My 2005 road glide had what seemed to be a leaking check valve until I started pulling it apart and realized the leak is coming from the tank on the top at the weld. I even drained the tank, replaced the o ring in the check valve, and re filled you can visibly see gasoline coming from the tank

I have attached a picture, with my finger pointing to where the fuel is leaking from. The area is covered by the seat, the problem though is that I cant seem to find the crack where it is leaking exactly. Any suggestions for a fix on this? Never seen something like this and unsure how it even happened. I've had the bike a few weeks now and it's only just started doing this

 

Time for a new tank...

 

Is that really my only option?

I'm wondering how this even happened and how common it is.

I have a feeling getting a new tank for this being an 05' isnt gonna be easy. And then it needs paint...

 

If the tank is clean you could try relining it with tank sealer. Google it.

Like:

 

Just thinking out loud. If the defective area is covered by the seat, and therefore you don’t need to worry about how the repair looks, how about patching it with JB Weld. You might want to sand the area to bare metal, put on the JB Weld, then prime and paint the repaired area.

 

If it was me..I use KB coatings tank kit. It has a stripper to remove old lining . and everything to coat the tank. Being very careful you can do it at home. I have done many tanks that were leaking including my own.I believe the kit is around $75..

 

It's been sanded and JB welded, not wasting time figuring this out. Once it dries I'm going to redcoat tomorrow. Next option if that doesnt work is an internal treatment of some sort. Sourcing a new tank is going to be costly, so hopefully this does the trick...I'll keep the thread updated with the outcome

My real concern though is how this happened in the first place. Is there supposed to be a rubber insulator tht goes under the rear tank mounting tab bolt area? Just wondering how on earth this could have happened.

 

FWIW......

Not sure how frequent it happens on motorcycles, but it happens in boats all the time.... I ran and maintained a total of 4 ocean going boats (one at a time of course), out of San Diego from 1986 until 2015.

Other than a puncture, all of the fuel tanks I've heard that leaked, would start to leak at the welds... apparently, water in the fuel, settling on the bottom, would always attack the welds first and fastest...

I had an older, but pristine, gas inboard boat. I re-powered it with two new engines, and after 3 years, I sold it to a very knowledgeable boat owner. He was amazed at the cleanliness, and the maintenance my boat received. I heard that after he owned it for about a year, he came down to the boat to find a welded seam had let go on one of the fuel tanks and he had a bilge full of fuel.... a dangerous and not inexpensive problem. I was shocked that happened, because those tanks were so clean it looked like I has polished them, on the outside anyways.... An old salt told me, the only way to tell the condition of an older fuel tank, appearance be damned, is to do a pressure test... lesson learned...

 

I did 2 layers of Jb weld, letting each layer both dry for 24 hours. So far I've been through 4 full thanks of gas and no leaks, which is great. Thankfully the seat nose covers the repair area, but I'm hoping it holds up for the remainder of the season and then in winter I can remove it and maybe have it properly repaired with weld

 

JB will eventually leak as will doing a liner, just a matter of how long it takes. Did you do a pressure test with soapy water with the tank off to find the leak ? Only true way to fix it is welding, repaired many an old shovelhead tank that split an inside seem or around the rear mount stud.