My S2R 800

[Darkness]

Drain the old petrol and let the tank "breath" in a warm dry place (That now smells of petrol) and it should lose water out of the plastic, returning to a more normal shape.

There are recommendations that you use ethanol free petrol to avoid this, but that's less easy for you as you are in Devon.

The Norton Owners Club included the following comment on its website last year:

'Esso super unleaded petrol (Synergy Supreme+ Unleaded 97) is ethanol free (except in Devon, Cornwall, the Teesside area and Scotland) and we have no current intention to add ethanol to Synergy Supreme+ in other areas of the UK.

We would therefore advise anyone who has concerns about the presence of ethanol in petrol to use Synergy Supreme+ - providing they do not fill up in Devon or Cornwall, the Teesside area or Scotland.'

[Blah blah]

Originally Posted by Darkness

but that's less easy for you as you are in Devon.

Even less easy as it'd take over an hour just to get to Devon !!

Anyway, back to the bike... I went to drain the tank but it seems to have swelled up further and I can't even get the catch off now, bit peeved that this is the first time I've had this happen but it doesn't appear to an uncommon problem so I'll chalk it down to Ducati 'character'.

Living in Cornwall, damp is a problem so we ventilate and use dehumidifiers and given that I was running out out time I checked the drain hose to find it was kinked and several drips of water fell out. As the drain hose is connected to the tank vent (in a roundabout way) I have attached a small 69p dehumidifier to the hose, taped over the petrol cap and I'm going to see what happens. If nothing happens then it's cost less than a quid, but I just need it to do a bit so I can get the tank off to drain the fugger.

We'll see.

In happier news, new tyres fitted, Michelin Pilot Power 2ct, not the newest or probably the stickiest out there but I like how they feel (apart from when you've got 2 brand new ones on greasy roads )

[jonzi]

Originally Posted by Blah blah

... so I can get the tank off to drain the fugger...

A metre or two of hose pipe, stick it in the tank, ready with a container to catch the petrol, blow hard in to the hose pipe, then a quick suck, and then quickly put the blowly end in to the container.

Shouldn't drink any of the petrol that way.

I am sure BLUNT has a better way of doing it, but I haven't seen him for a while.

[Mr Gazza]

Blah Blah know all about siphoning Monster tanks and doesn't seem to miss an opportunity to post pictures of an example of that going on in his home County! Nuff said!

De-humidifier sounds like a neat idea, but taping up the cap sounds wrong. Surely it needs to breath for the de-humidifier to work?.. It certainly needs to breath to run the engine.

I stitch up little cotton bags full of Silica Gel and keep them in my tool box and anywhere else, where stuff might tend to go rusty.
Silica Gel attracts and absorbs moisture. Maybe a bag of that in the tank on a string, once you can get rid of the petrol.
Don't know if it would work, but it might help?