Fiberglass Valkyrie gas tank on craigslist

[DenverDave]

Just in case someone wants to take a chance  



http://denver.craigslist.org/mcy/2948515492.html



Dave

[Titan]

OK. I have a dumb question. Can a fiberglass gas tank be legal? I know that the fiberglass police squad isn't gonna snatch you up and throw you in jail. But I'm thinking of the laws which govern putting gas in "unapproved containers". I'm also think of the safety factors. No, I'm not the least bit interested in this thing for my bike but just curious.

[Fritz The Cat]

There's a thread here somewhere here where they talk about this. They are prone to leaking and this is made worse b y the ethanol in today's gas.

[The Anvil]

OK. I have a dumb question. Can a fiberglass gas tank be legal? I know that the fiberglass police squad isn't gonna snatch you up and throw you in jail. But I'm thinking of the laws which govern putting gas in "unapproved containers". I'm also think of the safety factors. No, I'm not the least bit interested in this thing for my bike but just curious.

I'm not sure of the legality now. Used to be that fuel tanks had to be metal (why roadgoing DR-Z's had to have metal tanks while off-road ones had plastic for instance). But lots of cars and bikes have plastic fuel tanks now.

And I would personally avoid these anyway. The matrix resins used in making these tanks may or may not be fuel compatable. I know a guy who spent almost a grand on a Sebimoto CF fuel tank for his big bore Hayabusa. It wound up eating into the resin and causing pretty extensive fuel system damage.

[scoot]

OK. I have a dumb question. Can a fiberglass gas tank be legal? I know that the fiberglass police squad isn't gonna snatch you up and throw you in jail. But I'm thinking of the laws which govern putting gas in "unapproved containers". I'm also think of the safety factors. No, I'm not the least bit interested in this thing for my bike but just curious.

 I used to work for a company that made fuel tanks for semi trucks and trailers. Each tank had to be certified and was identified with a serial number that could be traced right done to the day and shift the material that it was made of was produced. We also had to do several tests that we had to do at certain intervals. Some of the neat ones included filling them with water and hoisting them 30 feet in the air, and then let them free fall onto a 3 inch thick steel plate. We had to do this at different angles to simulate being hit.
 I wonder how someone like Jr & Sr. (OCC) tanks are approved. I once heard that the bikes you see them create on their show aren't street legal. I wonder if that is part of the reason.

[FLAVALK]

That one looks like it has a big honkin crack down the middle 

[Hoser]

That was an accessory tank made by aftermarket back in the early days before Interstates, there was some problems as with deteriation, but they were and are legal,  I had a fiberglass custom tank way back in the seventies on my CB750 chopper. Hoser 

[f6john]

    Had one, don't want another, after the problems I had.

    Here's a pic of the one I had on my bike, made by the same company but mine was carbon fiber, still leaked.




The price is right for someone wanting to experiment. I had over a grand in mine with the paint. Best part was the flush gas cap.

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

Concerning the legality of it. My son's Ducati Monster came from the factory with a plastic tank. He's has zero problems with it.

[designer]

Plastic tanks have been around since late 80s.  To make such a large tank would require blow molding and sonic/vibration welding processes. As for DOT, its unlikely you would be sited for a DOT violation for a plastic/fiberglass tank.  Unless its a safety item... ie, lights/turn signal or some other state law not covered under DOT your pretty safe.  The real problem comes with Insurance, will your insurance cover modifications to the bike.  Say you have a wreck and the tank ruptures, flames burn your or others, civil suit reviews the construction of the bike and find out its not a DOT approved tank.  I know this scenerio isn't likely.

[F6TRVLR]

  A buddy of mine from Brasil had this exact same tank on his Valkyrie (tank bought direct from manufacturer) and it is or was made by a guy in, I believe Temecula California called ACE, Advanced Composites Engineering. The tank leaked several times and had been repaired by ACE. The final time it leaked my buddy was at my home and I took the tank to be repaired at a fuel cell shop. The owner there (with 40+ years of experience) told me the tank was not repairable due to the fact that it was made with polyester resin. It even leaked after being interior coated with a liquid liner product. Too many rough edges.

  From my learnings the problems is not the mat, fiberglass or carbon fiber, it is the resin. The resin needs to be epoxy base to be able to stand up to gasoline and its additives. Methanol and alcohol will gel the polyester resin and cause the fuel to weep through. ACE is no longer in business and to my knowledge was sued several times over the product. Too bad because it was a nice tank other than it was made with incorrect resins.

[Jeff K]

As I remember... they were all carbon fiber, not fiberglass.
And they had leakage problems