Sock tank bubbling

For the tanks that were coming to me, I was going to take them to Dream Machine on behalf of Tab, as I have a good relationship with them ie they do a lot of work for me, and DM were going to liase with the owners directly.

Stu Bodycote said:

For the tanks that were coming to me, I was going to take them to Dream Machine on behalf of Tab, as I have a good relationship with them ie they do a lot of work for me, and DM were going to liase with the owners directly.

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Sounds like you must have my tank then. Richard let me know DM has the tank and will be reaching out soon.

I dropped three off with DM yesterday.
My poor little car....I need a van

On a related topic, can anyone tell me which plastic Acerbis used for the 961 tanks? I know Acerbis has used polyurethane for most of their dirt bike tanks, and I've seem references to the tanks they made for Ducati as being a form of nylon, and a reference somewhere here on the forum to the 961 tanks being ABS. Thanks in advance if anyone knows for sure.

Ken

Hi Ken,

There is a tank for sale on EBay U.K. and luckily they show a picture of the underneath. Apparently PA is Polyamide, which as far as I can tell is the same as Nylon. It's a 2014 tank, so I wonder if they still use the same plastic?

cliffa said:

Hi Ken,

There is a tank for sale on EBay U.K. and luckily they show a picture of the underneath. Apparently PA is Polyamide, which as far as I can tell is the same as Nylon. It's a 2014 tank, so I wonder if they still use the same plastic?

View attachment 112895

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Thanks for that, cliffa. I'm embarrassed to say that I never thought of looking at the bottom of my tank. And I have a new one in a box, so it would be pretty easy. Don't know what year it was made, but I'll take a look at it and see what it says.

Ken

lcrken said:

Thanks for that, cliffa. I'm embarrassed to say that I never thought of looking at the bottom of my tank. And I have a new one in a box, so it would be pretty easy. Don't know what year it was made, but I'll take a look at it and see what it says.

Ken

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Tells you when it was made, as per bottom right of that image

So we at least know that the material is a polyamide (Nylon) of some spec. Most likely seems to be PA 6 (Nylon 6). I have seen some references to that being the material used in Ducati tanks. But there are a lot of other PA grades besides 6, so it is possible that the Norton tanks were a different formulation. In any case, the Norton tanks seem to have the same problem as the Ducati tanks in terms of their tendency to absorb water, one of the principle drawbacks to most of the PA compositions. I haven't had any problems yet with my 961 tank, but I did have to replace the tank on my KTM 690 Duke, which also has a Nylon tank, when it swelled so much that the fuel filler leaked, and the body parts that bolt to the tank no longer fit. I've seen some reference to Ducati switching to a different formula PA after all the initial problems they had, but no real details.

Ken

Stu Bodycote said:

Tells you when it was made, as per bottom right of that image

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Thanks, Stu. I just checked the new tank I bought on eBay a while back. The markings on the bottom look very much like the one cliffa posted above, except that the date stamp is for 2017. It still has the same PA mark.

Ken

lcrken said:

Thanks, Stu. I just checked the new tank I bought on eBay a while back. The markings on the bottom look very much like the one cliffa posted above, except that the date stamp is for 2017. It still has the same PA mark.

Ken

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Can’t remember where I got the information from but I’m sure the 961 tank was designed for 8% ethanol.

My tank is blistering too AND leaked. I repaired the leak with a plastic fuel tank repair kit. Has not leaked in three years now.