Hi every1... Just joined the forum. My name is Mike and Im near Pittsburgh. I just bought this 07 Roadstar that I will soon post some pics of...

I have a small problem with my star. It's an 07 with a little over 2000mi now. At 1496mi and less then a year of ownership I am having problems with the bike not starting and then just not running. It goes to the dealer and they spank me for 98.00 to clean the carbs replace plugs and rince the tank cause they said I had bad gas. I told them the first time I took it in I saw rust spots in the tank and they insisted no. Got the bike back.

Two weeks ago and only 500 miles after its last visit to yamaha, it starts again. Now they tell me the tank is rusted and I should go to a radiator shop and have it sealed? Another 114.00 this time for cleaning carbs, tank and fuel filter.

They say it is my fault because I let the bike sit for 3 months sitting in an attached garage that sees 50 on its coldest day. I may not have had a full tank of gas in the bike and that is what they say happened. Half tank of gas will somehow get water in it and rust the tank. I have only owned sportbikes and I had some old ones that NEVER saw rust.

Is this my fault? I am sorry for such a long 1st post...

Thats ok youll get long winded answers from some of us

Moisture will condense on the inside of the tank if it is partially empty, so it's very smart to fill up if your leaving the bike sit during the winter.. this is especially a problem with the ethanol laced gas that we have these days..the alcohol actually attracts water..

There is a sealer you can get that you slosh around inside the tank and let it dry..kinda like epoxy it coats the inside..I can't remember what the name of it is, but I'm sure someone will know..

BeanTickler. I think BigBear had the name of that tank sealer.

You can run the crappiest gas in the nation and still it wouldnt of rusted if the manufacture did their job b4 you got the bike. A bike hat new shouldnt rust on you no matter your garage conditions and weather. I live in Oregon, the worst humidity. condisation, and moisture and I never hear of this happening....bad luck on the bike and the manufacture.

POR-15 is the name. they sell a kit to clean and seal it. http://www.por15.com/products.asp?dept=12

Alot of people use this stuff called Kreem....Coug

Tank Sealer

i agree that it's good to have the tank topped off while it sits with some stabil added in but it dosen't seem like an 07 should rust that quick. seems like a good opportunity for the dealer to make a customer happy and treat the tank for you.
my dealer didn't look all that busy when i picked up my bike.
my guess is that a lot of riders here don't make sure they have their tanks topped off
whenever the bike sits for a few weeks. "rust doesn't sleep" i think is the line.
so this seems excessive. this i'm basing on other bikes i've owned, too.

i redid a yamaha 650 special tank and used a solution of naval jelly and water, then baking soda, then wd 40 as a coating.
it worked pretty good.
i can't recall the exact recipe.

if you use any of these por-15 type products, you have to be carefull to not get it on the paint.

cat

you should not have so much rust that the tank needs to be sealed..
maybe just cleaned to keep the surface rust from plugging the screens on the petcock.
they have some light acid that you rinse the tank out with before sealing and that should take care of all the surface rust issues..
Good Luck and yes keep the tank full when stored...
just because the weather doesn't get very cold, its the temp change that occurs that causes the moisture.. anytime you see dew or frost on the grass thats enough temp change..

First off thank you all for responding to my post! I just cant believe that an 07 would or could get this much rust this fast! My dealer is telling me that it is my fault so no help from them. I just made a phone call today to Yamaha corprate and I am waiting on a call back from them. The lady told me that she was calling my dealer to talk to the service manager and get back to me. Do you guys think this is my problem or something Yamaha should take care of for me? Dont these new tanks have some kind of coating on them to begin with just for this reason? Like I mentioned before I have had other OLDER bikes with no problems that even sat outside with no stabil or anything in the tank to protect it and had no problems...

Thanks again guys!