DR350 Painted Acerbis tank.......????

[Farmer Palmer]

Bought a nice wee DR350 with low miles for riding around on the farm but it has the Acerbis 16 litre plastic tank and the prevoius owner has had it painted 'professionally' because he didn't like the unfinished plastic look!

It looks good enough but i understood that you couldn't paint these tanks as they allowed the petrol gases to be absorbed through the plastic making the paint blister and bubble and i'm one for leaving the fuel tank brimmed after a ride and because it's painted i can't tell how much fuel is in the tank!

Any thoughts on these plastic tanks and do i just leave it and see what happens over time or clean the paint off again with some sort of thinners and risk damaging the plastic finish?

I'm not too bothered as the bike is really for winter use but i just wondered about the tank!

FP.

 

[JASONBC]

Bought a nice wee DR350 with low miles for riding around on the farm but it has the Acerbis 16 litre plastic tank and the prevoius owner has had it painted 'professionally' because he didn't like the unfinished plastic look!

It looks good enough but i understood that you couldn't paint these tanks as they allowed the petrol gases to be absorbed through the plastic making the paint blister and bubble and i'm one for leaving the fuel tank brimmed after a ride and because it's painted i can't tell how much fuel is in the tank!

Any thoughts on these plastic tanks and do i just leave it and see what happens over time or clean the paint off again with some sort of thinners and risk damaging the plastic finish?

I'm not too bothered as the bike is really for winter use but i just wondered about the tank!

FP.

Don't know where thats come from that you can't or shouldn't paint plastic tanks, majority of roadbikes these days have plastic tanks which are colour coded to the bike as they don't rust or leak around the seams I also know several people which have done it and never had any issues.

Maybe the people saying it should be done are DIYer's using halfords spray cans, just my 2penneth

Plastic tanks i prefer to be clear so that you can see the fuel level

 

[Timolgra]

Depends whether it's been primed with a suitable sealer

 

[paintman]

It kinda depends on what type of plastic the tank is made of, if made of HDPE like the oversize replacement tanks that some fit then the tank will need to be sealed internally to stop the petrol fumes permeating the sides and lifting the paint.
If your paint is stable the tanks probably been sealed with a product like...

http://www.caswellplating.com/restoration-aids/epoxy-gas-tank-sealer.html