Ducati In Class Action Lawsuit For Gas Tank Issues

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Ducati for the problems some riders are facing on their motorcycles (PDF). The lawsuit covers 50,000 motorcycles sold by Ducati and seeks a replacement tank for each of them. Considering replacement gas tanks from Ducati currently cost over $1,500 plus labor, it could be very costly for Ducati.

The issue is not specific to Ducati, and has been reported on the web with motorcycles from other manufacturers including Aprillia, Triumph, KTM, MZ, Moto Guzzi, and Bimota.

The tanks that are affected by this problem are reportedly made of PA6 polyamide plastic and were manufactured from 2005 to 2010. At least some of the tanks were outsourced by the manufacturers and were made by Acerbis. At least one manufacturer is replacing the tanks for free under the US emissions regulations for five years but the manufacturer has provided no written statement to customers that the warranty will continue beyond that five year period.

The first reports of these gas tanks deforming began sometime in 2006, and some manufacturers switched from the PA6 plastic to metal tanks (Triumph did this with the Speed Triple in late 2007). Other manufacturers just kep selling motorcycles with the plastic tanks.

Many owners are reporting that their defective tank was replaced with another defective tank, so they are on their second or third fuel tank.

It seems to be primarily an issue with fuel in the US, however the problem is showing up in Europe.

The consensus on the web is that the problem is related to the addition of ethanol in the gasoline, but there are many reports of motorcycles that have used ethanol tainted gas for years and have not had problems with deformation.

The deformation is often cosmetic as seen in the picture above on a Ducati Streetfighter.

But more importantly in many cases the deformation can cause safety issues. With some motorcycles the deformation causes the fuel tank to get in the way of the handlebars when making sharp turns, and with Ducati Sport Classics the deformation prevents the tank from attaching to the motorcycle frame correctly which might cause the tank to come off the motorcycle during a crash.

Source: Deformed Fuel Tanks