A Comprehensive Guide to Mini Bike Gas Tank

When you see a minibike, what is the first thing that catches your eye? Without a doubt, it is the mini bike gas tank.

There are several reasons for this. The first is that, unlike a traditional motorcycle where the seats, fork, engine, and shiny suspensions are large enough to capture the attention, the frame of a minibike is quite small and holds these components. Only the mini bike gas tank sitting on the frame on top stands out, more so if you are riding hunched up over the frame.

Manufacturers take advantage of this aspect too. It is common knowledge that manufacturers of minibikes introduce new models every year to stay relevant in this very fiercely competitive industry. But making radical changes to the engine, transmission, or frame would require investing a fortune every year in setting up new production lines. Instead, they prefer to change the color of the mini bike gas tank and make a few cosmetic changes in the design and shape, and lo behold, you have a brand-new model to take on the others in the field.

And this is not all. From the perspective of dealers of minibikes, a total change in minibike components year upon year would lead to stocking excess spare parts, the volume of which would keep on rising. On the other hand, simply stocking a new mini bike gas tank would not take up much space.

Minibike gas tanks are generally made of two types of materials, either metal or plastic. Here is a quick look at the merits and demerits of each of them.

Let’s take up metal first which is usually steel or aluminum. Metal is highly temperature-resistance, strong, and durable. It can withstand very higher temperatures of the fuel that will occur when a mini bike is driven over challenging terrain such as dirt tracks in scorching weather. From the manufacturer’s perspective, it is easy to mold metal into various shapes and paint it in different colors to appeal to buyers. A new look can therefore be attained without a major makeover.

The other material is plastic, typically polypropylene, which is one of the toughest types of plastic. A mini bike gas tank made of this material can take a lot of punishment, especially during racing without being the worse for wear and tear. The highly inflammable liquid inside the gas tank does not attain explosive temperatures even when the structure of the bike is tested to its limits on dirt tracks. Plastic can also be easily molded into any shape and given coats of beautiful and bright colors.

Now look at the safety factor. Here, plastic has a slight edge over metal. This is because a plastic mini bike gas tank will be molded from a single sheet while in metal gas tanks there will be seams that can rupture in a crash.