Getting an unused SV650 back on the road

[MCR101]

Hi, this is my first post so hello everyone.

I'm looking to get my bike back on the road and was hoping to get some advice from you good folks. The bike is a 2004 Suzuki SV650S with only 1200 mile on the clock, it's the fuel injected model. It's not been started for at least 5 years and it wasn't prepped for storage so has old fuel in the tank. It's been kept both in and out of the garage over the years.

I'm a complete novice when it comes to motorcycle maintenance but you've got to start somewhere right? Armed with a few tools, a Haynes manual and google, this seems like a good project to start on and learn some stuff.

From what I've read so far, before attempting to start the bike, I need to do the following...

Sort out the fuel tank
Change engine oil
Swap the spark plugs
Put some oil down each cyclinder
Fit a new battery

I know there's other stuff to do once it's running but for now, does that sound about right?

To firstly sort out the fuel tank, I plan to do the following...
1. Remove the fuel tank, instructions are in the haynes manual.
2. Add a chain to the tank (or bolts and washers on a zip tie) along with a cleaning agent (possibley apple cider vinegar), shake occasionally.
3. Empty and filter out all the crap and repeat the previous step until no more rust/debris is left in the tank.
4. Protect the tank by either filling with fresh fuel or by coating in oil.

What cleaning agent should I use? I don't particularly want to handle any dangerous chemicals, I watched a youtube video where Apple Cider Vinegar had good results on rust so that's why I'm considering that.

If at the end I coat inside the tank with oil to protect it, what oil and how much should I use? and how do I then get rid of the oil when ready to us it again and fill with fresh fuel?

I'll try and post some pics when I'm doing the work to track progress and hopefully to help others in the future.

Cheers
MCR101

[stirlinggaz]

hi,
1st thing i'd be doing is putting a drop or 2 of oil down each spark plug hole, & leave it overnight. THEN, you can start properly.
the oil might help any piston rings become unstuck from cylinder walls.
remove side cover + trurn the engine over by hand. (by using a ratchet + the correct sized socket).
turn it over, nice + easy & if you can get it to move right round, without any horrendous scraping noises, your doing well.

fuel tank : drain all the old fuel 1st. how you know you will need to use stuff tied to anything to clean it out?
is the old fuel full of rust + debris?
worth looking in wsm or haynes to see how petcock works + if it has a little filter in it. these get blocked with rusted bits of tanks + other sh*t.

carbs : there gonna be full of old fuel which over turns into a very thick jelly like substance + is a nightmnare to remove properly from jets etc.
only solution is to remove the carbs + get them cleaned. properly, meaning all the jets cleaned out etc.
theres a guide available in this forum if your unsure of it or it might be worth getting them professionally cleaned, ultrasonically or whatever, if you dont fancy the job. (might also need carb re-build kit)

battery : fit a new one. (unless you have an expensive charger which recovers deeply discharged +/or sulphated batteries) cheaper just replacing battery.

if the fuel tank is indeed rusted to bggery, theres various methods of cleaning them out. after cleaning, usual treatment is por15 or petseal, the former being the best supposedly.

if it were me, i'd try & get the bike started with a remote fuel tank, just to make sure the engine internals are all there

brakes : change pads + change fluid.
oil : change + replace filter.
everything else, follow wsm or book of lies,

goodl luck+ get some pics up asap! we like pics in here.

cheers,
GAZ

ps:welcome to forum btw

[MCR101]

Cheers for the reply stirlinggaz and the welcome.

Have spent tonight clearing out the garage to make room for the work.

I've ordered a servicing kit for the bike (filters/oil/spark plugs), once it arrives I'll remove the spark plugs and drop in a bit of oil as you've suggested and leave it for a couple of days. Turning the engine over by hand makes sense.... just not sure how to do it, had a quick look in the haynes manual and couldn't see anything... will have another look later. Could I pop it in gear and turn the back wheel to get things moving? Would that be possible even?

Don't need to worry about the carbs as the bike is fuel injected.

The fuel tank looks dirty when I look inside it, I assumed it would be rusty and need cleaning based on other people posting similar things about bikes that have been sat with fuel in the tank for a long time. I'll get the tank and drain it and see what comes out

[Alex A]

It may not be necessary to over-complicate things.

Personally I'd just drain the tank, put new fuel in, replace the (almost certainly dead) battery, check and top up the oil, and fire it up. Run it for a bit and do an oil/filter change.

Engine aside, the chain might need attention after being static for 5 years too. And check the tyre walls/tread for cracks. Check the fork seals haven't perished. And consider new brake pads.

You got any photos of the bike?

