US.

Mine had a new high end paint job.

Worth noting I believe the side covers are Mk 111 or maybe 11A.

Good quality repro Taiwanese Roadster tanks are very easy to find. Good Interstate tanks are almost impossible.

What your proposing to sell would be the best set I have seen in many many years and two years ago I would definitely have been interested.

I eventually found a bare Indian tank of reasonable quality. Spent another $200 getting it to fit properly. Got sidecovers and Leightons seat from RGM. A new petrol cap.Plus a good paint job. So US $2000 would be a low end estimate for all that.

In fact now I have added it up I don't want to think about it any more. :-(

Think hard about going to a Roadster tank. The volume is basically useless for practical use. You run out of gas all the time. Its a coffee shop poser tank.

The Interstate is a bit too big I think but at least it's useful. I wish Norton had made a tank of about 18 litres. I put a 20 litre tank on my DR 650 adventure bike and that's very useful.

I think the Roadster tank is about 12 litres which is going to leave you pushing in NZ unless you stay in town or on the state highways. Especially weekends or at night.

120 mile range isn’t as issue in the UK

Dave

Dellis · May 10, 2021

johnm said:
It cost me $3000 NZ plus to replicate what your proposing to sell. That's about $2000 US.

Mine had a new high end paint job.

Worth noting I believe the side covers are Mk 111 or maybe 11A.

Good quality repro Taiwanese Roadster tanks are very easy to find. Good Interstate tanks are almost impossible.

What your proposing to sell would be the best set I have seen in many many years and two years ago I would definitely have been interested.

I eventually found a bare Indian tank of reasonable quality. Spent another $200 getting it to fit properly. Got sidecovers and Leightons seat from RGM. A new petrol cap.Plus a good paint job. So US $2000 would be a low end estimate for all that.

In fact now I have added it up I don't want to think about it any more. :-(

Think hard about going to a Roadster tank. The volume is basically useless for practical use. You run out of gas all the time. Its a coffee shop poser tank.

The Interstate is a bit too big I think but at least it's useful. I wish Norton had made a tank of about 18 litres. I put a 20 litre tank on my DR 650 adventure bike and that's very useful.

I think the Roadster tank is about 12 litres which is going to leave you pushing in NZ unless you stay in town or on the state highways. Especially weekends or at night.

The side panels are indeed mk2a as is the rest of my Commando

Dave