Fiberglass tank problems, bubbling, disolving, etc

seddy · Post by **seddy** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 7:43 am

The thread about sticky carbs led to a lot of talk about fiberglass tanks. Seems a few of us who got tanks from different sources have paint bubbleing, something in the tank dissolving and sticking out carbs, and general tank failure. Was wondering if anyone else has had these problems, whose tanks, and what the resolution was.

eg, how did you strip the inside of the tank, and what product did you use to seal it?.

Thanks,

Stephen.

Vince · Post by **Vince** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 5:15 pm

The Panta{sp} tank that i spoke about in the other thread was 10years old maybe a bit less and this problem happened 2 or3 years ago,it was
a Gowy tank,TT 2 style,and I doult the bloke who owned it used the discount fual supplyers who dilute as much as possable,he lives close to
a big Shell station

Colin Linz · Post by **Colin Linz** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:13 pm

My tank has been fine. I don’t know where it came from, as it was on the bike when I bought it. I generally use Shell or BP Unleaded. I don’t know if the Aromatics used in fuels like Optimax could affect the tanks, but I wouldn’t think so. I do know that Frazers, who import Ducati’s into Australia, argued against any safe level of Ethonol in fuels because of the large number of Ducati’s with fibreglass tanks.

seddy · Post by **seddy** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:49 pm

This is getting complicated, seems some tanks are made with vinylester resin on the inside, some with epoxy, and some get coated with a special sealer. The one thing I have been able to determine is that ethanol seems to be bad for any fiberglass tank, but at varying levels.

Colin Linz · Post by **Colin Linz** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 4:21 pm

My tank has some problems now. They don’t have anything to do with the fuel though, just its inability to handle surface damage from falling over and sliding down the road.

seddy · Post by **seddy** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:46 pm

You didnt throw yourself underneath to protect the hard metal and fiberglass. Hope the damage isnt too bad to either body or bike.

Colin Linz · Post by **Colin Linz** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 9:33 pm

I posted a short description of the day in the Rumour Mill forum of this board. I didn’t do much else than roll down the road into the bush. The bike only suffered surface damage on the Exhaust, Left side Engine Case, Fairing, and Tank. The left Mirror, left Blinker, and left Footpeg and Gearshift broke off. Not too bad really.