Welcome, Ray. Unleaded petrol contains ethanol which can, and often does, damage 'plastic' fuel tanks. Ducati tanks were, I believe, particularly prone to this. Most super unleaded has no ethanol in it (there are some areas where it does unfortunately, so please check via t'interweb) so it may be worth using the 'posh stuff' instead of the ordinary rubbish to preserve your tank. Ethanol also absorbs water which can cause rust in steel tanks. Quite why we have this shite in our petrol is anyone's guess. Probably some 'green' issue or an EU diktat, or both!!
Ray, before you get the paint job done you want to seal the inside of your tank with Flowliner or something similar to protect it from bubbling caused by ethanol in the fuel. It’s advisable to leave the tank empty and open for a week or so before lining it, or do as I have and get another second hand tank to refurb and line.
Thanks people. I do use the more expensive fuel as it has to be better all round for engine and injection system. Lining the tank is a good point and might look into that as don’t want new paintwork to suffer the same fate. I like the yellow but it’s a tad bright for me whereas the new tiger orange is a nice colour although it sounds bright it’s not as bright as the yellow and think it will give it a modern edge for an old girl. I also havnt seen my model in that colour so be a bit different to all the others I’ve seen, iyl post some pics after it’s done. Cheaz ray
The bits are quite hard to come by so any parts yous guys want to sell would be appreciated. Cheaz again ray
Well guys. I found the fuel leak on my 1999 885 tiger. The factory crimp clips failed after many years well at least 1 of them did. So keep an eye on on them men, women aswell if there’s any out there riding the flag. You couldn’t actually see any fuel leaking at times until I give the pipe a wiggle and got squirted. Iam replacing all the clips with high pressure proper fuel line ones not jubilees as I don’t really rate them. Overall cheap fix but could of cost me dearly if I hadn’t spotted it and she had caught fire. Alls well that ends well tho. on another note. Iam looking for crash bars and bars to cover sump just incase I decide to take her off the beaten track. Any advice where I can purchase would be greatly appreciated. Links etc. It’s the tiger 885i 1999. I’ve seen stuff for the steamers but struggling to find for my model. Cheaz again ray