Alloy tanks

[shelly]

Is it worth spending time and money restoring the original glass fibre fuel tank on my RDS with modern fuels ?
Are new glass fibre tanks still susceptible to attack by the fuel ?
Tony Holt at Holtworks has said he is prepared to make a tank but would need an order of 10 or more to make it cost effective are there enough people interested.
Has anyone else had a tank made up by any other manufacturer ?

[John Wakefield]

Is it worth spending time and money restoring the original glass fibre fuel tank on my RDS with modern fuels ?
Are new glass fibre tanks still susceptible to attack by the fuel ?
Tony Holt at Holtworks has said he is prepared to make a tank but would need an order of 10 or more to make it cost effective are there enough people interested.
Has anyone else had a tank made up by any other manufacturer ?

The general consensus is that fibreglass tanks will always be susceptible to the ethanol content that is at present 5% in unleaded petrol but is being increased in the near future to 10% so things are not going to get better. If you read other forums where this subject comes up there are those who believe a new build fibreglass tank with modern materials will be resistant & likewise there are those who claim that certain sealants will do the job.
Personally if you are going to spend money on a new tank on a bike that is your pride & joy or valuable asset then alloy has to be the way forward even though a good one will cost a lot more than a fibreglass one.
One other solution that is worth considering is to have an alloy inner tank made to fit into the original fibreglass shell, after its been opened up & then sealed back together again after the metal tank has been installed. Although the cost of making the alloy inner tank may be cheaper ie it wont need to be finely detailed or polished, there is the cost of the work required to make it fit within the fibreglass one. This option may be the only one available if an alloy replica of the original tank cannot be made, & one wants to keep to the original shape.

[Colin Sparrow]

Bob Horton, who advertises in Leading Link, can make tanks as one-offs and has made an excellent replica tank in alloy for a Silverstone in the past.

Bespoke work like that can never be cheap, but he does a nice job.

[Kim275]

Good point Colin.........you generally get what you pay for

and don't forget......
Use Alloy for Racing and Fiberglass/Plastic for..Tupperware parties

[druid]

Tupperware parties

Admittedly they use prepreg carbon fibre and epoxy resins but I wouldn't consider F1 tubs and ancillaries suitable for Tupperware parties only. I know of guys successfully using remanufactured GRP tanks with modern petrol.
Providing the correct materials and procedures are used I think there is a place for the plastic tanks, I have personally seen injuries to GRP tanks where an alloy one wouldn't have survived.

Druid

[Rob]

There was a young lad with a stall at Telford who makes tanks. He had a Yamaha TZ ally tank he had made as a copy of the original and it looked very good. Cost was around £375.

I had a tank made by Pete Ketes but I am not sure if he has retired by now. It cost about £125 so that must have been a while ago.

With a Silverstone using 50/50 avgas/premium, there shouldn't be much ethanol in the tank. As it will be drained after every meeting, it won't be in there for long anyway. Let the tank air and you will get away with fibreglass. It seems to only be bikes with fuel permanently in the tank that have problems.

Always worth testing for ethanol in premium fuel before use because some supplies definitely contain the dreaded fluid. At least you then know where you stand.

[greeves246]

fuel

I researched it for my griffons and dcx and challengers and there is a racing fuel leaded with no ethanol but its expensive and cost £90 for 25 liters

might be a good avenue
#
better performance and les wear

[Sprocket]

Alloy Tank

Tony Holt made the Alloy tank on my Anglian , every time I look at it I'm impressed with the workmanship, if you can get him to do it go for it , pay the dosh and move forward . (See photos in file)

Look at it this way, it's about a 100 pints down the pub, three pints a night, hey that's just over a month staying at home with 1. Eastenders 2. Coronation Street.3. Channel 4 ? Ok everything has a price ! ! !

Rob.