Ducati Monster Forum

Hattar is offering a service to coat the inside of the plastic tanks to keep them from expanding.  They say it is a two coat system with a lifetime guarantee.  They also say they have done a bunch of tanks over the last 1-1/2 years and never had a single comeback.  It apparently is a 3M product, not Caswell, and leaves a silver metallic finish inside the tank.

I know nothing of their coating, or who they send it out to for the application.  I don't have any idea what the lifetime warranty really means, as all I will get back is a service receipt saying they coated the inside of the tank, and as it comes from Hattar, I suppose they are going to stand behind it.

I am letting them do it because it is cost prohibitive to send it to this guy in LA who has had success with the Caswell process.  Also, it is really just to have a dealership to go back to if there is a problem.  

Has anyone had Hattar coat their tank, and if so, are you happy with the results (i.e., how long ago and has it expanded since)?

<watching with bated breath, as I'm about to pull/drain my tank>

 [popcorn]

What's the cost and turnaround time?

Depends on the size of the tank, but for my Sport Classic, around $235.  Turn around time is supposed to be in the 2-4 week range.

I should note that I gave them a brand new tank which has never seen gasoline in it.  It is tank #4 from Ducati.   [roll]  This time I decided to coat it first, before putting it on the bike.  I still have the bloated tank #3 on my bike, enabling me to continue using it.

I see you have a SF.  My friend had Hattar coat his SF tank and it hasn't expanded yet after about five months.  If you are having issues with your SF tank, hopefully you can get a replacement tank and then seal it like I am doing.

My 848 tank is starting to warp.  >:(
Monroe's says they can prolly get me a new tank but were not sure about coatings. They have been replacing many tanks free.

We'll see.   :P

Yeah, the streetfighter tank got replaced by Hattar a few months back. It was bulging out at the sides - not super dramatic, but noticeable. I sent a couple of photos to Hattar, they got it authorized by Ducati, and when the tank came in it was about an hour to swap out. No biggie.

It does seem though that Ducati should have figured out what's going on and switched to a different plastic, or just do aluminum. It must be costing them quite a bit.

Wait so new tank same deal? Nothing different? How long is that supposed to last?
Then what? Is there a tank waiting at each tune up? We're moving to disposable parts ?  [cheeky]

You know the cool thing is the free shiny pant again. So dang hard to keep the tank perfect.

Had my new S4Rs tank (never seen gas, was a warranty replacement) coated at Hattar last summer and have no issues.. BUT it can take a while for this problem to rear it's head..

Interesting note: Someone on the multistrada.net forums decided to drain his expanded tank, let it sit dry for a few weeks and sure enough it contracted.. Chemistry is cool.  [beer]

I wish they'd just bite the bullet and replace the plastic tanks on superbikes with the aluminum model off the 1198sp. They're better...and even cheaper. But of course, Ducati won't do that. It'd probably take a class action suit to get them to do the logical thing here :)

Coupla things:

1)  There is a class action suit against Ducati based on the plastic tanks.

2)  They can't replace the plastic tanks with something different without going through the entire homologation process.  That's time consuming and incredibly expensive.  That's not to say that they can't do it, but it's not nearly as easy as it sounds.

I don't care. I want my make the beast with two backsing aluminum tank. I'm entitled to it...because I'm an American damnit! ;D

Me too. I want an aluminum tank because my steel one warped after it fell over.  No doubt the gas weakened it, and now it has a big inward bulge on the left side.

I had mine replaced by warranty. But it took 2+ months to apparently get it straight from Italy. [roll] And it was just a straight replacement of the original with a new one, so I'm not counting on the problem going away in the future.

BTW, does anyone know if the plastic tank has been a problem anywhere else besides the U.S.? And if the U.S. only, does the blame rest solely on the formula used in our gas?

Magic 8ball says definitely maybe.  Supposedly due to the amount of Ethanol in our gas odd things happen. Aside from the tanks on Ducatis, BMW has problems with the tanks on their F800GS cracking open (non existent or vastly reduced rate of failure outside the US).

That's a failure in the tank's engineering, not in the gas. Next they'll be blaming the California sunshine. And it's a perfect reason for them to start giving us aluminum tanks again ;D

IF there were no ethanol in our gasoline, it wouldn't be an issue.  The nylon material used absorbs both the ethanol and water.   I have to assume they knew about the water absorption, or at least Acerbis knew as both are clearly stated on the materials sheets on the BASF website.  The ethanol is different as they and Ducati are Italian companies and probably tested using Italian gasoline= no ethanol.

Either way, any coating that adheres to nylon should work.

There's ethanol (and other stuff) in US gasoline. Ducati and others know that and knew it when they designed the tanks. But a plastic/nylon/flubber tank can't be repaired, and might result in more aftermarket sales for the manufacturer so their incentives are a bit warped. Again, the solution is an aluminum tank...it may not be as good for Ducati's bottom line, but it's the right engineering solution here. Hell, I'll even take one with that 1198SP racing stripe [thumbsup]

i'm not sure i see your logic given they've replaced so many, most are out of warranty too.  someone is paying for those replaced tanks. 

that being said, i would like an Alu tank too, but it isn't going to happen.

I think they went to the plastic tank thinking that it'd be resistant to minor spills. And the upside was there: fewer tanks that were actually damaged could be repaired, leading to aftermarket sales. But it backfired when the tanks started warping, people filed a class action suit, and regulatory bodies got involved. It's just sad that they're replacing the defective tanks with more of the same defective tanks.

actually the manufacturing cost of a rotomold tank is cheaper.  That's the main reason. 

I suspected that was part of it. Either way, they went for cheap/more sales and burned the public. And now they want to do the wrong thing all over again. It's just sad.

Slower than,

Hows that 3m coating working for you? I saw your blog and it looks pretty solid. Plannin on having mine done in the colder months when my monster goes into hybernation. Just checkin if anyone else had experience with it other than you.

Can someone get me a contact name at Hattar?

I have a 3M engineer who is willing to run some tanks for testing and he wanted to know which version of the ScotchKote they are using -- there are 4 or 5 of them.

PM Michael Moore.  He's buddies with everyone over there.  He likely put you in contact with Adeeb.

Did anyone figure out what they are using?

Is this something that we can do ourselves?

I just put in a request for a new tank, and we shall see.
But if I do get one, I would love to have this coating put on.

They don't do it in shop, they send the tank out and they are using the 3m ScotchKote.

They told me the place isn't even in California since Cali has banned the use of the coating due to VOC.

The coating probably works fine, the issue is prep. 

The settlement from Ducati showed a tank with the 3m coating peeling -- consistent with a coating applied over a dirty tank.

if you have someone else do your tank, I recommend you do the cleaning yourself -- drain, dry, rinse with solvent (dawn or something that can cut petroleum),rinse with water, dry, rinse repeat.... 

the more you rinse and dry, the better you will get adhesion