im in the process of repainting my bike and id like to know how to dry the tank out completely.

-the tank is off the bike
-ive drained out as much as i can however there seems to be a bit left that i cant get out
-gas can be heard swirling around when tank is shaken

 

Before you do a complete drain, pour in a quart of kerosene.
Swirl that around for a bit, to pickup any trash.
Drain that through the petcock, run it through a paper filter.
Save it for cleanup, when you're painting.

The reason I suggest the kerosene...low flash point.
It will replace the gasoline by volume and you'll be less likely to get ignition.

After you've drained all of the kerosene you can through the petcock...

Pull the petcock, and swirl the dregs into a basin, of some sort.

It's a little mess, getting the last bit out.
Do it outdoors, so you don't get flammable fumes building up.

As for the 'last drop', just leave it outside for a bit,
with the cap open. It will evaporate pretty quickly.

Check the filter screen, while you've got the petcock off.
Inspect/clean the screen, same for the gasket and replace if needed.

Good luck, Ern

 

F4i's do not have a petcock.

Are you painting it or are you getting it painted? You could always syphon out what you can. There is some that gets stuck in the walls of the tank. Not to mention whats in the pump and filter. Its time consuming to get it all out. Pump it all out. Run a power source to the pump connection and that will force the fuel out through the line as much as its able too. Stop, swirl around and try to get the rest back at the bottom of tank. And repeat. After that, shake it up, let it sit.

Honestly though, you could always just run it dry too. Not the best for the bike, but its not going to kill the motor, especially if you never do it. After that let it sit and evaporate.

-Poss

 

thanks for the quick replies. tbh id rather not hook it back up and run it till it dies. A friend works in a shop so i guess i am both painting it myself and getting it paint lol. i guess what i should have asked was is it safe for a bit of gas to remain in the tank if i am getting the painted.

 

Will it be out in an oven or under an IR lamp to cure afterwards?

 

Back in the Navy, we used to hook up blowers to openings in the fuel cells before we crawled inside them to do scheduled maintenance. They were dry and fume free when we were in there. Maybe you could do something like hooking up a hose to a shop vac exhaust and blow that through the tank until it's dried out.

 

itll be done in an actual paint booth.

 

I'm pretty sure to do a decent/proper job of cleaning the inside of tank for re-pain, you will need to bead-blast and/or acid wash the inside before painting... just to be sure there is no rust inside.