Norton Tank / Paint Quality

Sgt80

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Norton Tank / Paint Quality


This is my 4 year old tank from my SE. The bike has only a little over 2,000 miles on the odometer. Nice huh?
 
Surely that’s ethanol related?

Looks just like an old fibre glass tank I had that the petrol started eating from the inside.
 
The tank on my tuono came up similar to this so asked my nephew (car painter by trade) . He said it wasn`t clean enough underneath. Plus sitting in a cold shed didn`t help
 
The tank on my tuono came up similar to this so asked my nephew (car painter by trade) . He said it wasn`t clean enough underneath. Plus sitting in a cold shed didn`t help


I had to remove the tank to fix the fuel pump so it was in the house for a spell and the paint returned to normal
 
That is just awful. Although I replaced my tank due to an accident (it had a ding the size of a nail head) I've had no problems with the paint. 2013. I sure hope the new tank doesn't do that. That looks like poor prep work. Now is the time to customize it.
 
That sucks , What are you going to do next ?
Well, since you asked....I actually exchanged several emails with Rob Jameson last week concerning this and although the 961 is a great machine and Norton is to be commended for its efforts thus far, I am afraid their customer service is still a work in progress. Rob used "fuel vapour under the paint surface " and "ethanol" as a couple of excuses for the condition of the tank. I'm no rocket scientist, but don't motorcycle tanks hold fuel and emit fuel vapor? If vapor and ethanol cause tank bubbling, wouldn't just about every motorcycle on the road have this problem? I'm leaning toward the Acerbis supplied tank being somewhat porous or bad prep work by Norton before painting.

Rob's "solution" to my tank issue, since the 1 year paint warranty is over, was to suggest getting it stripped and re- painted or that Norton would kindly offer to sell me a tank at FULL RETAIL plus import tax and shipping. I sure didn't expect a free tank after 4 years, but a tank at cost would not have been unreasonable and Norton wouldn't be out a single cent and they sure as heck would have taken care of a customer/owner. I'm fairly sure that the last two manufacturers of bikes that I've owned (BMW & H-D) would have taken a quality issue such as this a little more seriously and would have at least made some sort of an effort to keep the customer happy.

To the question that I posed to Rob of "Are new production painted tanks going to have this same problem" , I received no reply.
 
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Since this defect is obviously not your fault, a new tank at cost would have been appropriate in my opinion.
Appears the factory just lost an opportunity for some positive customer service publicity.
 
Both sides should be happy with the outcome, after all the negotiation of a delicate matter like this is about compromise,meeting halfway etc ,doing & having a deal , is the tank sound & still in shape under that bubbled paintwork ? Full cost of a new tank is a bit of a touch,2 years ago I was topping up with fuel 2/3 times a day ,some days 3/4 times a day everyday for 10 weeks,8500 Miles,filling to the brim,letting the overflows take the excess fuel & drip under bike ,spilling/ splash tank paintwork daily,I never really polished it again properly till I got back home ,after my ride it stood in the open on Long Beach in California in blazing sun for 3 months with the unwashed sticky residues of fuel on tank as US customs decided to keep it for 3 months,now with almost 15,000 miles on I do have wear & tear marks all over bike ,I cleaned paintwork on its return with meths to remove stains & used insulator wax to make it shine again.
Guess an paintwork expert would know if base preparation was adaqate when initially sprayed, as It sounds like it,really hope the issue is resolved SGT & your looked after more than u r atm.
 
I hope it gets resolved as well.
If not, there is a forum member Brent Budgor who does terrific custom painting.
He's done work for me in the past and his work is excellent.
I'm sure he could copy perfectly the original paint on the tank, that's his specialty.
He lives in Vermont.
Won't hurt to PM him with your predicament and see what he thinks about repairing/repainting the nylon/plastic tank.
It’s just another option.
His forum id is jbbudgor.

His website is http://www.vintage-vendor.com
 
I feel like a response is due on this one.

At no point have I said that we will not do anything, I merely stated that as the bike is 3 years outside of it's paintwork warranty, we cannot do anything else in terms of warranty.

As you can imagine, there are a number of external factors, which are completely beyond our control, such as stone chips and wear which might allow for a reaction like this. This is one of many reasons warranty becomes such a divisive subject, but also one of the reasons why manufacturers limit warranty.

If the owner would like to continue the conversation, I am happy to do so, but the last email I received gave me the impression that he did not want to.
 
I feel like a response is due on this one.

At no point have I said that we will not do anything, I merely stated that as the bike is 3 years outside of it's paintwork warranty, we cannot do anything else in terms of warranty.

As you can imagine, there are a number of external factors, which are completely beyond our control, such as stone chips and wear which might allow for a reaction like this. This is one of many reasons warranty becomes such a divisive subject, but also one of the reasons why manufacturers limit warranty.

If the owner would like to continue the conversation, I am happy to do so, but the last email I received gave me the impression that he did not want to.
Apologies if I gave the wrong impression in my last email....but when I am told, not just once, but twice, that I am out of warranty and when I made no demands but asked for solutions and then what I received were suggestions to re-paint it myself or pay full retail for a new tank...there doesn't seem to be much room left for a "conversation". There is no wear on the tank and the one very small stone chip is nowhere near any of the bubbling. In addition, the bottom of the tank, in the recesses that fit over the coil/battery cradle, has 10 bubbles of varying degrees in size.
If you have a solution other than the ones you have already offered, please email me. I am open to continuing the conversation.
 
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I feel like a response is due on this one.

At no point have I said that we will not do anything, I merely stated that as the bike is 3 years outside of it's paintwork warranty, we cannot do anything else in terms of warranty.

As you can imagine, there are a number of external factors, which are completely beyond our control, such as stone chips and wear which might allow for a reaction like this. This is one of many reasons warranty becomes such a divisive subject, but also one of the reasons why manufacturers limit warranty.

If the owner would like to continue the conversation, I am happy to do so, but the last email I received gave me the impression that he did not want to.

It would seem the owner feels there is just no willingness on your part. That seems pretty evident. Being as he is a loyal customer, it would seem that willingness to do something is on you, not on him. Waiting for him to contact you does not seem the best course of action. What ARE you willing to do? Perhaps he needs to hear that effort begin on your end. Otherwise, as he has stated, there seems to be no room left for conversation. What type of reputation do you want your company to have? These dedicated people have kept the name Norton alive for decades with their own blood, sweat and tears. Thats a WHOLE lot of free PR Norton got. Don't let that slip away...
 
So everybody wants something for nothing.
Call it a cancer of the modern world.
 
So everybody wants something for nothing.
Call it a cancer of the modern world.


This is what I think . If a 961 owner could get a small discount on a new tank , especially if their tank was degraded by the fuel this would be a very nice gesture from Norton !
 
So everybody wants something for nothing.
Call it a cancer of the modern world.
Norton Tank / Paint Quality

The underside of my tank happily bubbling away...then again, this may be "nothing", but it sure looks like "something"
 
Very Nasty.
Is that paint lifted from the tank surface, or imperfections in the underlying tank itself?
 
Very Nasty.
Is that paint lifted from the tank surface, or imperfections in the underlying tank itself?
The underside of the tank is painted the same as the top. Yes, that is paint lifted from the tank surface. There are a total of 10 of these bubbles on the underside of the tank that range in size from 1"-3".
 
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