Well, she is (still) a work in progress.........

[Strider]

Traveller that is.  Took the carbs apart when I was home last time but must have had a stuck float and she would go back and forth between idle and full throttle when I put the gas to her.  Then with the float, she started pouring gas out the air rails.  Ran out of time and had to go back to the ebolaland of Africa for a month.  Well, after a month, my time was done and it was time to fly back across the big pond back home.



Right before I left home, I ordered a new set of slow jets, main jets (105/35), pilot screw removal tool and a set of float needles.  They were waiting for me when I got home.



So, again, off came the carb package and air box.........got to clean the gas gunk back off the block from when the gas was coming out the air rail......




The BEFORE shot......bowls had been cleaned last time, but cleaned and put in the old jets.....time for  new ones.



Pulled the pilot screws and replaced with new o rings, washer and springs - that came with the kit, but couldn't do it before due to lack of the tool.........



And changed out the slow and main jets and float needles and adjusted the floats.  This is the after shot.....



Did a quick sync using the metal strip from the kit........



Time to get everything back together.  This was all I could do....was running out of my technical skills, so put her back together in hopes that she would crank and run this time.......




Well, now the moment of truth.........Traveller would either crank or I would sell her for parts since, like I said, I reached the end of my technical knowledge.......Oh, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE..............



WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Charged the new battery to top off, choked her up and with a puff of smoke, she came to life!!!!!!!!  VROOOOOOOM!  Ran a gallon of gas through a funnel into the new fuel lines and she ran like a top.............



Started getting her back together again...........she was purring...........



Adjusted the idle back again...........



Now, I get to tackle the rust in the gas tank and I can finish getting her back together.  Word of advise - dont let a bike sit for 3 years.  But after  just a few miles on the clock.........



I can now say..................... IT"S ALIVE!!!!!!!  ALIVE I SAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!



So, now the tank..........and let me just say, that is going to be a job.......then get her back together and on the road!!!  WHOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Whooray]

That's awesome Strider! Looking real good

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Good post     


Glad to see you are getting the Ol'Girl glued back together.

[dragonslayer]

I bought a tour that sat for 3 years under a cover and the tank was totally rusted inside.Put a gallon of cider vinegar in the tank and rotated it 90 degrees each day for a week and rinsed it out and no more rust.you must use cider vinegar and if I where to do it again I would use 2 or 3 gallons.After rinsing put enough wd40 in it to keep rust from forming till you fill it with gas.Easy to do and comes out great.

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

The one thing I haven't done yet is pull the tank and carbs to do. Carbs don't need attention now, but do need to replace of clean air filter and pulling the tank scares me for some reason........probably just cause I've never done it and read about the frustrations of some.

Good job and write up. Thanks 

[Hook#3287]

The one thing I haven't done yet is pull the tank and carbs to do. Carbs don't need attention now, but do need to replace of clean air filter and pulling the tank scares me for some reason........probably just cause I've never done it and read about the frustrations of some.

Good job and write up. Thanks  

Dave, pulling the tank isn't that bad.  The hardest part is getting at the 3 hoses and removing the petcock cover/handle screw.   After getting the screw out, I usually remove the two tank bolts and shim the back of the tank up with a screw driver handle or small rubber block.  Then you can see the tank vent hose under the tank back bottom.  I also use long needle nose from the left side of the bike to get at the petcock vent and fuel hoses .  Those OEM hose clamps are a PITA, so the only one that gets re-installed is the fuel one.

Pull back and up a little to the left and the tank pops right off.

Strider, nice write up and cool pics

[Thunderbolt]

Great news now you are an expert carb man. 

[jimmytee]

  Enjoyed your wooo hooo pic.

[Jess Tolbirt]

go rent a cement mixer and get some foam and a big box of bb's.. line the mixer with the foam to hold the tank and put the bb's in the tank and let it tumble for about 8 hours,,use a magnet to get the rust out and the bb's..

[TWiesen]

i saw another red and black interstate on 49/90 in lafaytte beginning of this week, i was wondering if you had gotten her on the road.  i saw your thread and its looking like you've almost gotten her complete.  i had rust in the tank of mine.  got a bill hirsch tank kit that seems to have worked pretty well.  it cleans etches and coats the tank in three steps.  still got enough left to do another tank if your interested.

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

The one thing I haven't done yet is pull the tank and carbs to do. Carbs don't need attention now, but do need to replace of clean air filter and pulling the tank scares me for some reason........probably just cause I've never done it and read about the frustrations of some.

Good job and write up. Thanks  

Dave, pulling the tank isn't that bad.  The hardest part is getting at the 3 hoses and removing the petcock cover/handle screw.   After getting the screw out, I usually remove the two tank bolts and shim the back of the tank up with a screw driver handle or small rubber block.  Then you can see the tank vent hose under the tank back bottom.  I also use long needle nose from the left side of the bike to get at the petcock vent and fuel hoses .  Those OEM hose clamps are a PITA, so the only one that gets re-installed is the fuel one.

Pull back and up a little to the left and the tank pops right off.

Strider, nice write up and cool pics

 

[ChromeDome]

Congratulations and Well Done! Now get out there and Ride!

[salty1]

Great job! Try evapo rust in the tank, I have had real good luck with it. Will not harm painted surfaces. IMO tank liners will eventually fail.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=evapo+rust

[Super Santa]

IF you coat the tank when you are finished with the rust removal, PLEASE, pull the petcock and filter from the tank FIRST.

Wizard and I pulled a petcock and filter from a tank once that had been coated with the filter left in the tank.  Bad!  Bad!  Bad!  I really does a job on the filter.

[G-Man]

Very cool, Strider.  Miss you, brother!

[hubcapsc]

My buddy Dan just sent me this email:

Hey Mike,

Some months ago, I came to the horrifying conclusion that I’d let the Valk sit with ethanol gas in it.  The inside of the tank was crusty rusty and smelled horrible.  I removed the tank and removed the standpipe/filter/fuel-flow-stopper-thing, and pulled long strings of rubbery goo out of the outlet port.  Everything was so nasty and it stunk so bad, I put the tank in my old truck where I wouldn’t have to smell it and forgot about it for a while to avoid depression.

I was talking to a pilot friend of mine from Habersham county (we share the same radio freq with them) who has a BMW bike, and had a similar issue.  He told me of a radiator shop over his way that specialized in cleaning out rusty crusty motorcycle tanks without harming the paint and without using a tank sealer.

So, I took my tank to him and he took it to his radiator shop guy.  He had the tank for ~3-weeks.  Got it back the other day, and it looks like new metal inside, coated with some kind of oil to keep rust off until I put gas in it..  He cut and re-welded two small holes in the bottom of the tank, otherwise not a scratch.

Next is to see what I’ve got to do with the carbs.  Hoping for a murcle, but who knows.

The shop is Williams Radiator, 1800 Hazel Creek Rd, Mt. Airy, GA 30563 706-778-6141.  He charged $200.

Hope things are good with you.  Take care.

-Dan