Obernuefemann street tracker 1Ross Obernuefemann from Ballwin, MO, is known in the motorcycle community because he rides around on his street tracker with a Jack Terrier on the tank. He sent me his tank for a repair.

I noticed a clear layer of vinyl on his tank that was looking ratty. I asked him what it was and he told me it protected his tank from claws. I suggested he use another approach, a snap on/snap off removable cover. He said okay in a hesitant way because he was leary of what I had in mind. I am showing him for the first time (and you) what I created.

I laid down two layers of fiberglass on a tank pattern that matched his tank and began to smooth the surface.

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Here’s the dog deck cover midway through the smoothing process. I created a collar around the filler neck hole and on the front of the tank you see marks where I wanted reinforcement so the thin glass wouldn’t curl away from the tank.

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Now you can see the collar and reinforcement ‘wings’.

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I got real lucky an found some acrylic enamel that was very close to Ross’s metallic silver tank.

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I found some adhesive non-slip shower material at the hardware store then had a devil of a time fitting the pieces over the compound curves of the tank in some decorative fashion. That was a nasty job.

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I think the project worked out pretty well. Too bad they don’t make non-slip in shades of green.

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I even put little felt pads on the underside to protect his tank. In case you wonder how the piece stays on-it has a lip that catches the tank in front, the filler neck hole holds it laterally and a bit of Velcro in the rear does it.

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If you have a companion dog, don’t call me for a doggy deck because I won’t do another one. Nobody would pay for the time it took.