I’ve been aware of the leak for a while now, but tracking it down precisely has been tricky. However it appears to be coming from the welds of the bracket that holds the tank onto the frame at the rear, so I think I need someone who can weld all the seams up for me.

Anybody know of someone with that sort of skill?
Farnborough, Hants area would be that starting point.

You could try a liner kit (POR15)- Frosts do them. I’ve done a couple of tanks with good results. Thorough cleaning and drying is the key. Brazing is tricky if there’s any internal rusting as you can’t grind off the braze marks to get a nice finish.

HTH

My local bike shop used some liquid metal stuff apparently to sort out the tank on my old bike. Seemed to do the job, though I did sell the bike soon after that so don’t know how the repair held up.

I’m not keen on putting any gunk inside the tank, with a fuel injection pump and electronic fuel sender in there. That will probably cause more harm than good.

I reckon a small neat weld on the outside will cure it and brace the bracket better at the same time

I have just texted a friend in Farnborough who is a very good fabricator and serial motorcycle owner. He has done this before. I await his man from Del Monte style reply.

PS I am local too.

Jef, that might be just the ticket, email in profile if you want to keep it private 🙂

Although looking at it again, I’m not 100% sure exactly where it’s leaking from…

I am sure he would be happy to take a look, nothing ventured an all that. His workplace is noisy so I may not get a reply until later. I will be in touch.

Be flipping careful welding a tank – you need to be 110% certain that is free of any fuel residue, because even the tiniest amount can cause an explosion. Seen it happen.

Is there no chance that you can remove the fuel pump and sender, then do it with a liner kit?

Ring and ask for Grubby at MTC motorcycles in Reading… tell him you’re my mate if you like, he’ll sort you right out 🙂

Oh, I can get the fuel pump out easily enough. Done it before. Not sure about the sender through….

Ring and ask for Grubby at MTC motorcycles in Reading…

Gotta be a wind up! 😉

If its a crack related to the bracket weld then the sealant type fix may eventually fail in the same place – best get it properly fixed.

Maybe cheaper just to get a new/used tank?

What’s the bike?

PeterPoddy – Member
Oh, I can get the fuel pump out easily enough. Done it before. Not sure about the sender through….

Ring and ask for Grubby at MTC motorcycles in Reading…

Gotta be a wind up!

No mate, Ring and ask for Mark, the boss then…. however everyone knows him as Grubby.

Maybe cheaper just to get a new/used tank?

What’s the bike?

Ducati ST3S/ABS in Senna Grey.
Only about 160 ST3’s were ever registered in the UK and only the S/ABS model came in grey (And red) Out of that 160 bikes, only around 60 are S/ABS models, so I’d say there’s no more than 30 in the UK. I’ve not seen one for sale since we bought ours about 18 months ago.
They are as rare as rocking horse poop, if not rarer. Used tank? Not a chance.

If its a crack related to the bracket weld then the sealant type fix may eventually fail in the same place – best get it properly fixed.

My feelings exactly.

Looks like the main man Jef has got some news for me though 🙂

Be careful buying a sealer kit as lot of them are not resistant to ethanol and will start to disolve when you put petrol back in. The fuel companies have been increasing the amount of ethanol in petrol recently and it’s starting to affect tanks built previous to this.

I have a carbon tank on mine and it started leaking last year due to the bond resin disolving. The only ethanol resistance kit I could find was GTS 1750 by Caswell. http://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/news/22231//Ethanol_-_Part_Two:_The_Remedies

No sealer will be used. Jef took me round to see his mate who seems to know what he’s talking about and how to weld to a high standard. We think we can see a small crack in one of the spot welds that holds the tank bracket on, so he’s going to strip some paint (this area isn’t visible with the seat back on) and re weld the bracket all the way round from the outside which will both strengthen it and seal the leak. God I love STW. 🙂