who keeps putting caramel on my slides? (77 900ss)

seddy · Post by **seddy** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:02 am

Anyone had this problem, I am getting a dark honey colored coating on the back of my carb slides. It is hard and very smooth (cant scratch it off), but carb cleaner removes it. Problem is its on the back of the slides, so evry 100 miles I have to pull the carbs off and give them a clean. I drained the tank, changed gas stations, only buy premium, but I still have the problem. (It causes the slides to stick).

Any ideas?.

Post by **BevHevSteve** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 1:50 pm

OK some things to consider.....

Are you running velocity stacks?

You might have some gook inside your tank that is disolving slowly.

Oil leaks on the motor sucking in oily mist?

Foam filters disolving...

seddy · Post by **seddy** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:36 pm

I am running velocity stacks,
I have no oil leaks (no really),
what could be slowly disolving in the tank?, tell me its not the tank.

I cleaned it out with detergent, I am thinking I should drain it again and try carb cleaner or something similar.

Thanks Steve

Colin Linz · Post by **Colin Linz** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 6:58 pm

If you have a fibreglass tank you need to be careful of the ethanol content of the fuel, as it can break down the resins used its construction.

seddy · Post by **seddy** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 8:02 am

Thanks Colin, I steer clear of the fuels here in the US with ethanol added, I'm an expat so I got the tank from Sydney, I havent heard of any other problems with his fiberglass tanks.

Vince · Post by **Vince** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 1:35 am

Well you are hearing now,this happened to a mate with a Panta{sp}
first the slides would stick,then the bottom fell out at a set of traffic lights,
the tank was also from Ians,its the petrol,there are addatives similar to paint stripper in it now,that is in Sydney,be careful.

amamet · Post by **amamet** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:48 pm

i fear i am having the same problem. i keep having to clean my carbs, i've cleaned them about 5 times and they start sticking about 20 minutes after i start riding. i also noticed a sort of acne type problem showing in my paint. tank is ss style from old racing spare pare parts out of italy, tank is 3 years old. i use highest grade i can get at pumps in new york and jersey. my friend had this problem on and old triumph with a fiberglass tank which he resolved by dumping the bike after throttle stuck on the brooklyn bridge. had tank sealed with a product i can't remember but says its the best on the market, and translucent. good for those of us with fuel stripes. i''ll get back with the name of the product

allen

Colin Linz · Post by **Colin Linz** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 4:38 pm

In Australia the fuel stations have to display if the have Ethonol in their petrol. Because Ethonol doesn’t attract the same amount of government taxes that fuel does it can be considerably cheaper. This prompted some suppliers to add large amounts of Ethonol to their fuel to increase their profit margins. Generally most automotive manufacturers agree that a 10% mix is the maximum you should use unless your car or bike is designed specifically for it. Some bike manufacturers believe even small amounts are not good for their products. In large amounts even the alloy used for carburettors won’t tolerate it, and will breakdown.

I don’t know if there are any differences in the tolerance of Ethonol between polyester resins and epoxy resins. Generally epoxy is stronger and more resistant to chemicals. It may be worthwhile to check what resins are used in the manufacture of tanks for future purchases. Some years ago I had a Bimota YB3. Its fuel tank was fibreglass and needed some repairs. I could never repair it well enough to keep the fuel from affecting the paintwork. It would take a number of months, but eventually bubbles would form somewhere in the painted surface. I eventually solved it by cleaning out the tank and pouring epoxy resin in it and swirling it around, so as to coat the entire inner surface of the tank.

seddy · Post by **seddy** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 7:38 am

amamet, I am having the same bubbling problem in a couple of spots on my tank, I have been blaming the painter, mainly because the builder said they had not had any problems with their tanks and suggested the painter hadnt used enough primer. I'll contact them again to see if he will tell me what he coats the inside of his tanks with. I will start a new link about tanks to see if anyone else has any ideas.

Thanks guys.

Stephen.

Spub · Post by **Spub** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 4:26 pm

The substance on the slides is likely residue from a dissolving tank. I have a 1971 Norton Commando with a fiberglass tank. The ethanol content in US fuels does cause these tanks to degrade, causing clogged jets and stuck slides (don't ask me how I know this). There are several products on the market designed to seal the inside of a fiberglass tank from the effects of ethanol. There are many articles discussing this problem on marine/boating sites. The sealant used on my Commando was Caswell, which is a clear epoxy sealer. I'm just happy as a clam that my 77 900SS has a steel tank with a fiberglass outer coverning.....

seddy · Post by **seddy** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 11:52 am

I had made a couple of posts on this topic, and had suggested using the POR 15 tank sealer. this was based on a reply to an email from POR, they are no longer suggesting that their sealer works on Fiberglass. This is a problem for me now because my tank has cracked (I think it was just a vibration due to a lost rubber buffer) So I am on the search for a patch that can handle Ethanol.

I have researched this on the web but cannot find the actual brand of an ethanol resitant resin, if there are any fiberglass guru's out there that know what would work I could do with a reply.

Thanks.

Spub · Post by **Spub** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:47 pm

Seddy:

According to an e-mail I received from Mike Caswell, Caswell epoxy sealer is intended to be used on Fiberglass tanks, and he stated it sealed against Ethanol. He warned that the cleaning, tank preparation and application steps must be strictly followed, and failures are generally due to delamination from poor preparation, or inadequate coverage from poor application....That's the theory.....The tank on my Norton was coated 3 months ago, and there have been no bubbles, leaks, or gunked up carbs.....but I'll add the qualifier "yet"......I'll keep you posted....

huit · Post by **huit** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:05 pm

After weeks of research, I found that the only thing you can use in a glass tank is vinyl ester. This is the stuuf they use on or to make marine fuel tanks.
I cut the bottom of my ncr tank off ground out any suspect areas and put 4 coats in, made a seam of one long piece of mat and two layers of vinyl ester on the outside.

Cost was about $130.00 for material.
It has a short shelf life!!!!!!!!

paul

amamet · Post by **amamet** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 6:39 am

its been a full year of adding standard pump gas with ethanol into my sealed tank. no problems whatsoever, my friend (professionally) applied the Caswell Plating products gas tank sealer over a year ago. i was hesitant at first but had no problems with regular gas all year long. it was even clear so my fuel stripe remained transluncent. will keep posted if anything occurs. seems to have solved my sticky carb issue. i now just have to live with a bumpy paint job

Peter Mille · Post by **Peter Mille** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 7:53 am

Fiberglass fuel tanks did disolve even many years ago, fuel taps fell out overhere in Europe after a short time of use.
I'm glad I have an aluminium NCR (replica) tank.

<-=- Club Bevel Heaven -=->

who keeps putting caramel on my slides? (77 900ss)

who keeps putting caramel on my slides? (77 900ss)

slider delima

Ethanol and fiberglass

fiberglass tank sealer