I have a 2009 1100s and I have been told about a potential / almost certain future problem. At the moment we have 5% ethanol in our petrol, here in the UK. In the states they have 15% and because of this they have been experiencing swelling/distorting fuel tanks. Late this year or early next our ethanol will be going up to 10% making us likely to experience the same issues. Apparently Ducati have tried to sort the problem but to date have been unsuccessful. Short of spending £700 on a new tank assy, or selling the bike, what else can be done? Am I worrying over nothing? Or are my concerns valid? Im close to selling the bike in favour of something with a metal fuel tank!
I know Alec at Ducati Proteam has had to slot some of the hinges to make the tanks fit already. It's not going to get any better, and I think he's reported some issues with the pump o-ring sealing?
Had my streetfighter tank replaced because of swelling, i now only use bp ultimate unleaded as it has no added ethanol.
Use the Super fuels. They all have no ethanol in them, apart from Tescos 99RON which does. Texaco were supposed to be keeping several forecourts free of ethanol. I'll see if I can find the list.
Have a read of this. It's long winded but rather informative. Scroll straight to the bottom of the page if you just want to know what is in which petrol, and where to get E0 from. TR Register
Shell V-Power and Sainsbury's Super Unleaded do have ethanol in them. I had a swollen tank on my Multi 1000S, got a £200 used one from German Ebay which turned out to be fine. Snell's quoted me £1,400 for a new tank... I've currently got my old tank which I lined with Caswell sat in my spare room.
I've got a 2005 Monster which has not suffered tank swelling, whereas several other owners have had the problem. I've almost always used Super petrols, not because of the tank swelling issue or any supposed performance increase, but because I don't do lots of miles and my bike could be sat around for several months sometimes between outings. I have found that the super fuels seem to last longer before going off when left around.
