Sprint Plastic Fuel Tank

Short answer is no.
There are plenty of messages about it on the various forums.

 

You can line your tank.

 

The tank on my 05 is perfect. I dump injector cleaner in with a full tank every 6 months or so, but otherwise, just petrol goes in the tank. I thought the only reason to drain the tank & flush with cleaners is to remove rusting from the inside, which the plastic tank mitigates?? Or am I not quite understanding something?
The only annoying thing is my magnetic tank bag has been relegate to being a cargo-netted tailpack.

 

These tanks expand when out of their location in the frame, without any other cause required.

 

Hi, you say line your tank, what do you mean pal, cheers

 

Stolen from Triumph Rat and @D'Ecosse


The bubbles in my case were only around the bottom edge and actually in the 'filler' material that covers the exterior of the tank; once sanded/filled/sanded it was ready for paint and have had zero problems with any recurrence.

1. Caswell kit, used whole quantity - 1/2 will get nowhere near covering it and even the full can is marginally just enough
There is a LOT of surface area in that tank.

2/3. Remove the filler assembly, the pump assembly and the Fuel Level Sensor.
I masked the flller opening up, put a rubber bung in the sensor opening (on inside to protect the threads) and cut a cardboard 'cover' for the pump opening. But first mask off the sealing face of the pump opening regardless of fact you will be fitting the 'cover'
It's much easier to use the pump plate opening to pour the epoxy in, which is not only more accessible to get it in, it also lets you see what you're doing as you swirl it around - and then just fit that 'cover' when you have it almost all done so you can get it up to the edge all around the pump opening.

Preparation is the key - ensuring that the tank is absolutely clean inside.
I used soapy water scrubbing it with Scotchbrite scouring pad then rinsed several times, then rinsed with alcohol to remove any trace of water (You can use a heat-gun or hairdryer to blow warm air in/around the inside of the tank) - let it dry at least overnight.
Keep the product indoors at room temp for at least a day before you plan to do the job - it is EXTREMELY viscous when cold and is hard to mix and flow well. If it's cold in your garage overnight already, I would consider to have your tank inside and actually do the job in the house.
Mix THOROUGHLY - it is really important that you scrape all the edges of the vessel while blending to ensure there is no unmixed filler in the product.
Remember when flowing it, on that gen of tank you need to get all the way up into that area in the front where the mounts are.
I actually used the red kit - makes it really easy to see your coverage.

When it has partially cured (check the material left in your vessel) then remove the cover and trim around the edge of the pump plate opening with a Utility knife - it should cut with the blade when it is 'set' but still a little soft vs waiting till it completely hardened.


https://www.triumphrat.net/threads/help-sealing-a-plastic-gas-tank.941150/

 

I have a plastic tank on the 2010 Husaberg and other than slight vapour migration it's no bother. It looks and feels like a really dense polythene type plastic. What type is the Triumph tank?

 

My 05 plastic tank is also fine. I've only had it for almost a year, mostly in lockdown. I've added Redex and now fuel stabiliser.

 

Mine is also in perfect shape. I thing the way the bike was stored is very important a bike stored in a dark garage rather than outside will probably age in a better way?

 

Just noticed this:
http://deformedfueltanks.com/
This problem is not restricted to Triumph. The article focuses on Ducati, but mentions Triumph. It strengthens the arguments that say that Triumph should sort it out though.

 

I found this also:
https://www.classlawgroup.com/docs/...granting-final-settlement-approval.pdf?x76150
I’m not sure if it is exactly the same case, but Ducati had to provide and fit replacement tanks and pay nearly $1m in costs.
I guess the Triumph tanks have the same issue.

 

By the way, I am looking at getting a Sprint GT. Does anyone know if any of these ever had a plastic tank? I want to avoid them if so!

 

I'm not sure the GT came with the plastic tank. I think they all came with a steel tank.
The ST came with steel tank from 2008. The GT was sold in 2010.

 

As an aside, the USA seem to have much better consumer protection when vehicles are involved. I have a 2011 E350 diesel Mercedes. The OM642 engine fitted has a known fault with poor quality seals used in the oil cooler. To shorten warm-up times, the oil cooler assembly is buried deep in the V of the engine. The seals fail at around 80,000 miles (as mine did) and require stripping most of the engine to replace (a £1000 job). In the USA, Mercedes were made to replace the seals free of charge, but not here. I even wrote to Ferdinand Piech and told him what a piece of sh*t his engine was. Anyway, I now woudl never buy another Mercedes.

ps. My Sprint GT has a steel tank - think all GTs do.

pps look after your plastic tank by sticking to super grade (in UK) as this will have the least ethanol, especially as we are switching to E10 (10% ethanol).

 

Thanks for that Hubaxe & Aiden.
I was looking at getting a GT last Autumn, but with all the restrictions, I left it until the Spring (also allowed me to save a bit more!) So, the current plan is to buy one in April.
There don't seem to be that many of them about.
I certainly don't want to buy one from a certain firm in Macclesfield have read such awful stories about them.
Anyone know of the best place to look apart from Autotrader and MCN?