Hi everyone,

Ever since I bought my Tenere, I had this huge gap between the top of the seat and the fuel tank, which bothers me a lot.

I always thought that the gap was caused by the tank being dented or warped out of shape and then some bodyshop tried to fix it, messing it up even more, then body-filling and painting on the messed sheetmetal, because many of the "sharp" body lines of my tank are gone even though the paintjob and decals are perfect.

So, I had a guy that didn't really care about the precise fitment of the seat and said that he was down to swapping tanks. His bike has never been in a crash or any kind of accident, it just needs a paintjob.

Well, yesterday I tried to install this guy's tank on my bike and the bolt holes don't line up, by something like 3 or 4mm

pics for reference




It's as if the tank is too long for the frame? Trust me I tried in every way and order, but I always end up with at least 1 bolt being too much out of alignment with its hole.
Could this mean that my frame is bent?

I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. Seat is more likely to be distorted. Was there anything preventing the seat settling properly above the battery? Sometimes if had to refit it after it not lining up first time.
Without the seat, the tank gets caught sometimes on shite in the way, and needs a bit of a wriggle.
If without cables and rubber pads etc (and airbox) it doesn’t line up, only then would I look at adjusting anything on the tank or frame.
Try it without rubber mounts to see how central or not the holes line up.

Also try lining the front holes up first, then see how much play the rear rubber bushes can allow as you rotate it down.

It suggests that the bracket on the frame holding the rear of the tank is too far forward, but how on earth wouldthat happen...?
I'd be looking to try a 3rd tank to confirm.
There's no way the other guy would know all the history of his tank unless he had it from new.

How soft are the bushes?
Maybe the tank has had a bit of a knock in the past. If it needs painting, maybe it could be carefully reshaped without damage.
Worse case scenario,
1 get/make offset bushes, or if you are really creative, make an eccentric collar to go in the hole. A bit like Landrover offset bushes for raised suspension.
2 just enlarge the holes in the bushes, or simply remove the collar. Cheap option.
3 really worst case, if you’re happy with keeping the tank in its current shape etc, drill out the threads, and put in inserts (timesert maybe), in the location you need.
I’d go with a new bush option first.

This bit is not right.

I have had similar on one of my 1vj. I removed the spacer on the front bushes, started the threads on those front mounts and then pushed the tank forward until rear mounts dropped in. Seems ok.

donnybach wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2026 7:00 pm Also try lining the front holes up first, then see how much play the rear rubber bushes can allow as you rotate it down.

That's one of the problems, I can only line up one of the front holes, they seem "out of axis" with each other, like one is more forward than the other.
And I can't move the fuel tank side to side because it's almost locked in place by the airbox

But if I put his tank back on his bike, they all line up almost perfectly, the rear rubber mount is a bit worn so it's not perfectly centered but still, way within acceptable tolerance

charliext1vj wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2026 10:00 pm I have had similar on one of my 1vj. I removed the spacer on the front bushes, started the threads on those front mounts and then pushed the tank forward until rear mounts dropped in. Seems ok.

By "spacer" you mean the little metal tube that goes inside the rubber bushing?

donnybach wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2026 6:55 pm I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. Seat is more likely to be distorted. Was there anything preventing the seat settling properly above the battery? Sometimes if had to refit it after it not lining up first time.
Without the seat, the tank gets caught sometimes on shite in the way, and needs a bit of a wriggle.
If without cables and rubber pads etc (and airbox) it doesn’t line up, only then would I look at adjusting anything on the tank or frame.
Try it without rubber mounts to see how central or not the holes line up.

I initially thought it was the seat, but I also tried swapping seat with the other guy bike, and my seat on his bike with his tank won't leave any gap. So there's that.

I fit and refit the seat many times as well whenever I take it off, making sure all notches snap into their places