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Sounds like fun Eric.
Titan shredder Honda 13hp engine problems
- Thread starter mickthetree
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Eric The Viking
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It would be, but it's a huge tank, and I'm not at all keen on the idea of shaking it about full of something very caustic and lots of gravel. I've been putting it off for over a year now - I'm keeping the tank dry and warm so it won't get worse, but I need to make some sort of jig to mount it so I can invert it to agitate the chemistry and pour stuff out again.
It's made worse by the fact that BMW painted the inside of the tank, and it's that layer which failed. I first noticed specks of the interior paint in the float bowls, and in the petcock filters, several years ago, but stupidly ignored it. So all the interior paint has to come off before de-rusting, then passivating/priming (chromate, I think), and then re-coating the inside, all without gumming up the petcock holes or getting any stripper on the outside, as a respray would be beyond my budget.
The petcock holes are really difficult, too, as they're a wide, fine, non-standard male thread on the tank (each petcock's 'nut' has both left- and right-hand threads on it that meet in the middle). Because of all the chemicals, I've a horrid feeling that each chemical will need different bungs, as at least one stage will probably dissolve anything rubber or plastic.
Call me a coward...
E.
It's made worse by the fact that BMW painted the inside of the tank, and it's that layer which failed. I first noticed specks of the interior paint in the float bowls, and in the petcock filters, several years ago, but stupidly ignored it. So all the interior paint has to come off before de-rusting, then passivating/priming (chromate, I think), and then re-coating the inside, all without gumming up the petcock holes or getting any stripper on the outside, as a respray would be beyond my budget.
The petcock holes are really difficult, too, as they're a wide, fine, non-standard male thread on the tank (each petcock's 'nut' has both left- and right-hand threads on it that meet in the middle). Because of all the chemicals, I've a horrid feeling that each chemical will need different bungs, as at least one stage will probably dissolve anything rubber or plastic.
Call me a coward...
E.
Eric The Viking
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Yup. There are a couple of YouTube videos, too.
But I have to remove crud, rust, and what remains of BMW's original paint too, before treating it properly. If it was easy I'd have done it already :-(
The bike should look like this:
But mine has a single front disc and pot guards, shorter screen and the blue is slightly darker (more off-black really). Same luggage tho.
I'm seriously considering giving it to the pros to sort out. but as I said, I'm really trying to avoid a respray, as it matches the fairing, and the back fairing, and the side panels, etc., and it could all end up horribly expensive if I'm not extremely careful.
To make matters worse, it's dark metallic blue. When I got the bike, years ago, the bottom fairing panel was smashed under the LH pot ("they all do that, sir"), and by some fluke I managed to match it in pretty well by lightly overspraying metallic blue and black with lacquer on top. I'm still amazed I got away with it, but that was all cellulose paints, and almost out of sight under the pot, too.
The original BMW design was OK-ish, but fitting the official pot guards - a very sensible idea, as I've found out on several occasions - involves making holes in the fairing that really weaken it and make it very hard to put on and remove (without cracking it). Or you curse a lot, take the pot guards off first, and still struggle with getting the weakened fairing piece over the cylinder head.
The petcocks are like these (minus the rust stains!):
The nut at the top is the special double-threaded one. The gauze filters go round those top pipes, too, which makes the diameter of the tank hole critical. So another problem is that I need to coat it, but can't let the goo accumulate there.
I ought to strip the faring and get it all re-sprayed really (you can still get the decals, and I have most of them just in case), but it would cost more than the bike is worth, probably. Mind you, those tanks are on the bay in well-used condition for over $300, so maybe it's an investment...
But I have to remove crud, rust, and what remains of BMW's original paint too, before treating it properly. If it was easy I'd have done it already :-(
The bike should look like this:
But mine has a single front disc and pot guards, shorter screen and the blue is slightly darker (more off-black really). Same luggage tho.
I'm seriously considering giving it to the pros to sort out. but as I said, I'm really trying to avoid a respray, as it matches the fairing, and the back fairing, and the side panels, etc., and it could all end up horribly expensive if I'm not extremely careful.
To make matters worse, it's dark metallic blue. When I got the bike, years ago, the bottom fairing panel was smashed under the LH pot ("they all do that, sir"), and by some fluke I managed to match it in pretty well by lightly overspraying metallic blue and black with lacquer on top. I'm still amazed I got away with it, but that was all cellulose paints, and almost out of sight under the pot, too.
The original BMW design was OK-ish, but fitting the official pot guards - a very sensible idea, as I've found out on several occasions - involves making holes in the fairing that really weaken it and make it very hard to put on and remove (without cracking it). Or you curse a lot, take the pot guards off first, and still struggle with getting the weakened fairing piece over the cylinder head.
The petcocks are like these (minus the rust stains!):
The nut at the top is the special double-threaded one. The gauze filters go round those top pipes, too, which makes the diameter of the tank hole critical. So another problem is that I need to coat it, but can't let the goo accumulate there.
I ought to strip the faring and get it all re-sprayed really (you can still get the decals, and I have most of them just in case), but it would cost more than the bike is worth, probably. Mind you, those tanks are on the bay in well-used condition for over $300, so maybe it's an investment...
