Update, melted rubber in gas tank

I don't know how long the bike sat for... Could be quite a long time. It did only have 10k on it, and it a 2006. Just seems bizarre.... I've let so many bikes and cars sit for years without any problems. But I guess maybe it was just my turn after years of good luck.
 
Guess the starting point would be to try and identify what exactly was in the fuel tank. If it's a storage additive or something else that's caused the melting. Be difficult to know what to do to rectify the problem unless you are pretty sure what has caused it in the first place. Good luck with it and keep us informed.
 
It's an all to common practice for gas stations to allow carriers to dump toxic chemicals into gas storage tanks for a little under the table cash. It happened to my father. He bought gas to put in his mower. When he started it he said it barley ran and made the octane rattle sound really bad. He drained it back into the gas can, got a different can, went to a different gas station and everything was fine. He said he noticed the next day the can with the contaminated gas had formed a skin over the pour spout, like what forms on paint when you leave the lid off to long. Another possibility is someone put something like E10 or higher alcohol doped gasoline. Here is some info on E10. They have up to E25 :eek:

List: E10 Engine Damage & Performance Issues.

God post Fred.
 
I have seen something similar on an old classic car. I was told that it has something to do with stabilising and aromatic agents in unleaded fuel.

If left standing - some can start to react with synthetic rubber (and it's all synthetic in there) forming long polymer chains. Smelt foul too. Oddly leaded fuel stopped this. Oh well. If the fuel is not allowed to sit still - no problems.

The bacterial thing - could be. My niece is a petrochemical engineer and researched something along those lines for her thesis - bacterial degradation of old tyres.

Leaded fuel! THAT'S AV GAS:D:D:D
Isn't it?
Can get that easy enough....;)
 
Ethanol eats away at rubber and plastic parts, dissolving them over time. If your bike sat for awhile before you bought it with high levels of ethanol in the fuel, this coud have caused the problem.
My brothers Bonneville had the same problem from 10% ethanol[or so the pump said] stored in his bike over the winter. It ate every rubber part it touched. The inside of the fuel lines dissolved. I would hate to see what E85 fuel would do!

All of the gas around here is 10% ethanol, and it hasn't done anything to mine.
 
IIRC the Rocket is supposed to be good for E15 though they advise not to use anything higher than E10. Fred might be close with the toxic waste theory. It can cost a small fortune to legally dispose of certain types of waste and truckers have been caught putting it in tankers for cash on their way from the refineries to the gas stations.
 
Snds to me like the machine was doped with a heavy concentrate of Toluene. Its some great stuff if you want to make race gas in fact it is one of th echemicals used to maket gas . Adding it to regular gas in the right quantity can raise the octane 10 points or higher. Believe me I have used it on the Falcon many of times. One bad thing is you have to watch your mixture and make sure you either burn it all out or burn enough to dilute it with regular fuel as it will eat rubber components. man it really pepps up a motor though. You can get it at any paint supplier to make your own octane boost and will nothurt the engine when mixed right say like you just want to raise the octane 5 points. Lowes, Menards. Home depot, are just a few places you can purchase it by the gallon. its in the paint area as painter use it for something.
 
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