Fuel tank question.

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Fuel tank question.

Author	Message
Stevezx7r	Stevezx7r posted 10 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 6, Visits: 52	Hi all, I've been having a look on the site at the various kits etc but before I get any further I have a quick question. I'm thinking of making a petrol tank for my bike - what would I need to do for this? I'm assuming I'll need some sort of iner tank or can fuel mix with carbon safely? Has anyone else gone this route before? Thanks in advance!
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	You need a special coating on the inside to be able to handle the fuels.
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Stevezx7r	Stevezx7r posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 6, Visits: 52	Any idea what this coating is called? I suppose it'll have to be ethanol proof due to the amount they put in petrol these days....Mine is a plastic tank anyway and has a couple of bubbles due to this and my brother has an Aprilia and his tank has swolen a lot, so much so that he can barely fit his seat and the front of the tank almost touches the headstock.
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Rich (Staff)	Rich (Staff) posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 167, Visits: 4.6K	Hi Steve, to quote Warren at Easy Composites Most epoxies have a good chemical resistance to petrol. The problem is the ethanol within the petrol that slowly softens and degrades the resins. This is especially the case with some bikes using composite tanks as the ethanol content has increased significantly in recent years meaning tanks that were fine are now causing problems on the bikes. You need an ethanol resistant tank liner to use on your tank so it can be used with modern fuels. You need to look at specific tank lining phenolnovolac epoxies which are expensive and rare. The only one I’ve hear mentionedis GTS 1750 Tank Sealer which cropped up on the forum once.
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Stevezx7r	Stevezx7r posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 6, Visits: 52	Hmm, could be a PITA to source. Maybe a small Ali inner tank with a carbon dummy tank around that....Loose out on capacity though.
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Shaneer22	Shaneer22 posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 156, Visits: 14K	Ethanol is the culprit,you can seal it with after you made the tank,using peel ply will give you a good surface to bond,also pst cure your tank,vylonester resin offer good heat resistance.
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	You are in Europe, so the stuff you need is definitely available. Not sure what sort of quantities you would have to buy, but I know of a few people making carbon fuel tanks for various motorbikes over there. I'd recommend heading over to compositescentral.com and checking out the threads on this subject there, it seems to have been discussed in more detail than on this forum. Perhaps even message the user morepower, as I've seen he is quite happy to divulge some of his secrets (he's on here to, so he might be lurking...). He uses a phenol novolac to seal his tanks, so you could ask him where he is sourcing it etc. Alchemie is the company that springs to mind, but it's been awhile since I read his thread so I may be wrong.
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*VVS*	*VVS* posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Moderators Posts: 226, Visits: 334	Can I ask why you want to build a tank from CF, is it for looks or to lighten the bike. Its only my personal opinion so what I know but I wouldn't want to crash a bike that had a tank made from CF, steel and aluminum tanks will deform and are very resilient to an off. if you were under the bike and the tank split you'd be at risk of setting yourself alight, very nasty.
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kidpaint	kidpaint posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 99, Visits: 676	Kreem fuel tank liner is what myself and people I know use to coat our steel tanks. Just pour it in and slosh the tank around like the instructions say. I would think this would work with composites also. relatively cheap and easy to find at most bike shops or online
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	VVS (12/09/2015) Can I ask why you want to build a tank from CF, is it for looks or to lighten the bike. Its only my personal opinion so what I know but I wouldn't want to crash a bike that had a tank made from CF, steel and aluminum tanks will deform and are very resilient to an off. if you were under the bike and the tank split you'd be at risk of setting yourself alight, very nasty. This is always my thought regarding carbon fuel tanks. At the very least I'd be using carbon on the outer layer and then bulking the laminate with a good amount of aramid or diolen or something similar to hold the thing together as best as possible in the event of an off.
	Reply Like 2