Removing the fuel tank, Yes I have actually done something

I have actually done something !

The sun is out and after going out for the day I have spent an hour on the bike. I know it my not sound very much but I have now got the seat and tank of and it feels like a project bike and not a pile of scrap.

So this is how I did It

Remove the seat by unlocking with the key and lifting it off, then remove the side panels, these are just held on by rubber grommets and just pull off.

You can then disconnect the battery, Sparks and fuel are not a good combination !

Then undo the two bolts on the back of the tank.

Under the left hand side of the tank pull off the two pipes attached to the fuel tap. The main fuel line to the carbs is on the right of the fuel tap as you look at it and the vacuum pipe at the rear of the tap

The main fuel line to the carbs just pulls off

And so does the vacuum pipe at the rear of the tap

Then on the right of the tank disconnect the fuel sender gauge block connector, You can see it in the picture below just resting on top of the carb.

Fuel gauge sender connector just pulls apart 

There are also two breather pipes under the right hand side of the tank, one from the fuel sender unit and one from the rear of the tank. You can leave these on the tank if you wish ( I did ) just note were these are routed as you will need to re route them in the same place on reassembly.

Breather pipe from fuel gauge sender runs under tank

Then runs parallel with the breather pipe  from the rear of the tank
down between the frame and the battery box

On this bike they were cable tied to the rear brake master cylinder

Then they run down through two loops on the swingarm

Its then just a case of lifting the rear of the tank and easing it towards the back of the bike to slide it off the two rubber locating lugs at the front of the tank. If you have left the breather pipes on then these just need to be eased out too.

And that's it the tank is off !

The underside of the tank showing the various parts underneath

At the bottom ( right hand side of tank ) is the fuel sender unit with the electrical connector and breather attached
and the other breather pipe at the rear.

At the top ( left hand side ) is the fuel tap showing the two pipe connectors.

Refitting is just the reverse of removal, 

I will show the restoration of the tank and bodywork in a later post and show the refitting when I finally resemble the bike .

Remember work safely and carefully and make sure you take note of any health and safety regulations at all times.

Rain stops play !

Rain Stops Play !

My decision to try and do this rebuild at home seemed simple enough.

I wanted to work on a bike like I did as a teenager, outside in the garden 

with just the basic tools I had at the time and usually with no money either.

1. I knew I would not be able to use all my tools and equipment as they are at my workshop out of town.
2. I knew I would be spending as little as I could get away with, just to see how much could be done on a very small budget.
3. I knew that only working on the bike in my spare time after work would mean it wont get done in a few weeks, its going to be more like 5 months
4. I knew that working on parts inside my home ( I do not have a workshop at home ) would not please my wife !

but that was going to be the point of this challenge and I was going to be quite strict on myself and follow the rules I set above and I have decided to do this blog partly as a way of enforcing those rules as that way you are watching me and will hopefully encourage me and keep me true to these rules.

BUT...................

I forgot about the BLOODY RAIN !

I expected to have the bike completely striped into its major components by now but it has rained every night since I decided to do this.

So as soon as its dry I will start but for now its just sitting there getting even more rusty.

What have I done ........

Getting Motivated

Today I came home from work and took a look at the bike sitting outside in the sunshine.

I thought "bloody hell what am I going to do?"

Technically this bike is barely suitable for spares and I would not even entertain attempting to touch it under normal circumstances as it is not worth anything now and it wont be worth much even if I do get it looking good because its not exactly a sought after classic.

But then that is not the point, The point of this exercise is to see what I can do with no money and basic equipment to save this bike from the scrap yard.

It would be fairly easy to do something with it if I was prepared to take it to the workshop and throw some money at it as I normally would but this is going to be my challenge to myself, my attempt to do something the hard way, something to make me think !

So I will get on with the strip down and post my thoughts and progress as often as possible.