Oh wow, mine have never separated from a variety of motorcycles.

Has it been frequently exposed to weather elements?

 

I hope it's not yet another case of new products with poor quality control... it feels like half of what I buy these days has faults.

 

Did you degrease the tank thouroughly before applying the tank pad?

I would advise against using superglue as it may react with/remove the paintwork. At best, your tank pad would be extremely difficult to remove if superglued. I spilt a small amount of superglue on a kitchen worktop and ended up using a stanley blade to carefully scrape it off and there is still a mark on the worktop. I'd hate to think what it would do to the tank of your bike

Remove the old one, thoroughly clean and then degrease the area and fit a new one.

 

NO STOP! do not superglue it. A dab of clear silicone or the old product called Shoe Goo (see link below) is the best option. Shoo Goo like silicone will adhere well for years but can be peeled off when not needed anymore.

Shoe Goo II (2) Shoe Repair Glue 59.1ml Crystal Clear Permanent Adhesive : Amazon.ie

Shoe Goo II (2) Shoe Repair Glue 59.1ml Crystal Clear Permanent Adhesive : Amazon.ie

www.amazon.ie

 

Thanks everyone

As implied superglue was/is not an option for me.
That stuff is faaar too aggressive to put on my bike's nicely sprayed fuel tank !
There has to be another solution.

@Ed K
I have never had this before either
The tank pad is NEW, it was purchased as part of the sports package a couple of months ago and fitted by the workshop a couple of weeks ago, along with everything else, when they replaced the fuel level sender.

@Boe
No idea if this is poor quality/quality control; my thoughts are as follows:
-The workshop did not do anything wrong as in degreasing the tank with the wrong stuff or similar. These guys are properly good and have been around for decades hence . . .
-I wonder if the tank pad, along with the rest of my sports package, was put together years ago and has been sitting around since, say 2017. The glue still should not have evaporated/weakened THAT much but . .
-Of course simply poor quality is clearly a suspect too, one of the reasons why I wrote here. If say ten of you, had written back with "yeah, been there myself, here is what I did . . ." then it would be a known issue
Does not appear to be the case, I am just unlucky on this one

@Fitz Thanks for the tip ! I will see what kind of mild-yet-strong adhesive I can get and try my luck

Cheers everyone

 

If you want to remove it, take some nylon fishing line to wedge off the old one and clean with WD40, mineral spirits, or glue gone.

 

Thanks @LowRyter
First priority is to try and salvage the existing tank pad
Let's see

 

Mine is doing the same thing. I've been wondering about just warming it up with a heat gun.

 

I use a magnetic tank protector type vs these stick ons. The company I went with was called Mag-Night. Not sure if they are still in business or if there are similar products out.
The benefits of this type of protector are, no glues or sticky surfaces, no peeling over time, less risk to damaging the paint., easily removable and can be reused indefinitely e.g. on your next bike. Mine is over 16 years old and was used on three different bikes. Also when you sell your old bike. The new owner can place whatever they want on the tank vs an older sticker type protector.

 

Look interesting.

https://www.motomagtag.com/shop

 

I just went to a wrap guy and he cut out some faux carbon wrap and put it on the back of the tank (covering up a good sized gouge from a metal zipper). I think it was $20 and a "custom" job. I'm guessing I'll replace it in a year or two.

That's how I learned about the fishing line trick to remove that stuff.

Personally, I think you're fighting a losing battle if it's coming loose. Just pull it off and get another or if you're a Guzzi owning tightwad, go to the wrap guy.

 

Alternatively, fit 3M paint protection film to your tank. It's clear so you can see the paintwork and is almost invisible.

 

The wrap people did that on mine. The fuel and wear ruined it over time. I still have it on the front cowl and seat fairing. Once it came off my tank, I had them install another faux CF tank protector.....or perhaps it's the original and they just took off the clear?

 

Quick update on this, here is what I tried a couple of weeks ago:
Gaffer tape, stretched such that it applied pressure in the right direction for what I wanted to achieve
I was not very hopeful but I thought it was worth a try and, in fact, was partially successful --> only two edges still come up, the other four seem to have stabilised themselves.

Some further research seems to indicate that GE silicon glue would be the way to go here, I might try that next.

 

If you try to remove it, you might use fishing line to scrape it off after spraying cleaning chemicals and WD40.

In may case, I went to a wrap shop and had them cut out some black fake carbon fiber vinyl wrap, shaped to fit to my liking. It's held up well and inexpensive, looks factory.

 

A dab of this seems to have cured all ills 😊