Motorcycle tank .. Thoughts and advice.

[Alex]

I just picked up a 1982 Suzuki GS750E. Once I got it home I realized the tank was a mess and filled with large flaky rust. The petcock was shot and there was rust in the fuel line. I plan on tearing the carbs apart and cleaning them and replacing all the gaskets but I needed to start at the top of the fuel delivery so I needed to address the tank. I bought the KBS kit. So I was nervous. I have performed a myriad of tasks on a motorcycle but have never done a tank so this was new. The instructions and video are great but I had a nice paint job on my tank and didn't want to ruin it. So  ... I hope some of the things I discovered will help others and I am sure the mods will jump in and correct me where I messed up.

Fist thing I did was put some ethafoam around my tank. If you get deliveries you will find this in your boxes or you can get it at u haul and other packing places. Its cheap and I save the stuff that comes with deliveries so I had a bag of scraps. You are going to handle your tank A LOT so having a little layer of cushion is nice. I then wrapped the entire tank in shrink wrap also available at u haul and your big box hardware places. You can also just use saran wrap from the grocery place.

I placed duct tape around the fill hole because I didnt want the wrap to stretch and rip there.

 

I used goof plugs, they are meant for pluging 1/4  irrigation lines to screw into my petcock screw hole.

 

My bike is old and has one of those caps that you push down and it clicks into place. Its fine but it is NOT a seal you can count on when you turn the tank upside down. screw on lids are fine but these click ins not great. So I had to find a way to make a water tight seal at the fill hole.

I found pool noodles are available at 2 and 3 inches in diameter.. My fill hole and the hole where my gas gauge sensor was removed for the process was about 1.5". I was able to cut a small section of 2" pool noodle and then stick a wine cork in the middle and  .. perfect seal! You have to compress the pool noodle to fit and you should wet the cork before you put it in the center but it was solid. You could also use a dowel and then just throw a zip tie around the pool noodle.

After I wrapped my tank in shrink wrap I carefully cut a hole at the filler opening that allowed for the wrap to fold in. I put a funnel in the tank to pour in the KBS cleaner and rust remover and followed it up with my pool noodle and cork. Then on to shaking and all the rest.

So how did the KBS stuff work .. I gave my tank a rinse to remove as much of the large rust particles as I could out. I then let it dry. Then I put the KLEAN in with an equal amount of water as hot as I could get from my tap. I warmed my receptacle some with hot water before filling it with my final USE water and added a good healthy shake of BB's. Yup available at any walmart. I went for 45 minutes with the BB's, KLEAN and Hot water sloshing it good while rotating it every 2-3 minutes over the whole tank for 45 minutes. You could hear the bb's sloshing.around.

When I dumped it .. it looked liked used motor oil. Ewwwwww .. nasty dark brown foamy. Rinsed it out several times and because I have an extended filler neck getting all the BB's out was a pain but I got them all out with some time and the inside of my tank already looked new. I couldn't believe it. It went from post apocalyptic rust worn to nearly new looking. It was truly amazing. 

I put a hair dryer in it with a cardboard funnel.duct taped to it so it fit tightly in the filler and let it run 15 minutes on low while I enjoyed an adult beverage. Done .. it was bone dry inside.

I added the Rust blast but didnt add BB's but did the same rotate slosh over 45 minutes and while i got a little debris on pouring it out it was mostly clear. The Klean had really done its job. But I understand the blast is intended to prepare it to receive the sealer and it might not be something readily visible to the naked eye. Tomorrow the sealer. Then I will let it cure.

So the pool noodle was .98 cents for a 5' length. The corks were something I had laying around and the irrigation plugs were something I had but I think are $2 at home depot. Hold them with a pliers and you can screw them into the holes as they are soft plastic. Ethafoam I had in a bag.

Here are some pix that might be helpful

http://www.boriqualeather.com/stuff/KBS/

[Alex]

Just a follow up.... If you are old enough to remember when the thermos had a glass interior then .... that is what the finished product looks and feels like. I for some reason thought it would be rubbery but it is a hard hard pretty shell. Getting the excess sealer out was the hardest part of the entire project. I did take two days to do it but I prepped and took my time.