he last thing you want after you've designed and begun your custom-bike project is to find out that you can't get some of the parts you need to realize your vision. Oh, sure, if you're an experienced fabricator, with a fully equipped machine shop and a team of skilled craftsmen at your beck and call, you could just whip something up out of sheet metal or billet and get on with the project. But that's not an option for most do-it-yourself builders, so a wide selection of styles and sizes is an important feature of any product line. And that's why when it comes to gas tanks, Independent Gas Tank Co.'s product line is the choice of both amateur and professional builders.

Drag Specialties carries Independent's full line of production tanks... over 30 part numbers in all!

     Independent Gas Tank Co. owner Kyle Krejci began learning how to weld and fabricate right out of high school. "When I was 18 years old I went to work for a Porsche shop," he says"We used to build Porsche race cars, and I was the fueler for an IMSA pit crew. I was the guy who went over the wall with the fuel lines over his shoulder at races like Sebring and the 24 Hours of Daytona."
     Maybe it was this early exposure to gas tanks that got Krejci interested in building them. "Independent was started six-and-a-half years ago by myself and my wife. I actually started it in my two-car garage. I'd been in the motorcycle industry for three-and-a-half years prior to that. I always knew there was a need for quality tanks in more of a custom application, and especially a one-piece tank made in the U.S.A. - I'm a stickler for American products."
     He looked around at what was on the market at the time and realized it wouldn't be hard to improve on it. "At the time the only one-piece fuel tanks were cheap tanks made overseas out of 18-gauge steel, or ones made out of aluminum, which you take your chances with because of cracking. So we were the first to develop a 16-gauge, one-piece gas tank." And he wasted no time in setting the standard for aftermarket gas tanks. "When I started Independent, my gas tanks were already better quality than OE tanks."
     Drag Specialties carries Independent's full line of production tanks, more than 30 part numbers in all. They're all hand-made from cold-rolled 16-gauge steel, and each tank is pressure tested. All tanks are TIG-welded ("We don't do any MIG welding at all," Krejci says. "The only time I'll use MIG welding is when I'm working on a trailer.") and come with a tunnel width of 2-1/4 inches, except bobber tanks which come with 2-1/2-inch tunnels. Each tank comes with four underside mounts, a 22mm petcock fitting, and 1/8-inch NPT crossover fittings.
     Independent Gas Tank Co. products come in bare metal, ready to prime and paint. One of the things that makes those jobs much easier is the center seam, which though welded requires far less prep work than the seams on many other tanks. Although he'll make right-fill gas caps on special order, Krejci says, "99.9% of our customers ask for center-fill, so that's what we make."
     As for the process of making the tanks themselves, Krejci isn't talking except to say, "I've come up with a way to do this that nobody else uses, but I keep that in my back pocket." He will, however, gladly talk about Independent's huge selection of tanks to fit just about any project. "We have more styles available than anybody else. No matter what type of look you're after, you can find a tank that'll fit your frame and give it the look you're after - seat pocket in the back or no seat pocket, pointed at the back, to fit a stretched frame or a chopper frame. No matter what style of frame you've chosen, or the configuration of rake and stretch, one of our tanks will work with it."
     Petcock location varies according to the application the tank is likely to be used on. "Petcock location on a tank going on a Pro Street will be forward left, with a crossover at the front. For a chopper tank we'll put the crossover fittings in the rear and the petcock fitting towards the left rear."
     But let's say that even the Independent Gas Tank Co. product line doesn't have exactly what you want, but something close. The good news is that Independent's tanks are the best place to start when modifying an existing tank because of their thicker material compared to many other tanks. In fact, a lot of well-known custom builders choose Independent tanks as the starting point for their own designs because of the quality of the material and construction.
     For just about everyone else, however, Independent Gas Tank Co. makes a tank to fit whatever kind of bike you're planning to build, from a long, low Pro Street to a raked-out chopper - it's almost like buying a custom tank because there are so many to choose from. In addition, Independent tanks come pressure tested, and require less prep work before painting than other tanks. And finally, you get a tank that's made in the U.S.A. of the finest materials available.
     So don't let a small selection of tanks stand in your customer's way of the bike of their dreams. Check out Independent Gas Tank Co.'s line in the Drag Specialties FatBook and help them pick the one that works best for their application. Talk to your Drag Specialties rep today for more details.