It sprang a leak

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spiderwheels
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It sprang a leak

#1 Post by spiderwheels » Sat Aug 19, 2017 10:12 pm

2 weeks after fitting I found fuel seeping through the join where the base is glued in. I dug out Richard's phone number and said he'd be happy to fix it. It's now back in place. What a nice bloke!
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#2 Post by D-Rider » Sun Aug 20, 2017 9:04 pm

He is indeed.
“Scientists investigate that which already is. Engineers create that which has never been.”
-- Albert Einstein

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Viking
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#3 Post by Viking » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:13 am

As a word of advice for people in hot climates... (That would be FalcoPops and myself, more than likely.)

Don't tighten the front bracket mounting bolts (where the bracket bolts onto the frame, up near the steering head) as you may (will?) crack the carbon fibre when the tank expands in the heat.

I know have to figure out how to seal a very small crack. I know roughly where it is, but haven't yet pulled the tank off to try and find it.
It's the V-twin thing. There's just something about it that inline-4s don't have at all, and V-4s don't have enough of.

spiderwheels
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#4 Post by spiderwheels » Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:36 pm

Viking wrote:As a word of advice for people in hot climates... (That would be FalcoPops and myself, more than likely.)

Don't tighten the front bracket mounting bolts (where the bracket bolts onto the frame, up near the steering head) as you may (will?) crack the carbon fibre when the tank expands in the heat.

I know have to figure out how to seal a very small crack. I know roughly where it is, but haven't yet pulled the tank off to try and find it.
A few months ago my tank sprang a leak from the other side of the base plate and was dripping on to the garage floor.

When I took it off I noticed the lacquer above the front bracket had yellowed and bubbled up suggesting it was also leaking at the front in the same way as Viking's tank.

Richard fix it for me again - I took it in person this time. He dribbled some black carbon glue into the bolt holes at the front which sealed that end and patched up the base plate.

I found the bolt holes at the front of the tank weren't quite in line with the bolt holes in the bracket which will be exerting some lateral pressure on the fixings at the front of the tank. I imagine that only gets worse if there is some heat expansion so it might be a good idea to make the holes in the bracket bigger.
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#5 Post by mangocrazy » Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:33 pm

I'm in the middle of re-profiling the front tank mounting bracket so that it has more scope for adjustment. I think I'll also look into the possibility of making the mount a sliding fit so that the rubber mount can move fore and aft in the bracket,

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#6 Post by Viking » Fri Mar 01, 2019 7:44 am

When you do get it sorted, I'd love to buy one...
It's the V-twin thing. There's just something about it that inline-4s don't have at all, and V-4s don't have enough of.

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#7 Post by mangocrazy » Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:14 pm

I'm 're-purposing' (i.e. bodging) my existing one. I got my local ace welder to add metal in various parts, it's now just down to me to grind the metal to the shape I want. I'll take a photo of the standard bracket and the bracket after weld has been added and post it up.

Eventually you might see the finished article... :smt003

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