I was cleaning up the bike to start overhauling it in preparation for the riding season. I have two specific problems I need addressed at the moment:

1. I noticed on the gas tank that there were 3 spots where the paint had small bubbles. Upon further inspection, they had gasoline in them, and I peeled them off to reveal small pinhole leaks. Is this from rust? If so, what should I do to remedy the situation? (Other than the obvious draining and cleaning of the carbs)

2. The battery seems to be really weak. I intermittently charged it throughout winter, but when I try to crank it, it gives about 4 strong tries, and then it's too weak to turn the engine over.  I also haven't refilled it with any distilled water, which I read somewhere that you should do every now and then with these batteries.

I am assuming the engine won't start because of rust or bad gas in the tank. (As per a previous thread, I didn't add fuel stabilizer) Any advice would be much appreciated.

Are the gas leaks in the top or bottom half of the tank?  
I has a couple of gas leaks in my GS450 after I had it a short time.  I drained the tank, cleaned it as best as I could, and used a POR 15 product to seal the inside.  If your interested in using that, let me know, I have all of the documentation that came with the sealer, pluse I have actually used it.  I don't reccomend using the typical tank repair offered in the auto parts store, all that did for me was waste my time.

Good Luck
Don

I've used the Kreem kit with good effect to eliminate pinhole leaks near bottom seams in fuel tanks.  Using the kit is worthwhile, since it includes the acid mixture to elimate the rust, and etches the metal so the sealer will adhere properly.  The tank I used it on had a hole that the sealer, which is quite thick, oozed out of the hole.  Fortunately, the sealer is white, and so was the tank, so it wasn't that noticeable.  I let the sealer set up with the leaking area down, so the buildup would be in that area.

Make sure you add distilled water to refill the battery, and give it a good charging.  I don't know if a Battery Tender charger will give a run-down battery a hot charge.  You might be better off shocking it with a higher-amperage charge for a very short period of time (try to keep it under ten amps, and don't charge it that way for more than an hour), then set it on trickle.

If you have rust in the tank, you might have jet blockage issues due to accumulated rust.  I'd eliminate the battery problem first; you might not have to do anything more than drain out the gas and add fresh fuel.

I heard that Kreem/Por has a some trouble with gasolines that have ethanol as an pollution additive in another post.  Is that really true?  I might not do that to my tank then (not necessary for me, but just to eliminate all tank rust)

I used Kreem on a gas tank about ten years ago, and didn't have any compatibility issues.  Then again, I don't think ethanol was in our gasoline in this area back then.  I'd do a Google  to find the manufacturer's website, and see what they say about it.  

I replaced my tank when it got to that point. If you have pinholes that are leaking gas, IMO it's beyone a "treatment" remedy. Buy a used tank.

Octane's probably right.  The Kreem system isn't cheap, and money you might spend repairing a questionable tank would be better directed toward a tank without such issues.  The bike I used it on was rare enough and before the days of the internet, that the used tank option didn't exist.  

The only warning was that you cannot use touline as an additive any more.  This seems to be in most of the fuel system cleaners I've see, so I guess I'll just have to ride year round.  I haven't seen anything about ethanol causing problems, but only a few stations around here have much of it in their fuel.  

Don

Well, perhaps I didn't clarify the suverity of the problem. It's really not too bad. I have the tank full of gas, and the leaks is so small that fuel doesn't even discharge unless I break the surface tension of the gas, and even then it does not come out. There is one pinhole on the lower left side, and onother one on the right side. I was reading on other cycle forums (  I know, I know) and others have said they've used POR and Kreem without problems. The consensus seems to bee that if you properly prep the tank with a 50/50 mix of Phosphoric or Mureatic Acid and water, the sealant should work fine. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a tank on Ebay or somewhere relatively cheap if the problem persists.  

Probably a good idea to start with fresh gas.  Gas is really a moxture of stuff and the most flammable stuff evaporates within 3 months (so I read somewhere).  My lawnmower seems to run OK on stuff thats been in the garage for a year but it's a Buddha Loves You to start!

As for the rust ... I bought a fixer-upper in the summer last year.  The tank was full of rust and the float bowls had a good amount of rust powder in the bottom (about a teaspoon full in each).  The carbs did not seem to be plugged up though and the bike ran before I took it apart.  

I took the tank to a local rad shop that also repairs tanks.  Once he started cleaning out the rust he found that there were several small holes.  He said the sealer he is going to use will plug the holes no prob. He is using a commercial epoxy sealer.  He also found a larger hole that was previously plugged with body fill and he will seal it with solder. (easier than welding and will not wreck the tank).  This will cost me about $80 total.  Should be alot cheaper than a new tank and I don't have to worry about using any phosphoric acid!

If you have some visible bubbling on the outside of the tank I bet you have more rust than you think.  My tank actually looked pretty good from the outside.

Rob

$80.00, that's a great deal, I didn't have time to check into getting a radiator shop to fix my tank, but the bike is my main transportation now.  I hope that I can find that good of a deal if it starts leaking again.

Don