Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Does anyone know the function and purpose of a tank pad? I saw one the other day and didn't think much of it, but now I'm questioning it.

Is it just a decoration, or is there padding on it for your stomach?

i heard from my friend that it is for your stomach and sometimes your groin

i hit my groin hard once on the tank pad on the first few days of practice on our driveway... the bike was almost dropping but i pulled it back hard and the tank pad hit my groin, rode slowly into the garage... the practice of the day was over after that.

now that reminds me, i should get one of those. how effective is it?

if you mean then it's going to do little to nothing against cushoning you when you hit the tank. It's to keep zippers from scraping the tank as far as i can figure out.

Geoff is correct. It stops the zipper on your jecket from scratching up your tanks paint when you bend over it.

That musta hurt.

It looks like a spine.

You can get a good look at my tank pads. These are 1/4 inch thick foam-rubber. Judging by how scuffed they are after 10K miles, the paint on my tank would look pretty bad if I didn't have these on.

You can't ignore the long-term friction of your knees/thighs on the sides of the tank. So I think that protection on the sides of the tank is just as important as the 'front'.

P

I didn't even think of saving the paint from your zipper....hmm...clever.

also, i like the above post using the pads to save your knees from bumps.