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-   -   My Bajaj Dominar 400 ABS : Rust, Reliability & Regret (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/202691-my-bajaj-dominar-400-abs-rust-reliability-regret-5.html)

I faced severe rusting in my preowned Pulsar tank. The tank was corroded and had red rust. The portion was treated, replaced the sheet and repainted. However the rust reappeared in a year or so. Since as far as my experience goes, replace the tank.

Hope it helps.:)

Posting some pics of rust in petrol tank and fuel pump.
Should it be like this ? It does not inspire any confidence in me even if I am going to replace the fuel pump and fuel tank. The sword will always be hanging from now onwards .

This happened with me too. My Pulsar 220 FI was not used for 6 months, it was parked in open, where it took the wrath of rains, heat & what not. After 6 months, following parts were needed to be replaced\serviced : Fuel pump, Tank cleaning (although no rust), Spark plugs, Engine oil, complete cleaning of all the electrical connections and some other tid-bits. You have similar case and it seems, this happens with every other FI bike which is unused for prolonged periods. There is no meaning in chasing the SC guys or Bajaj, get the bike repaired, fill it, shut it and forget it. happy riding.

I understand that now. I am paying for everything as it is & not chasing Bajaj etc. This company has no honor in my view as a customer.

BTW My bike was in covered parking from Day 1.

I want to share the poor quality & reliability in this bike & I have a feeling now that it is almost same across brands - this I have deduced from the fact that such conditions are considered normal & fall under buyer misuse category (after going through the responses & passive reactions to the issues in hand).:)

I am trying to get my hands on IS standards for 2 wheelers fuel tank design. I am also trying for international standards to have a comparison in between them.

I could not find the above yet but I have checked ARAI standard for passing the vehicle & it states below for rust part - this is for all passenger carrying vehicles & some more .

ARAI AIS - 095 Requirements for Metallic Fuel Tanks of Automotive Vehicles talks about metallic tanks intended for use with liquid fuel and fitted on vehicles of categories M, N and T.

3.0 GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
3.1 Tanks must be made so as to be corrosion-resistant.


Well, it's a very open ended statement

I would also like to find out what's the difference in corrosion resistant design & testing between Car & Bikes.
Design : Metal used, coatings & its specifications etc
Testing : Test type (e.g. CASS test), duration, testing conditions, pass criteria etc.

Do share your knowledge or please PM me for some useful data .
Thanks in advance !

Wouldn’t it be the same as “water resistant” vs water proof?

On a side note, there are multiple videos on you tube that speak of “winterising” a motorcycle. Similar use case - prolonged periods of lying idle. And these are phoren machines that many on this thread are absolutely enamoured with (or so it seems)

I guess it’s not just a Bajaj thing then(?).

For this case, conditions are mentioned in Post #1. Please refer them, they are not prolonged & definitely not harsh or abusive towards bike.

You are correct about water analogy but there are level of "resistant" - iron types are also rust resistant & so does steel & other alloys. Ultimately all is balance between function, cost & value delivered to customer.

But this condition of failure is unacceptable . Also let's not forget the absence of service support from an aspirational brand like Bajaj.

First of all, I sympathize for your troubles.
I used to own a Yamaha R15, and believe me, the fuel pump is the most delicate part of an FI bike.
its a device which operates on very tight tolerances.
Petrol, when left still for a few weeks develops a varnish like gooey substance which damages the fuel pumps and injectors easily.
Unlike cars, FI bikes have only one high pressure fuel pump. Hence its not advised to have the bike stand still with petrol in tank.
I don't know about Bajaj, but R15 manual clearly states that bikes needs to be started and let the engine run for 10 mins at least once in a week. If the duration is more than a month, my manual recommends to drain all fuel from tank, and fuel lines and disconnect the battery.
And the min fuel level is recommended to ensure that the pump is always lubricated by the fuel and does not run dry even for moments, in case fuel is low and splashes around.
I would attribute your loss to pure negligence.
At least Bajaj parts are not so expensive, for comparison, R15 V1's fuel pump alone costs around 12000 inr with taxes.
My recommendation would be to replace the pump, get the bike restored. If you are not planning to use it, sell it. Its a crime to have such a wonderful machine sit and deteriorate like this.

When you're done aspiring towards the Bajaj , aspire towards the KTMs. They have plastic fuel tanks and it's perfect for your use case (or lack of) .
Just remember to disconnect the battery leads this time.

Off topic- the scross is a sub-par product too in my opinion. It undresses itself at highway speeds.

Thanks for your input - Dominar does not have this kind of statement.
There are many more blunders in the manual as I have stated in my earlier posts .

Can others pls share about what does manuals of FI bikes says !

Quoting the post again on non-use maintenance. Apart from the error of mentioning carburetor instead of Fuel injector, rest all points are valid and applicable to Dominar as well. Any vehicle deserves additional attention and care if it is not going to be used for prolonged intervals. Bike more so since internals are exposed to elements.

15 days are for battery & nowhere it is defined as what is prolonged - was my 2 months of non use is "long" - I don't think so ! Nor would it justify to any common sense.

Will my 2 missed services effect the fuel system - not possible (as these are not required to be checked for 2 years)

Even Bajaj service does not have a clue - they are just harping about void warranty & I am OK with this clause - no free lunches are required .

They just keep adding parts replacement with HUUUGE waiting periods.

But, when asked for reasons - no one is giving any answer.

I know that Bajaj regional & HQ service are involved as well but I am not getting any reasonable answer for this poor quality & service .

2 months may not be long for carburetor fuel systems but I would be personally wary of keeping a FI bike non-operational for such period. All it takes is 5 minutes of idling every week to keep all systems primed and battery in reasonable state of charge. Speaking of which, battery health can also have effect on electronics and fuel injection, so better to be safe.

Don't want to beat a dead horse but periodic service helps in detecting problems at early stage which can be fixed by preventive maintenance. KTM suggests 5000 kms service interval but I have never been able to that mileage yet go for periodic service at about 2000-3000 kms.

This is sad. One does not expect long waiting periods with domestic manufacturers.

There is a Pulsar standing in front of my friend's garage for 3 years now. The owner is not coming back. It has been through 3 years worth of sun, rain, dust and what not.

After reading this thread when we opened up the petrol tank, there is rust but the amount of rust accumulated over 3 years is comparable to the rust your Dominar has accumulated in just 21 months in covered parking. So something tells me that the Dominar product quality does leave a lot to be desired. The fuel injection most likely got screwed because of this rust.

Thanks,
Soumyajit

Thanks for taking such pain and its a great reference .
We are very easily giving benefit of doubt to the bike manufacturers here & are ready to take all blame on ourselves under "customer misuse" .

Just as an additional Input:

Suzuki Gixxer, Intruder 155 manual specifies that the Battery must be disconnected if the bike will not be used for 2 months. So for Suzuki Prolonged period of non use seems to be 2 months. (I feel 15 days or even 21 days is too less).