Panigale/Streetfighter V4 Fuel Tank Heat Insulation

A post from the Ducati Modified forum by user Eugenio63

https://ducatimodified.com/threads/ducati-panigale-v4-v4s-v4sp2-v4r-gas-boiling-issue.295/#post-7209

Hi to all, first time posting, i'm a 2023 V4 owner, i'm italian and i live in USA. My motorcycle is affected by the gas boiling issue, today i discovered that Ducati introduced a solution/mitigation for the problem on model year 2024.

THERMO-REFLECTING PROTECTION:

POS 35 part # 4601G941A QTY 1 price 40.63 USD
POS 36 part # 4601G951A QTY 1 price 40.63 USD
POS 37 part # 4601G961A QTY 1 price 40.63 USD

Click to expand...

The same user also made a complaint to NHTSB and received the following response:

Update about the topic, yesterday i reported the issue to the "National Highway Traffic Safety Administration" explaining the fuel boiling issue and telling them that Ducati introduced a design change to mitigate/solve the problem. In my opinion a 25K motorcycle should be trouble free and the manufacturer should also take action and open a recall campaign. So i invite the V4 Panigale owners to report it to NHTSA to tell Ducati that they have an issue and they need to take action.

Here is the answer from the inspector:
Hello Eugenio Andrea Esposito,
I am the investigator looking into your issue on your 2023 DUCATI PANIGALE with the fuel getting hot and boiling. I also was able to open the link you provided showing the gas boiling in the tank. I appreciate that. I have some questions below,
Will please give me permission to share your VIN with DUCATI, it will make this easier for them to assist us with this matter?
If you are aware of other riders that are having this same issue as you, please encourage them to report to NHTSA as you did, we are data driven and the more people reporting will make things easier to show DUCATI they are having an issue. Complaining and exchanging ideas on a blog site is hard to track especially without VINs or names and not an allies.

1. Are you the original owner?
2. What modifications if any are done to the motorcycle?
3. When you contacted DUCATI what did they say?

Thank you,

Santiago

Santiago Maldonado Office Of Defects Investigation Safety Defects Investigator Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590 Office: 202-366-7232 W45-117

Click to expand...

Probably worth making a complaint. I can't imagine there's a bike that doesn't have this issue. I ordered a set. I'll trace them when they arrive and post a 1:1 pattern should someone want to cut them from a larger sheet.

My 23 for sure boils gas though it’s not an everyday occurrence. It happens mostly at the track. Good find. Will submit an NHTSA complaint too

Would encourage all that have experienced this issue to contact the investigator (from the ducatimodified thread). This really should be a recall.

Would also be good to see what a gas sniffer has to say about how much vapor is being released normal vs boiling

Santiago Maldonado
Office Of Defects Investigation
Safety Defects Investigator
Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590
Office: 202-366-7232
W45-117

I’ve had the “bubbling” fuel event with mine once. My normal process is to stop and fill the fuel tank just before putting the bike away and never had any issue. However, I wanted the fuel level lower because I planned to pull the tank for the Akrapovic exhaust and several carbon pieces install. I ran the fuel VERY low such that the fuel light was on for ~15 miles of “spirited” riding. When I parked the bike upright on rear stand, the remaining fuel did make the “boiling/bubbling” sound for around a minute/short time. No leaking or other fuel issues occurred.
This was the only time I’ve ever heard the issue. I do have the Akra full titanium exh and lower tank exposed section carbon cover on it now.

My entire tank is covered on the bottom with heat reflective sheet (self stick). Doesn't do much. Putting this on will only change the time constant (takes longer to get hot). But in traffic there's is no way you'll stop the tank from getting hot. It'll boil the gas. The exhaust heats the tank, the tank wraps around the airbox and that heats it. Everybody complained about the plastic tanks Ducati used to use but this would have been a good choice in this application. Again this is what I've done, covered the tank insides as above, wrapped the gas lines, heat shielded the fuel pump, wrapped the rear header with exhaust wrap (2000F stuff), polished the outsides of the exhaust heat shields like you would a stainless tea pot and painted their insides with white VHT, made a scooped piece for the right head cover to channel air but in the end took the right head cover off completely, made 100 C the fan turn on temp, changed the coolant to 25% coolant, distilled water and water wetter, insulated the frame rail covers with reflective stuff. But the single most effective thing I did was put an airgap between the seat and tank to promote airflow. Effective as long as you're moving. These are 200 HP and intentionally run hot to help with smog regs. The tank portion under the seat is the real culprit but I don't see what else they could have done relative to tank volume without doing this given where they put the electronics. If they left the BBS and ECU where they are and put the battery, rectifier etc under the seat and used that volume for gas maybe they could get close to the current volume without the under tank portion. And then you have plenty of air around the rear header to get rid of the heat. When the battery is a lithium one the weight distribution would hardly change. They know this is an issue we'll see what they do with the new V4 superbike in development.