Ducati Monster Forum

Today i was in ducati showroom in thailand they had 6 new M796 and 8 hyperstradas in stock and all the monsters already had bulging , swelling tanks caused by Gasohol fuels , so bad the tanks were hard up against steering head and could not be opened ,,,,, amazed they let them out of the factory like that ,,,,2 of the hypers also had the symptoms ...and thats only on the half litre they put in at the factory for testing .

fortunately the new model 821/1200 monsters have metal tanks .
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I've had my tank replaced under warranty and went ahead and had it coated inside.  So far, no more swelling.

Where was this dealer and where are YOU? There are over 140 fuel blends in the U.S. BTW.

My 2011 is fed pure gas routinely and has only been exposed to E-10 when I had to pick up fuel enroute. Otherwise it sits with a full tank of E-0. No signs of swelling after 3 years. When I asked my dealer 2 years ago whether he'd ever replaced a tank on a "new" Monster, he said he'd only had to replace one, but that was due to a well nut pulling out. He's in rural VA.

Cali fuel smells REALLY awful. Not just "corn". No telling WHAT'S in that stuff!!!

Something wrong with this post?  Unless the 796 tanks are completely and entirely different in Thailand it's hard to understand how expansion could prevent the fillers from opening and etc etc.  Have to respect the OPs 700+ posts on this forum but there seems to be more to the story... perhaps a little further explanation might help?

Humidity can do that . . . Until recently we didn't have E in our fuels, now we have E-5 . . . before that, my tank would swell if left less than full . . . Had to have it either full or empty with filler cap open

so a plastic tank in a humid environemt will still absorb water from the air?  that's quite interesting, and not unexpected once you think about it in that light.  i guess any moisture carrying medium will get the moisture into the plastic/nylon and make them swell.

the bikes in the showroom  were Thai built models  ,, except for 2 panigalis which are imports from Italy and they have steel tanks ,

I am getting more and more reports in UK of problems on plastic tanked models on Ducati and KTM and currently UK has only 5% gasohol ,lots of Ducati owners unable to lift tanks due to swelling  jamming the tank up to steering head or main key switch ,



Now Ducati and KTM have ''claimed '' that tanks used since 2011 were no longer Pa6 but PEX  except in USA where PEX is banned by EPA  ,,,, clearly this is untrue  as Thai and european bikes are suffering ....Same issues  also with  motoGuzzis and BMW s  as all the tanks come from Acerbis ,,,,

5% is plenty. That's as high as we have in Seattle, and tanks swell here too (my RSV4 is on its second tank). I only use E0 now, but that's easy for a race bike. It would be tough for a street bike.

 My 09' 696 tank swelled so much that the tank was bulging out from between the tank panels. I'm in hot, dry, California 

Anyone have a picture of where it swells? I want to check mine.

In the US the 10% ethanol is not an exact science.  I *think* that may be why some people do not have problems while others do.  If the sign says 5% it might actually be 10 or 15% ethanol.  There would be some financial incentive to mix in as much water as the gas will hold...  I was reading about a guy that filled up and 5 miles down the road his bike started cutting out.  After getting it to the shop it turns out the gas he bought was mostly water.

Tank material formulation varies by country/region

PA6 is the standard in the USA due to epa shed testing.

Until someone posts a photo of the tank markings no way to know.

Maybe ducatiz would care to comment on this if he knows about blender pumps. Even the E-10 pumps say, "up to 10% ethanol". Who knows what you are REALLY getting in some places. Bear in mind also that a motorcycle is only getting 2 - 3 gallons, not 15! What did the car you follow select before you selected Premium?

Interesting interview on Fox Business of a woman from Yahoo Autos commenting on the AAA dire warning on E-15.

Warning Not to Use E15 Gas in Your Car: FOX Business (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceW9Nc1hVHU#)

...and the EPA has finally figured this out, despite all of their "testing", they admit that ethanol does cause engine damage - but I guess the politics are already in place and it doesn't appear to change anything as far as I can tell.

http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/blog/14-05-15/DC_Insider_What_happens_when_ethanol_blended_fuel_mixes_with_water.aspx (http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/blog/14-05-15/DC_Insider_What_happens_when_ethanol_blended_fuel_mixes_with_water.aspx)

The E10 gas you get in the US is pre-mixed.

I know of bona fide blender pumps in australia that mix it right before it goes into the hose at the pump.  You can select the % and pay accordingly.

In other words, fuel from stations with high volume and hope you don't get the bottom of the tank"  ??? You could get E-20 and water otherwise, no?

What about phase separation in E-10?

Most states audit randomly.  You can buy test kits... that's all I got

This is interesting - Michigan allows 2 inches of water in the underground storage tanks...  but this one had 5.5 inches.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/michigan-gas-station-pumps-fuel-grossly-contaminated-water/story?id=23004467 (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/michigan-gas-station-pumps-fuel-grossly-contaminated-water/story?id=23004467)

I imagine every state must have some legal water boundary thickness for their gas stations.  but if there is standing water wouldn't that mean the ethanol is always fully saturated?  Yikes.

edit:  I wonder if anyone randomly tests ethanol mixed gas -at the pump- for acetic acid?