new to xs400. how to go about fixing&painting tank

Just bought my first bike, 82 xs400j maxim. Bike runs and rides great, having a blast learning. Bike is in overall really good shape. Only damage is on the right side of the tank, i'd imagine from going down with a previous owner. So there's a pretty big dent and chipped paint. It's not major but it's enough to bother me every time i see it. How would I go about fixing that tank? Is there a way to pull that dent? Or fill it? Excuse my ignorance, I'm completely new to motorcycles as well as body work. Any tips on how to fix up the tank would be appreciated as well as how to go about painting the tank afterwards.
The attached pic isn't great for seeing the dent but you can see the bad paint at the front of the dent. Thanks for the help

Fill the dent with premium body filler,Dont use bondo!If you want the exact color you will have to take the tank in to a paint shop so tey can match the color.What they`llprobaly do is make the batch up in a rattle can.

great thanks for the tip. I dont plan on matching the original paint, everything is going to be painted a rusty orange. I found a good thread on painting too so I should be set if I can fill up that dent good. Should I strip the tank and then fill the dent? I saw plenty of posts mentioning filling the dents along in the priming process. It's assumed that the tank gets completely stripped bare first, correct?

No...do not strip the tank to bare metal....creates extra work thats not needed.
Use some coarse grit paper to feather the edge of the paint away from the dent,this will remove any loose scaled paintand bite into the surrounding base layer...fill the dent and feather back away into paint..using higher number grades of paper as you go...start with 120 or so...and fine sand with 320 before a few coats of 2k primer..let the primer set a few days to cure up/shrink...and feather the primer and tank down with 400 grit wet paper...check to be sure you dont have any deep scratches that you can see..paint...clear.

Listen to Skillz this man has done some great body work on gas tanks

skillzman1 said:

No...do not strip the tank to bare metal....creates extra work thats not needed.
Use some coarse grit paper to feather the edge of the paint away from the dent,this will remove any loose scaled paintand bite into the surrounding base layer...fill the dent and feather back away into paint..using higher number grades of paper as you go...start with 120 or so...and fine sand with 320 before a few coats of 2k primer..let the primer set a few days to cure up/shrink...and feather the primer and tank down with 400 grit wet paper...check to be sure you dont have any deep scratches that you can see..paint...clear.

Click to expand...

Thanks skillz. I really hope you're willing to be patient with me because I want to make sure I completely understand what to do before I start. Course grit around dent (and in dent?). I feel like an idiot for asking but what do you mean by feather away into paint? Also am I just priming the area that I sanded and filled or the entire tank? After that it's clear enough for me, "feather" the tank, paint, clear. Thanks for the help, again I apologize for the ignorance, all of my knowledge is just mechanical, this is my first body work experience