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Author Topic: Gas Tank Lining issues and service  (Read 1407 times)

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Twolanerider

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Gas Tank Lining issues and service
« on: July 09, 2018, 06:53:35 PM »

Am more than a little pleased today.  Late fall or early winter (ish) was doing some work to the old Road Glide.  While inside the fuel tank for the first time in probably 25,000 miles I found the lining coming off.  Was a significant mess. 

A local and talented painter could have painted a new tank and airbrushed on the tank sides what was originally decal under the clear.  Would have been Freaking expensive (capital F) expensive.  Tank unavailable from the manufacturer for a long time.  Even had it been the option would have been freaking expensive.  No way I could (or at least would try) any of the various lining options for home-brew.  No faith I could get the old lining out completely without ruining the original paint and, quite frankly, don't trust the home-brew lining kits long term even on new tanks.

What used to be a somewhat common service it now seems is almost a lost art.  Found two companies that seemed legit and experienced.  Went with an outfit called GTL Advantage in North Hollywood, CA.  On the phone the guy would talk and explain as long as you needed and made a good professional first impression.  Someone locally had used them once a few years ago also (didn't hurt).

In the interim I moved, had a screwed up garage space for awhile, but today got around to swapping the tanks.  It was gone perhaps three weeks.  Sending over the winter perhaps made a difference there.  It came back even more well packaged then when I sent it.  More importantly the outside and its original paint is flawless and the inside is gorgeous.

The material used comes from the pristine oils off the beautiful round rear ends of willing BSRs (probably not but they're not giving all the details, an epoxy of some kind).  Whatever it is it looks great.  They warrant the new lining forever.  According to their online gallery they can restore incredible rusted messes or badly failed linings.  Art as well as science.

So just in case someone finds the inside lining of their fuel tank to be inside the tank but, also, no longer lining the tank itself there is a solution that's at least as good, if not better, than buying a new tank.  it was explained to me that ethanol in fuels is hard on tank linings.  Especially on old bikes that never knew about ethanol fuels.  Hyperbole on ethanol or not mine was a mess and now it's not.  Should someone run in to this issue on their bike the link below is one vendor for consideration I'm very pleased with:

http://www.gastanklining.com

The pic is the newly lined interior.  Split image right and left.  Looks great and feels hard.  Hopefully it holds up as well as it looks initially.
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flhse

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Re: Gas Tank Lining issues and service
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2018, 09:38:00 AM »

Just wait until E15 starts getting put inside these tanks.  I suspect a lot of folks if they would look will find the same issue as you have, my 2004 has a fair amount of the coating (believe it is the E-coat) lifting from the metal.  Ethanol has not been our friend.
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longlast

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Re: Gas Tank Lining issues and service
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2018, 10:14:51 AM »

Good food for thought, how often dose one think to inspect the innards of the tank.
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Rimjam

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Re: Gas Tank Lining issues and service
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2018, 11:38:21 AM »

And the cost, including shipping, was...................
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Twolanerider

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Re: Gas Tank Lining issues and service
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2018, 11:53:55 AM »

And the cost, including shipping, was...................


The costs can vary depending on services required.  They do a good job of spelling it out on their website though.  The gent I spoke with at no time tried to oversell anything either.   I spent about $500.

That's an expensive repair.  But buying a new primed bare tank and getting it painted to match the original graphics would've totaled close to four times that.  Can't buy them new but, when you could, the last MSRP was over 2.5 times that cost.

Fortunately I had a spare tank.  It wasn't a perfect example (which is why the original went back on).  It was something I picked up cheap on eBay several years ago.  The graphics didn't get covered by the clear and the decals are rolling up on the bottom on both sides.  No one (but me) notices and it's hard to see if you're more than 5 feet away.  But it was a good piece to keep the bike on the road and looking normal while the original tank was getting fixed.
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Twolanerider

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    • CVO1: 2000 Triple Red Screamin' Eagle Road Glide
    • CVO2: 2002 Candy Brandywine Screamin' Eagle Road King
    • CVO3: 1999 Arresting Red FXR2
Re: Gas Tank Lining issues and service
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2018, 12:00:28 PM »

Just wait until E15 starts getting put inside these tanks.  I suspect a lot of folks if they would look will find the same issue as you have, my 2004 has a fair amount of the coating (believe it is the E-coat) lifting from the metal.  Ethanol has not been our friend.


This one was bad Brad.  Not just bubbled up spots but loose pieces floating around.  Probably 25% of the tank's lining was loose or off completely.  When the previously unused spare tank I'd been using came off for this tank's re-installation the spare tank already had two spots the diameter of a half dollar that were bubbled up.

Of course its easier to visualize the Road Glide or Electra Glide tanks with their big hole in the top.  I had the FXR's tank off and changed the petcock a few months ago.  As best could be seen I was surprised that it was very clean inside.  Have not been inside the Road King's tank since the bike was assembled.  Am strongly considering, however, getting one of the really cheap cell phone attachment borescopes and using it as a sacrificial tool to look around inside long enough to really know what's going on in both the Road King and FXR tanks.
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