I'm on holiday this week and with it being a nice morning earlier i had a ride out to Vduo in Lincoln, where i had an interesting conversation with top man Adam about the prospect of my tank swelling!...he says that its a very common issue with the plastic tanks on these models and the best option is to get it sealed as soon as it shows any signs of expanding, i will probably leave it with him come the cold weather and get it done as a precaution. I've Been looking at Carbon and alloy tanks as alternatives, but having had a CF tank on my old 999S which i had running problems with re. leaking around the fuel pump aperture i'm a bit dubious as to the practicality of them, i would deffo prefer a Brushed alloy Jap 'Beater' tank but they are VERY expensive and i'm unsure about import duty/Tax buying from Japan,which seems the only place where decent ones are made, unless any of you more knowlegeable types know of any other choices? My Tank seems OK at the minute BTW, and i only use Esso synergy super unleaded which i am led to believe does not contain the shitty Ethanol culprit.
keep your eyes peeled for an O.E.M. aloominum one I would say is your best bet, but agree, will be £800 plus now.
This could become a more common problem. I read on the BBC this morning there are moves afoot to increase the ethanol to 10% in an attempt to significantly reduce CO2 emissions overnight https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49003496
The reduction in emissions is a bit tenuous: less energy in the fuel means you use more of it, which increases emissions at point of use. The claim is that by growing biomass to create biofuel you are locking in carbon on farms so the whole cycle of plant - fuel - burn is carbon neutral. I can’t remember when I last saw acres of sterile land waiting for a crop, so substitution of wheat for biomass isn’t quite so virtuous as they’d have us believe. Still, there’s plenty more rainforest they can chop down to bring the land into useful production!
I believe the article also said that fuel containing "only" 5% ethanol would continue to be available at least for a while. But it was on the BBC web site... I agree with @Darkness that the logic is a bit dubious.
I read in Classic Motorcycle Mechanics magazine a couple of months ago, no Super unleaded petrol has ethanol added to it at the moment. Article was written by someone who works in for the petroleum industry.
Only Esso hasn't said an article in Practical Sportsbikes Bikes and the rest up to 5% - do you have a copy of the article?
Out of interest and probably a little paranoia I have had a look at the distance between my tank and the steering damper mount, and it's fairly close, maybe 2 or 3 mm's at its closest point, what are others on here measuring for a comparison....hopefully not opening a can of worms.
Just looked on there website, great work/skill, a 20 litre is 240,000 yen = to £1789, not cheap but better then plastic
Wise words ..... couldn't agree more ! We have been sold a pack of lies by the petro-chemical industry who have hitched a ride on the "environmentally sound " bandwagon . An Emperors New Clothes situation ..... environmental vandalism in reality. Taking land out of food production to grow fuel crops is just irresponsible. Same goes for the global market in fresh flowers , often grown in developing countries using huge amounts of precious water and then air-freighted thousands of miles to supermarkets and florists in rich countries . There should be a 100% environmental tax on them , to be paid directly to food farmers in the country of origin . Back on-topic , whoever decided that plastic fuel tanks were a good idea ?
The Tank Shop for a nice strong skillfully made aluminium substitute. www.thetankshop.com Glen View, Glenmidge Auldgirth, Dumfries DG2 0SW, Scotland Telephone: 01387 740 259. John Williams makes these superb polished aluminium custom petrol tanks for motor bikes to order.
Also had a look, if i ever got one i would probably leave it as is and not bother painting it, they look very trick....looks like they can calculate shipping and duty costs on their website, would probably cost @£2400 to get one over here!.....mmmmmmm.
