pump gas and fiberglass tanks

[Mick Milakovic]

I've recently heard some scuttle about pump gas eating the inside of fiberglass tanks.  Anyone know anything about this?  I'm new to the restoration world and need some help.

 

[mosesnra]

dont know how it could do that most of these tanks have had gas run in them for 20+ years

dean    [email protected]

[scooterdude]

I've heard the same thing. I do know that gas goes bad a lot quicker than it used to. Remember when you were a kid and you used the same gas, out of the same dirty can forever. It's all the chemicals nowadays. Seems like every time I turn around I'm cleaning a needle and seat. Gets gummed up and gets that pine smell.
Jeff

 

[dirtbike]

You are smoked. This is a huge problem with no known solution at this moment. Read the struggle this soldier had:
http://lightning.prohosting.com/%7Eraymacke/Cbnskif36.htm

It's bad !!
Ride your bike and dry out you tank.
//B Hahn
http://www.mxbikes.com

 

[Gavin Housh]

Stop buying that pump fuel and use race fuel. Shure these old bikes don't need the expensive stuff but they desirve it. With all the talk of eaten rubber crank seals and rubber stopper ends on enrichening parts in Bing carbs and smily face rubber gaskets in Penton petcocks why take the chance. My advice is to get yourself a steel "Jerry" can. Drain your gas out after evry ride and store it in the steel can. The plastic containers that are so popular now do not seal the volatile chemicals in gasoline from escaping. If you don't believe me just think back on all those faded plastic gas tanks you've seen. Shure some of that is caused from oxidation and some from uv radiation, but it's also from tiny molecules in the fuel passing through the plastic. Any reputable fuel supplier will tell you, store your fuel in a steel can or drum. Gavin Housh

 

[Dwight Rudder]

I have never heard what you are talking about. I have run pump gas in my bikes for years , no problem.  Race Gas will have more solvents in it than pump gas. Most add Toluene to the mix.  Maybe you are talking about Gasohol. DO NOT USE gas with alcohol added. It will cause seperation of the gas / oil mix unless you are using castor.

Dwight Rudder
7 time ISDT / E medalist
7 time National Enduro Class Champion.

[dirtbike]

You have heard now ! Pump gas is mixed with ethanol which is a good thing for the environment and oil consumtion globally. I hope that pump gas will be mixed 80% ethanol and 20% mineral derived ordinary gasoline in the near future. The only problem is fiber-glass tanks regardless of the fiber has been bound by polyester or epoxy resin. There are some products that should solve this but it seems to be a bigger problem than most expected. I would say race gas, not stored in the tank between rides.

 

[Dwight Rudder]

Sorry, Dirtbike, but they must tell you if you are using Gasohol. DON'T DO IT !  Gasohol will not mix with most synthetic or petroleum 2 stroke oil. It will mix with Castor based oil.
Not all gas is mixed with 10% alcohol. If it is it must be noted on the pump.
Cher'o,
Dwight

Dwight Rudder
7 time ISDT / E medalist
7 time National Enduro Class Champion.

[dirtbike]

At least here in sweden we shouldn't use 96 or 98 octane fuel for premix since the ethanol doesn't mix well with the oil. We must run 95 octane. There is no warning or other label stating so though. I just assumed that you had the same problem in US since boat builders (that I know of) reports of the very same problems in US.

It's correct that not all gas is mixed but that's up to the gas company here and varies over time at one certain pump station.

I don't know about Gasohol, Im'm not even aware of if there is such a thing in europe.
Sounds like Ethanol to me.

 

[fzrr750]

Ok, guys. I too have a lot of bikes with plastic and 'glass tanks and have owned them all for years. I never had a 'glass tank 'rot' from pump or race gas. I had a plastic one yellow from age before but it still works great!!
 One thing I do is drain the tanks if I am not using the bikes for awhile. Another thing I do is us a product called Stabil (I think that is spelled right)which helps to keep the gas from going bad. I have been using it for several years and it has not harmed my tanks or the mixture of race gas I use either. I use it in my lawn equipment also and it works great. You people in real cold weather states know about cold and 'glass I am sure.
 I never had one of my old Penton 'glass tanks go bad and none of my old race buddies had any problems with theirs except for crashing one and messing up a tank. So if the tank has gas in it and you let it sit for awhile use some Stabil in it. This also cleans out the carbs as I never had to clean out a carb when the bike sits up for awhile. Make sure you run the bike and shut it off with gas in the carb with Stabil in the tank if you are going to let it sit for a short period. If yo are going to let it sit for a lot longer then you can run the bike and turn off the gas and let the carb run empty then spray some WD40 in the carb. I love nothing more than being able to come out to my garage and fire up a bike with one or two kicks after the bike has been sitting for awhile. This is a good feeling. WD40 is good for that 'glass tank after it is drained and will be sitting for awhile also by the way!!
 I hope this helps out somebody out there. I have ' Been there done that' as the expression goes.

  Ride hard,fast and safe, dudes!!
      Ed T.  Sunshine Florida Rider.

71 Suzuki TM400,72 Suzuki TS400 Desert racer,76 Suzuki RM250,74 Yamaha MX360,79 KTM 250MX, 87 Yamaha FZRR750 X-endurance racer #112.

[rickf22]

It happened to me. Twice, beore I figured it out. On a 73 Maico I'd had since 1974. It was dormant for 20 years. In 1999 I fired it up. Use pump-super and Maxima. Over the course of 5 months or so I noticed the tank was not hard anymore. It was pliable. It finally got so soft I would not use it. I thought it was the Maxima. I got another 'glass tank. Used a different oil. Noticed immediately that the inside of the tank got slimy. I drained it after each use. Did some asking around and was told it was the modern gas doing it. I switched to a plastic tank. I also switched to race gas, have not tried the race gas in the glass tank, but I suspect it would be okay cuz I see a lot of glass tanks at the vintage mx.
Back in the 70's every one used polyester resins. Epoxy resins don't seem to have the same problem, but are quite a bit mor expensive, so not likely to be used in production environments.

Fibreglass was never a good choice for fuel tanks anyway. It was just the most economical lightweight approach at the time. Plastic is better, even better than metal. E.g. look at US Coast Guard ratings for fuel tanks. Plastic rates better than all the metals. Aluminum is okay for gasoline, but not diesel. Monel is good (anyone want a bronze fuel tank on their cycle?) Black iron rates well too, but must be welded "correctly". Sorry about the digression.

 

[dirtbike]

Infact I'll think that epoxy resin is even worse. The epoxy resin is far superior than polyester, for example It's watertight. Tell that to boat owners. All boats are made from Polyester. Back in the 70's there was no epoxy available in applications like this. Only polyester that has been around for 40 years now. One important thing. There where and are numerous polyster resin manufacturers and one can expect the differences between brands to be huge. Like others say, they have never had a problem on the Penton machines and that can very well be true. Other bikes can be eaten before ones eyes.

Just one thing, epoxy resin is sensitive too and cannot cope with the modern gas.