New T7 owner with rusty petrol tank

[Ketty]

Hi all, 

Sorry to start my first post with a moan but ...................recently bought my late 2019  T7, its not on the road yet but was doing a bit of maintenance and noticed some rust on the under side if the petrol tank, removed tank and found this!

 

 

Anyone else had this problem? I contacted my local dealer and they said its out of warranty and could not replace it even under a good will gesture. Its obvious the rust has been forming well before the warranty had expired. 

 

Any advice??

[Landshark]

I would use a small wire brush to clean that up and then spray paint with a rust proof paint (cheap).  Or, take to your local auto-body shop and get it painted that new spectacular color you've always wanted (expensive).  

[Dougie]

As landshark says, and use the opportunity to line the inside too. I’d do mine white if I needed to restore it. Then speedblock it. 

[prowlnS10]

Or rather than invest any further time/money on the oem metal tank replace it with the new 22L Acerbis resin tank & never worry about rust again + increase fuel capacity/range...food for thought

[Ketty]

Thanks for replies guys,  yeah I can paint it no probs but it shouldnt happen, I've had 20 year old bikes that have no rust on them!  Other owners might want to check theirs while they are still in warranty??

[Simmons1]

31 minutes ago, Ketty said:

Thanks for replies guys,  yeah I can paint it no probs but it shouldnt happen, I've had 20 year old bikes that have no rust on them!  Other owners might want to check theirs while they are still in warranty??

Where do you live? Looks like it was ridden where the roads get heavily salted and it was ridden in the winter.

[Ray Ride4life]

59 minutes ago, Simmons1 said:

Where do you live? Looks like it was ridden where the roads get heavily salted and it was ridden in the winter.

Even then it should be happening.
I'm waiting for new crashbars and when i have those in and change the ones i have on i also check mine.

[qInvention]

Shouldn't happen.

I have rust on my Harley, but... well I guess I already explained why  but even the HD only rusts on the fender...

These pictures remind me to regularly spray Scottoiler 365.

As already stated, you can paint it for cheap, especially as it's located where you're not likely to be particularly picky. But the experience will leave its taste.

[Ketty]

13 hours ago, Simmons1 said:

Where do you live? Looks like it was ridden where the roads get heavily salted and it was ridden in the winter.

I live in the UK and yes the previous owner did use it occasionally in the winter for green lanning, he was retired so not commuting every day but as others have said it shouldn't happen.Yamaha need to paint the underside prpoerly, the cost of that during production would be negligable. This post was partly a warning to others to check your tank while still under warranty so that, with enough claims, Yamaha will change their ways???  Maybe mine is a one off?

You dont have to remove tank to check the front see below

 

 

[Landshark]

That's downright ugly.  Thanks for the heads up.  I'll be checking for rust all over the bike including the underside of the tank.  You're right about a crappy paint job.  Should not happen.

[Simmons1]

Here is my tank at a year an half old.

[Alan M]

Thanks for this thread. I just checked mine and it’s starting to go. Bike has done 2800miles, mostly on road and hasn’t seen much rain which surprising considering where I live .

 

Bike is still under warranty so will give the dealer a call.

[CoreCass]

had this problem as well.. but thy did not put it under warranty.  just said to bad.

[i also dont go to my dealer any more but thats a different story]

 

i went with the acerbis tank..   as i like it a little better as the safari one. plastic's dont rust and are lighter. bigger     (disclamer filled thy are more heavy ofcourse.)

good luck with the old fuel tank..

 

also you might want to keep an eye out under your seat for rust and keep that in check.

[SKunn]

On 2/7/2022 at 11:44 AM, Ketty said:

I live in the UK and yes the previous owner did use it occasionally in the winter for green lanning, he was retired so not commuting every day but as others have said it shouldn't happen.Yamaha need to paint the underside prpoerly, the cost of that during production would be negligable. This post was partly a warning to others to check your tank while still under warranty so that, with enough claims, Yamaha will change their ways???  Maybe mine is a one off?

You dont have to remove tank to check the front see below

 

 

Just as a sidenote,this  rusty area on my blue 2022 is also blue.

[Alan M]

1 hour ago, CoreCass said:

had this problem as well.. but thy did not put it under warranty.  just said to bad.

[i also dont go to my dealer any more but thats a different story]

 

i went with the acerbis tank..   as i like it a little better as the safari one. plastic's dont rust and are lighter. bigger     (disclamer filled thy are more heavy ofcourse.)

good luck with the old fuel tank..

 

also you might want to keep an eye out under your seat for rust and keep that in check.

It’s not a biggie if they don’t warrant it, can always spray it myself but would be nice if they acknowledged the poor prep from factory. Looks like it’s only had a dusting of paint.

