I have a 2003 Softail Standard with 10,000 miles on the clock. The bike has been in the shop 6 weeks since the first of May due to the coating on the inside of the gas tank flaking off and plugging the sock filter. The shop says the proper fix is a new tank. Checked with H-D and they refuse to pay for a new one. The bike is out of warranty however it is obvious that this is a quality control related issue. I need to know if anyone else out there is experiencing the same problem. Please provide specifics.

Thanks

 

Now that you mention it I had a flake of the stuff float to the top while I was gassing up on my road trip. Picked it out and tossed it. Not having a clogging problem, yet. Mine is also an '03 with about 10k on it.

I would think that if enough people are having problems that they would do a "good Faith Warranty" like most auto companies, but we are talking about the MoCo...

I would also think that a third party company could recoat the inside of the tank without messing up the paint. I know that I won't pony up $1100 for a new tank, assuming that I can even still get one with the '03 two-tone paint.

 

Tell your dealer you would like a fatory rep to address this issue and don't settle for less. If it came from the factory with this coating on , they should make good on it . You can take it to a radiator repair shop and they could probably remove it. Just be carefull of the paint.

You could always remove the tank, empty & flush it and put some large gravel in it and shake it till the cows come home to remove the coating, then flush it out good and reinstall it. No need to replace.

 

TCSTD,

Thanks for the reply. I agree with you and that is exactly what I am going to do. I mean the inside of the tank sure as heck ain't a wear part and not really subject to a whole lot of abuse. I'm waiting for the dealer to finish working on it to see what the bill is. Then I will take it up with HD. This is obviously a production problem and I have to believe that I'm not the only one that this has affected. My guess is that there was a production run of several thousand tanks where the coating itself was defective or there were problems with the application process. My hope is that if I can find enough folks who are experiencing the same problem it makes it a lot harder for HD to tell me (and them ) to get lost. I suspect that HD is knows there is a problem and is taking a hard line in the hopes that everyone will just shut up and take it. A class action law suit might make them rethink that approach. Frankly for what HD gets for their stuff one should not have to put up with this crap.

I wonder, is AMF secretly running the company again?

 

purchased 09-11-2002 flhrci 2003 road king .more than 50% of finish bubbled and peeling off inside of fuel tank . plunged fuel filter.30,000 miles always garaged. not a happy camper!

 

Don't buy the KREEM tank liner package. I bought it, $65, followed the directions perfectly to the letter, no shortcuts. The stuff is peeling off in huge pieces. I did acid etch it, like I said I followed the instructions. I have no idea how to get all of it out of the left tank. Not an issue so far, but it can't be good.

 

I have 2 '03's and have been keeping an eye open since I found some grey stuff floating in both. Be interesting to hear the out come with the Motor Co.