S4rs expanding petrol tank

Esso and BP 97 ultimate are 0% Ethanol (unless in Devon/Cornwall) according to Esso and BP email earlier this autumn.

Originally Posted by kempo

Has anyone any experience of this. Bought my S4rs new in 2008 and the tank has been slowly expanding since then,. I know its ethanol problems and poor quality of tank and has been talked about on forums particularly in USA. I should have acted on this when it first started years previously but its now got so bad I cant lock the tank down as strap now fowls the ignition pod . Has anybody had experience of this and can you tell me what you experiences were with Ducati re getting a replacement . No doubt I have left it to late now but any advice welcome

Going back to the original point, I had a slightly different issue with my tank, as in it had been repainted (as I subsequently found out), after the original owner had an off, and for whatever reason (not being prepped properly, the type of plastic the tank was made of, I don't know) the tank warped slightly and the paint bubbled off.

I contacted Ducati about it, who referred me to Ducati UK, and the offer was a replacement tank at £550 plus VAT (based on the fact that the service history was only part official dealer...), and it would have to be fitted at an official dealership, so I'd have to pay for labour costs also. I also contacted Rosso Corse, and was quoted £600 for a replacement second hand tank including fitting, which I felt was too expensive.

A fellow, helpful, forum member however pointed me in the direction of Italian Ebay, where I got a pristine new old stock tank for the princely sum of £120 including shipping, which I then fitted myself by booking a bench at Oval Motorcycle Centre for £26 per hour, and doing it when I did my interim service. It's not a hard job, and it made changing the fuel filter super easy.

If you don't have full main dealer service record, best option is Italian ebay, and fit it yourself, and write off the £100 odd quid.

[Dave G]

Why would Ducati need a full dealer service history in relation to a part -made from unsuitable material, that isn't part of the service regime anyway?, nor is it a 'serviceable part' in any case.
That just sums up the 'talk to the hand' attitude Ducati are taking to this issue.

[Flip]

Originally Posted by Flip

If it were me (and especially if I had bought the bike brand new like you) I would be pestering Ducati constantly in the hope that they eventually get fed up and give you a new tank to shut you up- a full service history etc. is a load of boll*cks excuse not to help although of course long term even if they did replace the tank it will likely happen again unless Ethanol is no longer added to fuels.

Originally Posted by Dave G

Why would Ducati need a full dealer service history in relation to a part -made from unsuitable material, that isn't part of the service regime anyway?, nor is it a 'serviceable part' in any case.
That just sums up the 'talk to the hand' attitude Ducati are taking to this issue.

Exactly what I said and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it!!!!

Anyone know how Triumph dealt with the same issue on the Daytona's?

Could be worth finding examples of successful cases and quoting them to Ducati.

Originally Posted by Dave G

Why would Ducati need a full dealer service history in relation to a part -made from unsuitable material, that isn't part of the service regime anyway?, nor is it a 'serviceable part' in any case.
That just sums up the 'talk to the hand' attitude Ducati are taking to this issue.

It's to protect their dealer network and to try stop the leakage to independent garages. I did include a complaint about the local dealers in London, Metropolis, who inspected the bike as per Ducati's instruction, and didn't follow up on it, and are generally appalling to deal with. Sadly they sell so many bikes for Ducati that nothing will change, London owners end up going independent or out of town, as I had done, compromising my service record.

Originally Posted by Dave G

Why would Ducati need a full dealer service history in relation to a part -made from unsuitable material, that isn't part of the service regime anyway?, nor is it a 'serviceable part' in any case.
That just sums up the 'talk to the hand' attitude Ducati are taking to this issue.

I actually asked this question and was told that the swelling 'can' be caused by blocked fuel tank breathers... as cleaning these breathers is supposedly part of the service regime then they require it to be done to claim for the faulty tank.

It is just a clever way of limiting the number of claims.

[Dave G]

Originally Posted by M-Hit

I actually asked this question and was told that the swelling 'can' be caused by blocked fuel tank breathers... as cleaning these breathers is supposedly part of the service regime then they require it to be done to claim for the faulty tank.

It is just a clever way of limiting the number of claims.

That's just nonsense, it's the level of justification I'd expect from primary school kids and I seriously doubt blocked breathers would do anything like this effect.

Ducati's excuse is at the level of 'a big boy did it then ran away' and hope we'll not notice.

Originally Posted by Flip

Exactly what I said and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it!!!!

Anyone know how Triumph dealt with the same issue on the Daytona's?

Could be worth finding examples of successful cases and quoting them to Ducati.

I don't know why I've never thought of this before but Hannah's 955i Speed Triple has this problem and only now have I figured out why its such a pig to refit the petrol tank after its been removed = doh!

Glad my old girl has a steel tank

Originally Posted by Flip

Exactly what I said and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it!!!!

Anyone know how Triumph dealt with the same issue on the Daytona's?

Could be worth finding examples of successful cases and quoting them to Ducati.

Just checked Triumph have removed the VIN checker from all but the USA versions of their websites. Could not find any recalls for new tanks.

Hope there is a supply of new pink tanks hiding somewhere in the world...

[Flip]

Going on from this regarding other manufacturers, have KTM had any issues with their off road bikes (not sure what their road bikes use) or anyone had issues with Acerbis tanks fitted to green laners for example?

Again, might be worth looking around other forums or even enquiring at local dealers just to see what they have to say on the matter.

[damien666]

A fella at work has a KTM rc8 (road bike).On the KTM forum, he says, lots of tank swelling problems.

Interestingly I believe that Ducati had now gone back to a metal tank for the 1200 and 821?

[walkingpictures]

Originally Posted by damien666

I have to lever mine at the front and force it down to get it to hook under the latch.
I ended up ordering an ally tank from Beater in japan. (Not painted or fitted yet).

Out of interest,do you still have to lever yours to get it fitted?Or,did you fit the ally tank?Or......sorry about all the questions....did the elongated hinge mounting plate holes do the trick?

Kimbo

[Darkness]

Originally Posted by DrD

Esso and BP 97 ultimate are 0% Ethanol (unless in Devon/Cornwall) according to Esso and BP email earlier this autumn.

BP no longer guarantee that on their website though.

They rather skirt around the ethanol content by saying ‘What is E5 Petrol.
It’s the same unleaded petrol that you’re currently using. Petrol in the UK already contains up to 5% bioethanol and has done for more than 10 years. Both BP regular unleaded petrol and BP Ultimate unleaded petrol are now also labelled as E5.’

https://www.bp.com/en_gb/united-king...20E5%20petrol?

[jerry]

Ducati no longer bother with Plastic tanks since Panigale and 821 all new models are steel ,,,some other manufacturers KTM and MotoGuzzi aand some off road bikes have plastic on some models ,, but its a disaster zone ,

No more 0% ethanol pure Benzine fuel in Uk since early this year even Esso and BP 97 /98/99 octane is now 5% ethanol

as of next year most UK fuel will be 10% ethanol although some premium fuels will remain 5% but you will pay a lot extra per litre for it .

Be prepared for problems with older bikes and cars especially with carbs ,, my experience in Thailand is that even Viton carb needles and seals and fuel lines rot eventually when in contact with 10% ethanol it also damages EFI systems and fuel lines in modern vehicles and also zinc and brass and aluminium dont like it ,,,, also you will lose up to 5% power and use 5% more fuel to boot so its lose lose ...