I'll tell ya I would hate to think that a company that has been making motorcycles as long as Yamaha would use a fuel tank that was not protected against rust somehow, maybe not ? but if this happened to mine I would be mad as hell. Does the manual warn of this if storing the bike for extended periods of time with half full or lower fuel levels in the tank will cause rust ? if not I would demand that it be covered under warranty. Musky, Big bear how long would you store your bike with half a tank ? I sometimes don't ride mine for a week or so.

It states in the owners manual to fill the tank for storage to prevent rust. In my manual it's on page 7-4.

And Ethanol does attract water. It's a well known fact. Just do a Google search for "Ethanol attracts water" and read away.

How long does it take for a piece of bare metal left sitting outside to start rusting?

Owners of vehicles are responsible for taking the proper care and precautions in the upkeep and mantainance of the vehicle.

That's my 2 cents anyway.

Several years ago I was informed that we would see issues on my then new fleet vehicles that had metal tanks due to the use of ethynol fuels in the near future. I never had an issue to this extreme before in Texas on gas powered fleet vehicles. The automotive industry started making changes several yaers ago not just because of the price of metal, they knew the corosivness of ethynol and metal. Over a year ago I replaced the tank on one of my friends 2 year old bike with 6000 miles on it. I don't doubt there was some rust in your tank when it was new and it will spread quickly in a short time with the right (wrong) fuel and climate. Wish I could make your issue dissapear and unfortunatley you have a dealer that should have stopped at the first sight of the issue and gave you alternatives to keep you happy and ther reputation out of the lime light. As more folks move from MCs being a necssity and not a luxury we might see this service attitude change. I always refuse to put somthing back together and call it fixed until I fix the source of what started the issue. I highly suggest that you go ahead and kream the tank now to save future issues. There is no doubt we will be seeing more ethynol fuels as the years tick on. The motorcyle industry is a very behind in this regard.

That's total BS they are giving you in my opinion Bean Tickler. I have lived in very humid climates in Oz and been away with the military plenty of times on deployements for months at a time and have never had problems with my tanks rusting up on any of the bikes I have owned. Dissappointing, I had trouble with Yamaha Australia over rear fender cracking issues on my 2001 R*. They new of the problems on previous models but offered little help. I have been happy generally with the R* but dissappointed with the manufacturers customer service. That is why I will never buy anything from them again in the way of parts.

Yes alcohol is hygroscopic ( attracts water) Think about it. Why do you get a hangover when youve been drinking too much. Because you are dehydrated. because the alcohol sucks the water out of you. the reason the HEET works is because Methanol and water are heavier than gas, and it sinks to the bottom of the tank. This is why we should be using ISO-HEET. Isopropyl alcohol and water don't sink to the bottom of the tank, but are instead suspended in the fuel. HEET is a fuel line anti freeze for cars with plastic tanks. This is my understanding of it.
I avoid using anything other than Shell and Chevron in my R* 76 says right up front that it contains 10% methanol. I have never used ARCO so I don't know about what alcohol they use. I think ethanol is more like isopropyl, in that is suspends water rather than sinks it. I know that a 50/50 mixture of H2O and Pure Ethanol is still easily combustible.


I would also make it a point to make sure your carb is empty any time the bike is going to sit more than a week. The way I do this is shut the fuel off and run the bike until it dies, than re start it, it will die again. repeat until it won't start. That would have prevented the carb cleaning issue.

I ride daily , so it is hard for me to give a clear cut answer on the 'how long would my bike sit half empty' Question. Now , I'll tell you up front , I've had bikes sit for some time (1 month or so) with No issue.
My buddy bought a Brand new Sabre , and it had rust in the tank. Took a couple times raising a little sand with the dealership , but they eventually replaced the tank under warranty.

How long have you owned the Road Star? Is it an 07 you bought in 06 meaning you have owned it a year and a half , or is it an 07 you picked up recently? I would think this would weigh in on how helpful your dealership wanted to be.

Either way , it still stinks for you. If you have to go about treating the tank , a word of caution : Those chemicals will ruin your paint if they come in contact with it , so be careful. BB

I bought the bike on 6/28/07 and started having all my problems sometime in April of 08, so less then a year! I hear all of ya on the kreem or coating the inside of my tank but that is a last resort for me... I don't feel this is something I did... I agree with the people that are saying its bs and it was probably there before I got the bike... Whats funny is that on 4/17/08 I took the bike to the dealer and they told me no rust and charged me 100 bucks to clean the tank and carbs. Then on 7/22/08 they say 114 bucks to now replace 2 plugs and clean everything out again but now the tank is rusted? WTF is that about? I told them from square 1 the tank had rust and they ignored me... All I can do now is try and save people from this happening to there new bikes! I may just start writing letters to them. I really don't want to keep calling these people.

So , is it so bad it's not rideable? And on 4/17/08 why did they need to clean everything out? No rust is "documented" on that form? Then 3 months later (during peak riding season, mind you) you suddenly had a rusty tank?

There are other chemicals you can use that will basically strip the rust out of the tank without putting a "coat" back in , but it would Require you to keep a full tank of fuel all the time so that metal surfaces would not have exposure. Bro' I don't know what to tell you , but I'd definitely show those invoices to Management and ask then to explain No rust to Rust in a 3 month period. BB

Ohh no it's not rideable. The first time it started sputtering I didn't know what was going on so I just rode it for a few days and then it wouldnt move. Just this last time as soon as it started acting up I rode it straight to the dealer... If you dont clean it right away it is with out a doubt unrideable!

That sux. Good luck in your efforts. Just keep banging away at'em until they cave. Remember, the squeaky wheel and all that ...