I'm thinking "bad part" also. Maybe they had 500 bad tanks and 1 slipped thru. I did find a few mentions of leaking fuel pump gaskets (just like mine) but with no further problems. The only thing that ever touched the outside of the tank was fuel and water with maybe a little windex here and there. And the other plastics are seeing the exact same conditions. Only the fuel tank is failing. When I replace the tank I will find an uncracked section and do a test with fuel. I'm betting I can create cracks where I allow fuel to pool & evaporate. Really? I'm not getting that feeling. The cracks don't seem to be in stressed areas. The cracks fall in exactly the way that fluid flows. In the photos of the side of the tank the front parts have more cracks because the leaking gas flows there under braking. I guess anything is possible but I'm not expecting they will have any interest at all. I hope it's an anomaly because it's a royal pain. Bike has only 4000 miles and has been indoors 90% of it's life so I doubt it is the "first one". Still... I would like to add some sort of exterior protection to my new tank. Problem will be trying to find something that sticks to the plastic... and doesn't damage it. Matt
Sounds plausible but I think there would be a lot more people suffering similar problems. My tank actually holds a good bit of pressure since I patched it but held no pressure before that. The fuel doesn't leak all the time but it does when the weather gets hot. I get no leaks in the morning and evening but the other day was 90F and I was stuck in traffic for 20 min and fuel started bubbling out of the tank under pressure. Oh and I already took the check ball out of the vent. That ball is to shut the vent if the bike tipped over. It's not supposed to control pressure but if it gets stuck it can stop all pressure from venting. Matt
What you describe sure sounds like a vent issue and that you still have one. I don't have any vent issues, I have no idea if my tank can take any pressure.....because it never sees any.
My tank is venting pressure correctly. Technically ALL fuel tanks see pressure in that the weight of the fuel is trying to push out of the bottom and sides of the tank all of the time. That is what happened in my tank. I filled the tank to below the level of the fuel pump gasket the night before but in the heat of the day the fuel expanded above the fuel pump gasket and pushed out. Good news is that the replacement tank showed up today from Ebay. It looks really nice with almost no wear and ZERO cracking. Now I need to figure out time to do the work. Matt
I finally pulled the old tank out last night. The Workshop Manual says you can do it without removing the rear subframe. You can't. Wondering what else I should do while I have it all apart. Matt
You can sort out that crappy Mudflap arrangement to put a stop to the water entering the swingarm. Obviously it can be done without the bike in pieces, but now is easier to do.
Replace the upper shock bolt with the strongest possible one you can find or you might be replacing that tank again soon. http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/gas-tank-replacement-and-shock-warning.80863/#post-554654 Probably should replace the lower one to just to be on the safe side.
