I love the 4.5 glln tank. It's got a fantastic, large,flat surface on the top for custom graphics (one day).
By the way, the current 3.3 tank is called a "Walnut" tank. The "Peanut" tank, shaped pretty much the same,is 2.2 gllns.

 

Yeah, they used a pile of different capacity fuel tanks on the Sportster's during the 60's, 70's, and 80's....

They had 2.2 gallons tanks, 3.25 gallon tanks, 3.3 gallon tanks, 3.5 gallon tanks, 3.7 gallon tanks, and even 4.0 gallon tanks...

Some years you could even choose between 2.2 gallon or 3.3 gallon tanks when you ordered the bike.

Back in the early 1970's a friend of mine had a '69 Sportster with the 2.2 gallon tank.... Back then I was with a MC back on the east coast, and while most of us where running big twins with larger tanks, a few of the guys had bikes with the smaller 2.2 gallon tanks mounted...

They were only getting 60 to 70 miles between fuel stops, so it made things interesting.

 

35years of harleys and I never heard it called that. Where did you hear that? You have a link or a reference that calls it that?

 

Any reason they can't make a larger tank that's still peanut-shaped? Just stretch it a little in each direction

They increased the size of the tank on the touring models to 6 gallons for '08 without it looking too different.

I prefer the look of the peanut tank, but stopping for gas is a pain, and I ended upwith a custom

 

Actually...I love the look of the bike with the orig. tank too and would surely hate to ruin that look. And, adding another gallon isn't that much to gain but sometimes, it gets annoying to have to fill every 100 or so miles which is why I was pondering the possible change. Ultimately, I probably won't change it. The orig.looks great and I've gotten tons of compliments on the bike, especially from some who orig. thought the Sportster to be somewhat a lower echelon rid. So...it'll probably be left as is.

 

No, I don't have (and haven't looked for) a reputable, writtenreference source for my information. A guy who's been riding for 30 years and has owned a dealership for 15 years told me. So far, he hasn't told me anything that I've found to be untrue, so I take him at his word and consider him a reputable source for Harley info (trivia). Maybe somewhere there's a "Tank" reference book. If it turns out to be eroneous information, he'll never hear the end of it from me. Perhaps I should research it and bet him a new Harley on it(if I were to find out he's mistaken).

 

I just never heard it before. I googled it and didnt get any results either. But that dont mean it aint so...

 

Those poor misguided souls in the touring section think the '08 tank is fugly. Tsk tsk... sad, really. I think it looks great and carrying that much fuel is trez helpful.

I would really like to get the bigger tank for the Sportie. Riding in excess of 150 miles per tank before I gotta worry is something I miss when I'm on the sportie

 

I just put a 4.5 on my sporty and to be honest I prefer the look of the peanut but.... the 4.5 looks very good. My opinion on it is I prefer not to fill up all the time. I ride because I enjoy to joy and stopping all the time is a pain in the butt and yes 1.2 gallons does make a difference!

 

I think you'll find Harley uses 'walnut' on their website - check new Sportsters.