I am new to the site and can use some help. I have an 86 that I picked up last summer That sat inthe AZ sun for about 12 years. I have Been slowly cleaning every part with toothbruch and elbow grease and have it and running using an IV bottle for fuel. Fully buttoned up and ready for the first test ride I found out tonight that the tank is not flowing fuel.
I tried a search but only came up with petcock rebuilds and fuel pump issues.
What I am hoping to confirm with you is that the fuel tank should flow fuel out freely from both the primary and reserve holes in the tank when the petcock is removed. The primary was clogged with soild fuel (thabks again to the years in the AZ sun). I have it cleaned out as far back as I can get, but there is still no fuel coming out of the tank (with petcock removed). I have also tried air with no luck. I am assuming the fuel lines are still clogged inside the tank, bit want to be sure there is no mechanical system inside the tank that prevents fuel escape unless there is a pull from the pump. (I tried manually sucking on fuel line directly from the tank (with petcock still removed) with still no luck.
I plan to let it soak overnight with cleaner in the openings in hopes of better results tomorrow.
Any advice on opening the internal fuel lines in the tank?
Here’s the bike in current state. The other side has some rash so it will need re-painting, I’ll deal with the bodywork once I have it mechanically complete.
these tanks love rust if not used
use a airline to blow out the tank and get a cheap camera from ebay to inspect the inside of the tank for rust £10 with a usb plug
take the fuel pump off and check it pumps into a big container as rust inside stops it working
allways fit a new fuel filter as its the engines only protection
Welcome to the forum, the fuel should run freely from the petrol tank with the petcock removed, rust and silt build ups in old bikes, especially vf’s which have been stood for a long time is common place. Both the reserve and primary internal pipework extend into the fuel tank a fair way, both have a number of 90 degree bends and a gauze filter on the end, the reserve filter sits low down to the side of the tank in the narrow part opposite the pet cock, and the primary centrally, about an inch off the base of the tank, i think it will be nearly imposible to clean the pipes out manually by poking wire up the pipes.
The best way i found to clean and de-rust tanks is by electrolysis using bicarbonate of soda, water and a car battery. you will be amazed at the amount of crap that lurking in your tank.
Another thing to check is that air is being allowed into the tank through the fuel cap.
