Cleaning Out a Fuel Tank

I have a friend who bought a bike that has been sitting for 10 years with fuel in the tank. Whats the best way if any to clean out the tank?

I know most will say buy a new tank but it might be a little tough with this one. My friend went to a guys house to look at some wave runners he had for sale & while he was there the gentleman(55-60 years old) asked him if he knew anything about bikes. My friend says yeah a little so the guy says come take a look at this bike & see if you'd be interested in buying it too. My friend is thinking its going to be a cruiser or something walks in the garage & the guy uncovers the bike & it's a completely mint 02 GSXR 600 Telefonica edition with 237 miles on it. He said his son bought it new & rode it & it scared him so dad took over payments, rode it a couple time & lost interest & parked it hoping the son would want to ride it again.

He knows he's going to have to buy a new fuel pump but we figure a tank is going to be hard to find.

TIA

 

Ive had luck with CLR. Also had good results with the POR 15 tank kit.

 

creem works pretty good too.

 

the Caswell stuff is the best.

 

Nothing beats the stuff Yamaha sells for varnish removal.
Best price on rust removal is rust-ease from harbor freight.
Caswell sealer is pretty top notch as a liner, forget all about creme - it flakes off and makes a real nightmare.
FWIW, if the tank is a varnish hell-job then the rest of the fueling system is just as bad.

 

Muriatic Acid. Available at your local Home Depot or Lowes. Poor a gallon in the tank, swish it around for a bit, and you should notice almost instant results. If not, you're going to have to coat it.

Assuming the muriatic acid works, make sure you neutralize it with baking soda within minutes or flash rust will begin to occur. After neutralizing it, spray fogging oil all over the inside of the tank and fill to the top with gas immediately. You should then be good...

 

Yamaha stuff. Comes with the cleaner and the neutralizer. The shit. It is easy, if it doesn't work look for a new tank. While POR15 or whatever else coating is the flavor of the month, be careful. Poor prep or improper cleaning nomrally junks the tank and everything else, just after you thought it was ok.

 

Sadly, the last time I bought some of the Yamaha stuff, my dealer informed me it was discontinued. I got what was left on his shelf and that was it.

 

Better check another dealer then, I just bought some.
The problem seems to be that you have to order a case of it because the dealers don't want to buy the whole case just to sell two or three liters.
If you want a great price on a case, check with Brad at MRCYCLES.

 

Huh, I stood there and watched while he typed the P/N into the computer. That was a couple of years ago though.

Are you sure you're not confusing the carb cleaner (great stuff as well) with the rusty tank cleaner?

 

Yeah, carb cleaner, not rust remover.
I use "Rust-Ease" for rust, and the carb cleaner for rotted fuel/varnish.
If you have not tried rustease, do yourself a favor and get some.
It's harmless to paint and plastic, washes off with water and works great.

 

Do you mean Evapo-Rust? http://www.harborfreight.com/1-gallon-evapo-rust-rust-remover-96431.html

Rust-Eze is one of the sponsorship logos in the Cars 2 movie.

 

Ha! Yes, but we nicknamed it after the movie, I always say rust ease now, brain fart!

 

Makes sense, think that's what I'll call it from now on.

 

Whatever it's called, it works great..

 

Off-topic, but what did the ol' man charge him for the bike?

 

Toilet bowl cleaner! It works great, just google it. It's pretty much the same as the muriatic acid mentioned above.

 

I have heard of people putting pennies and screws in the tank and filling it with gas, swirl it around for a little and flush it out with gas again. Then use some sort of rust remover.

 

THIS...nuts and blots in a tank with Kerosene will beat that stuff out.

DON'T use Creme kits, they're a mess and can, more often than not, come undone.

 

www.POR15.com

The motorcycle tank refurbishing kit is awesome!