Denting Yo Tank!

A lot of people would rather modify their bike to become a stunter as opposed to putting in work, so before you decide to be a cool guy and dent your tank make sure you’re actually going to do wheelies, because this is a good leap towards ruining the resale value of your motorcycle. But if you’re sure you will get some good use out of a tank dent, here’s how.

First you will need a ball-peen hammer and if you’re using the StuntBums method, a flat disc approximately 5 inches in diameter, a rag and a large brick or heavy object to start the dent. Make sure you do not have a full tank of gas, leave the gas cap on and get ready to do work! If your tank has been bondo-ed in the area where the dent will affect, you may have problems with creasing or continuity in your dent so check for that before you start denting it in. Also, some bikes (for example, the 03-04 636) have splash guards that you may want to cut down in order to get a deeper dent.

1. Start by placing a protective cloth over your gas cap and the disc on top of that.
2. Use the brick to apply the initial force that will drop the cap and center of the tank.
3. Check the progress after each hit to catch problems before they get too bad.
4. Start smoothing the dent with a ball-peen hammer after a few smashes to even the dent.
5. When the cap is to your preferred level, exclusively use the hammer to finish the dent working from the center out.
6. Keep a close eye on creases and beat them out early on.

Be confident and cautious at the same time, don’t worry, it’s ok to hammer your tank. When you are nearing the finale of your dent sit in it from time to time to make sure it’s not getting too big. When you're finished, blow out all the paint chips and lay down a coat of spray paint to prevent it from rusting. After the paint has dried you're going to want to put on a grip of sort (grip tape, stomp pad, surfboard pad, etc.) but we'll get into more detail on that in another video. Good luck!