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Small fuel leak under gas tank

7K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  The Stig 
#1 ·
Its a SP1. I just replaced my exhaust and while I was doing it I noticed a small fuel build up by on the under side of the tank(rear) next to the bracket that bolts to the frame. Not sure if I have a bad weld there from factory or if it's a leaky line. Any Ideas if this is common or what to check? Thanks guys.
 
#5 ·
Saw this thread and almost glanced over it, but I thought what if it was my tank, So you weld it and then you have the instant rust on the inside you have to treat somehow. I might strongly consider depending on the accessability using some prc or something similar that they use to seal wet wings in small airplanes. All the metal seams have this spread over them for sealing the 50 or 60 gallons the tanks hold.Or both welding and sealer. Aircraft Spruce and supply-all kinds of good stuff there.
 
#7 ·
Yep. Fuel tank leak at the bracket attachment area. It's been jb weld repaired before. Looks like no Prep. The repairman just globbed jb weld right on the crack. I was able to scrape it off in the leak area with a screw driver.

Looks like with a little prep work, a jb weld repair will work. I think the 50/50 nature is due to prep. If it doesn't work, I'll weld and red kote.
 
#10 ·
My SP-1 had this problem. I asked my friendly parts manager at the local Honda dealer about it and he had heard a while back that Honda sometimes replaces the tanks for free. Sure enough, he spoke with the regional Honda rep and they ordered me up a new tank! Of course YMMV.
 
#13 ·
I tried two dealerships here, but didn't go up the management chain.

I just had it welded by a trusted radiator guy and it served me fine for the two years I had it. Think it cost me about $50 or so. He pressure tested the tank to about 7 psi it held for 2 or 3 minutes and I watched him do it, so I felt good about putting it back on my bike.
 
#14 ·
I'm guessing I'll never have this problem as mine is an SP2, but if it ever happened & the local honda dealer could do nothing to replace the tank at Honda's cost, I'd be inclined to contact the head offices of Honda & get a name of someone in a position of responsibility and ask in writing why they won't replace a faulty fuel tank that could possibly be the cause of a fire and possibly resultant fatality, when it can be shown this is a production fault?
And if so, I'd state my intention to make it public knowledge they refused to do anything about it.

With Toyota, Mitsubishi, etc. having had some nasty publicity with dangerous features in vehicles possibly causing fatalities & accidents, they'd be keen to avoid such mismanagement, surely.

If fuel leaks onto a very hot exhaust which exits the rear cylinder just below the tank, then it really could go up in flames. In such case I'd be surprised if they would then refuse to do anything about it. :)
 
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