I wish it wasn't so, but my brand new old bike is leaking gas, I found this out the hard way. Bike is 11 years old was garaged and has resonably low miles so I can't blame the guy that I bought it from.
I siphoned out the remainder of the gas and saw some thick rust spots in about 6 places. The leaks are coming from one pinhole on the edge of the tank and the other is coming from right underneath it. Can anyone give me a short walk through (I havn't tried yet) as to how I get inside the tank to clean and then coat the inside of the tank with epoxy?
Sorry about all this I'm ordering a manual today, in the meantime... any advice or help would be great. I don't wanna get a new tank if I can fix this tank myself.
Starting to like the bike more and more btw, I live in a fairly urban Brooklyn neighborhood, and I get the most awful stares from the rice burner set who pop wheelies at near vertical angles, but F*** em anyhow.
Either find a used tank and repaint, or go the POR/Kreem route (search for it, we've got a bunch of posts on the subject) Those products line the tank and plug up the leaks.
As for the looks you get while riding, I find many bikers don't know what to say when they see my bike. It's definitely not a cruiser, and doesn't have the plastics/engine of the sportbike crowd. And I seem to be the only GS rider out on the island. I've never got the 'Why didn't you get a Harley/Gixxer?' from anyone though :) Some stupid punks in a SUV did want me to wheelie my bike though... shows you what they know! :lol: My first day riding, I dumped the clutch and popped the front end up, and I was scared :o
You say you only just got the bike, so i gather you'll be having it for quite a while. The rust sounds quite bad, when i got a respray (caspian blue) i got a new tank cos the old one (92) had rusted through. Lining it wont last forever as it will still rust from the other side, and that rust sounds bad. You can pick up a new tank cheap, but make sure you check it over and get a fairly newone.
Will the POR get me out riding for a good spell until I get a new tank?
About them guys. Welp, all I can say is that I'm not 29 years old and living in the basement of my mother's house like some of them that I see on my block, lol. Grown men got 12K put into their bikes and live with their mommas.
Didn't have the facilities for all the chemicals to clean and seal the tank. But I won a tank on ebay for half off of a new one which ain't bad. I'm just gonna do a direct swap.
'Shame on you' to whoever was trying to sniper bid in the last 90 seconds.
I had the same problem several years ago on a Yamaha VT 500.. It was rusted through all along the bottom. I ended up taking it to a radiator repair shop and they brazed the holes with brass strips. He filled the tank with water, turned it upside down and welded it up. worked great...I had to repaint it and I also Kreemed it after it was welded.