i know this is a old well known issue but i've just got the bike out of the garage and noticed both legs of the forks now touch the tank on full lock, and the hole in the key surround is now half way across the black part of the ignition... hows everyone's tanks looking,, not looking forward to fitting a quick shifter if the tanks needs to come off, getting back on 2 years ago was bad enough..
Yep, I've had it twice now, both times the tank was replaced. I now use BP Ultimate as I believe it's ethanol free (or was) but I syphon the tank dry when not using the bike to be safe.
I have a tank for the road and one for the track. Both have swelled over time and I have had to add a couple of washers to the steering damper bracket so it doesn't rub. Luckily I managed to get a brand new old stock one off eBay cheaply. Andy
my bike never been back to ducati since purchase, the whole history is luigi moto so i've no chance with ducati..
It has nothing to do with it but they'll probably use it as a get-out. The first symptoms I noticed with mine was the switch gear blocks touching the tank on full lock. Then I noticed the the steering damper bracket was rubbing the paint. Then the ignition surround went out of line. Then I took the tank off and tried to get i back on... Its not so much swollen or distorted as stretched. I don't think non-supermaket fuel will save you. As far as I know they all use ethanol now, including BP. They're just shit tanks. Mine's been sat at Louigi Moto for two years this August. Its missed two annual services and all services since I've owned it have been done by Louigi. I'd be vastly surprised if Ducati will want to know with my tank. (I know they read this forum but I'm passed caring. If I could get rid of the bike, I would. I enjoy riding it but I don't enjoy owing it one bit. I expect it will end up as a track bike). In any case, new tanks are no better than the originals. You need to have them sealed which if done properly is a pains-taking job. List price for an OE tank was £1400 last time I looked and that was over 18 months ago. If the price has changed I doubt its got cheaper... With sealing as well it would cost no more to go carbon and be done with it.
Took me nearly a year to get a new tank for my streetfighter, second owner, 2012 bike, FDSH, what worries me is that apparently the replacement tank still has the same specification then the faulty one, which is absolutely ridiculous, say for example you got a well known brake failure, they are not going to replace that with the same faulty part, do they? Ducati know that they have a massive, common problem with those fuel tanks, so what they should do is to simply develop a replacement which does not have these problems, then do a recall on it and replace every single tank on those models that suffer, we did not buy some cheap Chinese vehicle, we bought a top dollar Ducati, so we should NOT be in this position, I think the best way forward is to make a group claim, through using the ducati forums, and demand that the problem gets solved for everyone with the effected models, as a group we will be much stronger then as an individual trying to claim of Ducati, what we need is some one to stand up and starting this process, any volunteers?
I always said that I'd go with an alloy one if mine went again, but this looks very nice and would suit the black bike very well with the few bits of carbon it already has fitted. Conquest Carbon
Yep, good stuff Fullsix. There's the forum discount to come off that as well and maybe Steve would do a bulk order discount if there's enough of us..? Don't know. Worth asking. Unfortunately, for me, the tank is a fairly distant priority. With the bike and non-bike stuff as well.
Motowheels in the USA were having aluminium streetfighter tanks made in Italy a few years ago . Don’t know if they are still available , might be worth contacting them .
The aluminium tanks are still available. I've just bought disks from partsplanet and the owner Jonathan can have them made. Not a bad guy to deal with. I could be wrong but I'm sure I seen them advertised on his web site. Kind of guy that would probably do a group buy
