Draining fuel tank - Ducati.ms

StraDuc · Dec 2nd, 2011, 9:53 am

So... does anyone have an amazingly easy way to drain the fuel from the tank that doesn't involve spilling gas all over the tank and the garage floor? I pulled off my tank yesterday before I (very sadly) brought my Duc into the house for the upcoming long cold Chicago winter and I would like it store the tank empty for the duration. Yeah I know riding it to empty would have been best, and I really tried, but it is just too cold for my old bones to get the last gallon or so out that way. Is there a way to drain from the fuel hose, or should I just siphon it? All of my vintage bikes have petcocks so they are a piece of cake to drain right into a fuel can that I can then dump into the truck. If only I had an aluminum tank to install I could drain this crappy plastic one with a match in DNA's front lobby....
Any help appreciated.

TimDog · Dec 2nd, 2011, 10:07 am

man how about some pics of that 73 ducati? already posted somewhere?

if youre pulling the tank anyway cant you just flip it over and dump it into a 5 gallon joint compound bucket?

arbakken · Dec 2nd, 2011, 11:51 am

I just emptied my tank yesterday, and you can only suck so much gas out, especially with cold inflexible coily hoses. If you really want to get it empty, take the tank off, put the ass end in the air, remove the fuel pump, and then get a bucket ready.

StraDuc · Dec 2nd, 2011, 3:34 pm

Ass in the air, pull the fuel pump and get the bucket it shall be. Just thought someone might have an easy clean neat and magic way to do it that had eluded me. Pulling the pump gives me an opportunity to check the hoses and clamps in there anyway, so I guess I can look at it as a win/win situation. Maybe for grins I'll watch Mr. Creosote on Monty Python before I get that bucket...

Lee C. · Dec 2nd, 2011, 4:28 pm

I tried taking the gas cap off and turning the tank over to dump the 1gal of gas into a gas can with a funnel…
Only got about one third of the gas in the can, on third went on the ground, and the rest would not drain out at all.

What a mess!

Time to pull the fuel pump and drill and tap a hole in the plate for a little valve to drain the tank in the future.

Lee

Tom S. · Dec 2nd, 2011, 9:45 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by StraDuc

...brought my Duc into the house for the upcoming long cold Chicago winter...

Get a setup like this and just keep riding.