just thought i would ask?? does any one no what kind of pipe is used for the breather that goes from the petrol cap to the pipes inside the tank?? tryed some normal fuel pipe in a jar of fuel and it went as hard as nailes in no time but the stuff that came out of the tank is still soft and you can still bend it like it was new, my old ones are a bit on the short side, asked woods for a price best part of £15 each thats a bit of a rip off in my eyes. STUART
https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p/rubber-in-tank-fuel-hose-5-16-8mm-i-d-per-metre-hit-001 I think it's all 8mm ID
This is a complete pain - the simple option would be to buy the tubing from Ducati, but I've heard that it is about £50 for the necessary lengths. I had originally assumed that as these tubes are subjected to no pressure, and that the inside of a fuel tube resists petrol, so will the outside, etc, so I think this is what I used: Product Code: NT-005 Description: 5mm (4.5mm) Nitrile Rubber Fuel Hose Tubing 3/16 Item Price: £ 1.98 Qty: 1 Total: £ 1.98 purchased from Silicone, Industrial & Hydrualic Hose & Fittings, Spill Control, Jubilee & Mikalor Clips Parker Hose Doctor who also have an ebay store. I based the sizing on measurements of the original thin hoses. However, this leaked after a while, and the test length that I had pickled in a jam jar of petrol showed why - it went all soft and bloated. So I went back to the supplier (who had simply sold me what I stupidly ordered) and I'm pretty sure (based on old email) that this is what I bought instead, after establishing that "in tank" hose of the same size as the Ducati stuff is impossible to track down: 7 3mm I D Inside Tank Fuel Hose Type 2190 DN6 The problem was that it was much thicker than the original Ducati hoses (which I was replacing because of age and the fact that the ends had split when I took them off the spigots during tank rebuild). In the end I cut some small lengths off the orignal hoses, put them over the spigots to fatten them up, and then put the new hose over those, with new clips (which were larger than the originals). All seems OK with this. As I had in-tank hose left over, I also replaced the short lengths between fuel pump and filter etc.
These people have some useful opinions on the matter too: Desmo Times Home Page Look at the Maintenance items and select Fuel Tubing - they are in the USA though and say that the genuine "in tank" hose is expensive and unobtainable, although they say theirs does the job.
I replaced the hoses inside the tank on my 916 many years ago with some fuel hose from Halfords, didn't even give it a though as to whether it was any good. But it's still working and hasn't gone soft/hard so it can't be too bad and it certainly didn't cost £50...
Whatever type of pipe or ID is used, the other way out is to remove the whole d*mn lot from inside the tank, add a Facet 1-4psi solid state pump with a couple of inline filters (one tank side of the pump, one carb side)............plus an electronic tap which can be got for about £12....... .....I have also been looking at using a conventional tap with reserve and filter mesh, blanking off the OEM tap hole and using the fuel level sender hole for the tap location........I haven't drawn a conclusion because I need to establish both thread sizes and I can't be bothered to strip my tank as yet.
