hey ,i got this here 2007 softail and and want to pull the oil tank and paint it to match the rest of the bike.any words of wisdom on removal tips? also my dealer told me to forget buying the paint from harley,he said the Pacific Blue Pearl on the bike is a GM color and can be match thru them! interesting but is this true? sounds kinda goofy to me but i aint no brain surgeon or paint expert either. lmao!

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That's the main reason I bought a black Standard. Tank matches the rest of the bike. I'm kinda **** that way.

 

Just keep unsrewing things until the tank comes out. Start by draining it and pulling the battery.Paint can be tinted at any good autobody shop to match perfectly.
Could very well be a GM colour. Give the body shop what info you can and look at the colour chips they have for that code. They can adjust from there if needed.
Ron

 

Yeah...it's a major pain in the butt to pull off and put back on...[:@] But if you want to give it a whirl here goes...You need to remove the rear exhaust pipe, drain the oil of course, the carefully unfasten the three oil lines from the back of the engine...they WILL drip oil.
You also need to remove the rear fender and the rear wheel so you can get to the four bolts that are fastened to the oil tank. Two big ones and two small ones, there are also two under the seat that you have to remove after you remove the battery and the fuse packs.
Have you given up yet?...
Once this is all done you can remove the oil tank. The two oil lines at the top can be removed by twisting the chrome covers back far enough so you can squeeze the plastic prongs with pliers. This will allow the oil line to come out. Before you put the oil lines back in the tank and the back of the engine you have to buy the plastic inserts and the o-rings...they come as a kit from the dealer. If you don't they will leak all over. It's also good to have a service manual 'cause it shows how that is done.
Be prepared to take your time and make sure everything goes back in place.
Other than that it's a piece of cake..............

 

Scurvy Jack wrote:
That black tank doesn't look so bad after all.

 

Your bike looks identical to what mine did the day it came home from the dealer 3 1/2 months ago, same color, everything.

several thousands of dollars later................[&:]

 

Great paint job...you obviously were smart enough not to mess with the oil tank either..... It's really not that bad as it sounds if you are pretty fair with tools.
I had to take mine off when I upgraded to a 6 speed tranny....everything from the motor back was pretty much taken off to do the work. If you ask the dealer it's a 9 hour job to change the tranny....7 hours to take off all the other stuff and put it back on....2 hours to change the tranny itself...[:@] I managed to do it in 14 hours but that was working a couple of hours a night after work and in between school nights.