Edited February 8, 2022 by Alan M

[Ketty]

1 hour ago, Alan M said:

It’s not a biggie if they don’t warrant it, can always spray it myself but would be nice if they acknowledged the poor prep from factory. Looks like it’s only had a dusting of paint.

Edited 1 hour ago by Alan M

Hi Alan, I know what your saying,  I'm more than capable of spraying it but as you say its poor prep and quality so why should they get away with it.

 

As an update I contacted Yamaha Uk customer services direct and had a positive reply from them  but still not sure if they will replace it as a good will gesture, will let you know 

[Bartek]

I have to say... in 28 years of riding bikes i never seen so eco friendly machine... Bloody thing will desintegrate and rot to nothing after 10 years of existence

Its like Fiat's and Ford's from 90's

[Ketty]

55 minutes ago, Bartek said:

I have to say... in 28 years of riding bikes i never seen so eco friendly machine... Bloody thing will desintegrate and rot to nothing after 10 years of existence

Its like Fiat's and Ford's from 90's

Your not wrong! I think a stage of the painting process was missed?

[CoreCass]

35 minutes ago, Ketty said:

Your not wrong! I think a stage of the painting process was missed?

also cut corners by not removing the bur from stamping.  leaving it and still coat.

i always learnd you should remove the bur as thats a weak point in a coating / paint. [noticed this on the pice where the 2 little pins for the seat go in.

also one some other parts.

 

but yea its a known issue the t7 rusts if you don't take care of her.

[Alan M]

59 minutes ago, CoreCass said:

also cut corners by not removing the bur from stamping.  leaving it and still coat.

i always learnd you should remove the bur as thats a weak point in a coating / paint. [noticed this on the pice where the 2 little pins for the seat go in.

also one some other parts.

 

but yea its a known issue the t7 rusts if you don't take care of her.

Have to disagree, they rust period. Not about how you take care of it, if the paint finish isn’t correct there’s no amount of pampering that’s going to prevent it. 
 

Biggest issue is it starts in places you can’t see unless you start pulling it apart. My bike has had a very easy life so far and is stored in a heated garage, taken off the road before the salt goes down .

 

No real excuse for Yamaha, bike should have even better paint protection seeing as it’s intended for the dirt.

[ScorpionT16]

I feel this maybe only for the bikes made in the EU or France. Haven't heard this with the Aussie bikes, US, or Canadian ones Made in Japan. Living in Canada and at 25k kms, was one of the first to get it here in 2020... no rust so far, not even the spokes as some have gotten 

[Alan M]

On 2/6/2022 at 4:04 PM, Ketty said:

Hi all, 

Sorry to start my first post with a moan but ...................recently bought my late 2019  T7, its not on the road yet but was doing a bit of maintenance and noticed some rust on the under side if the petrol tank, removed tank and found this!

 

 

Anyone else had this problem? I contacted my local dealer and they said its out of warranty and could not replace it even under a good will gesture. Its obvious the rust has been forming well before the warranty had expired. 

 

Any advice??

One thing I was wondering was the colour of the underside of your tank.

 

 I was thinking they were all black but your one looks white. Maybe Yamaha changed the colour of them.

[parkys100]

Hello

I sprayed high temperature Dinatrol wax on the underside when the bike was new.Yamaha spray very little paint on the tank.

My ex Yamaha 1200 Tenere had very little paint also.

The dinatrol wax preserved it s for several years.

 

[Ray Ride4life]

I checked mine when i was installing the LED bar and it's also rusty, 2020 bike with 7500km on it (bought it with 2900 on it last October).
Will repaint it before i go on my big trip, it will last until then.
Before that trip i will change the sparkplugs and do some other maintenance so no need to do things twice.
I will contact my dealer if it is a warranty issue.

[Ray Ride4life]

This is mine after somewhere around 8000km and lot's of dirt, rain and salt.

 

Below is no rust yet but tomorrow i will take a rattle can with 2K paint form work, it's some kind of grey and we have cans of RAL7001 which is also a light grey so good enough for the bottom side of the tank.

[Ketty]

Update on my rusty tank.

After many emails and sending pictures to Yamaha customer service they said I should take the bike to my local dealer. As it was off the road at the time I had to trailer it there 60 mile round trip. The dealer said they had seen quite a few rusty tanks and Yamaha had refused to replace them even though they were still under warranty!  They took more pictures of the tank and bike but said it highly unlikely I would get the tank replaced. After many weeks of no communication I had resigned my self to painting the tank when out of the blue the dealer contacted me and said Yamaha had sent a new tank and it was there waiting for me, result! 

Moral of the storey is - be a pain in the arse and keep hounding them you might get lucky