[MCR101]

Just had another look and the tank does look rusted, but will know this for sure when I drain it later in the week.

Will defo be looking at the chain and tyres as suggested, but want to get it running first.

I've attached a pic of the bike before I destroy it

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/imag0590.jpg

[Alex A]

Lovely example.

I can't imagine you should have much trouble getting it back on the road.

[MCR101]

Tonight I removed the tank from the bike and drained the old fuel, it took me a while, I tried turning the tank upside down but nothing came out, which was a bit confusing. I did a quick search and found that I either needed to syphon out the fuel or use the electronic fuel pump in the tank by connecting it to the a battery. Decided to go with the syphon method as I had a hand pump and although it took me a while trying to get the hose into the right places whilst tilting the tank in a few different directions (on it's side was best) I've managed to empty it, about 4 litres in total.

Here's a few pics

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-gMnzl9OSvWw/U5mcw78yUWI/AAAAAAAAAV4/8huzo2S8-9Y/w800-h453-no/IMAG0618.jpg

This is old fuel that was drained, not sure about the colour, but was fairly clean
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bNEDJwUbvo0/U5mcyZJSDfI/AAAAAAAAAWA/3k62Nucvs-A/w800-h453-no/IMAG0624.jpg

Here's a pic of the inside of the tank, you can see the grime in there.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ADvGHViF0Dk/U5mdf7u3lcI/AAAAAAAAAXY/ESg5y_2Omf0/w329-h581-no/IMAG0613.jpg

I am going to try and clean tank out with some apple cider vinegar, I figure it's worth a shot... now I'm thinking I'll have to remove the fuel pump (pic below) from the tank to enable me to rinse and drain it easily as tipping it upside down didn't drain any fuel... I'll look into this tomorrow, does anyone know if this is straight forward?
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uDofViDHaU8/U5mdi_tBEGI/AAAAAAAAAX8/x3t156AHUkk/w800-h453-no/IMAG0631.jpg

[Howling Terror]

Apple Cider vinegar is a new one on me.
Why not use some clean petrol to swill it?
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Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[mudcow007]

could you not just put 12v to the pump an use that to get rid of the old fuel n stuff?

ahh thinking about it, it might drag crud into its self an block it up...

oh an dont ever ever ever use petseal (if the tank is rusty) i have it in mine, an its dissolving

[Vincent]

I'd be surprised if anything needed doing to the tank. I'd just refresh the fuel and have a go at starting it up. It'll probably be a bit lumpy for the first minute or so then clean itself out. I started a bike recently that had been standing, outside, for 10 years and all I had to do was clean out the pilot jets.....of which you don't have any. It might be worth just checking inside the airbox in case some rodent has set up home in there.
____________________
Space Is Deep

[sidewinder]

Can't you put the bike into first and push the bike to get the pistons moving?

[MCR101]

HT - apple cider vinegar does seem a bit of a strange choice I admit, have seen it on various articles about rusted tanks and youtube videos and it seems to get good reviews and I like the fact it's easy to handle and not corrosive on the paintwork etc. Have got 5 litres of it now so will soon find out.

mudcow007 - yea I'm hoping that I don't have to seal the tank, my plan is to soak it in the vinegar a few times, rinsing it out in between and then use some seafoam motor treatment to help clean up anything in the the fuel lines and injectors... reading that back sounds like I know what I'm talking about... and I really don't

Vincent - agreed, I reckon it would start with some fresh fuel in it tbh, but I'm hoping this extra step as well as giving me a bit of experience working on the bike, will prevent future problems.

sidewinder - would that work? I don't know

[MCR101]

Removed the fuel pump tonight to take a look inside the tank, it is filthy but perhaps not as bad as I thought.

Pictures of the fuel pump and inside the tank are below.

What do you reckon? compared to other tanks you've seen?


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-PNUwHOUQHNg/U5n_Qt1PC8I/AAAAAAAAAjA/soSceOHojvI/w800-h453-no/IMAG0638.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GzNnyul4gw0/U5n_RL96tpI/AAAAAAAAAjI/4LTdwQwwLVk/w800-h453-no/IMAG0641.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-s6gSP0_T6DQ/U5n_R91RZKI/AAAAAAAAAjU/Icw2cMdFjhU/w800-h453-no/IMAG0645.jpg

[Vincent]

Compared to some of the tanks I've had, some of which I've paid good money for....it's brand new
Nah....it's all good. Just clean it up with some rag, swill it out a couple of times, and it'll be fine. there's all sorts of detergents in fuel now, it''ll soon look new again

Maybe you could look into fitting an inline filter for a few months to be on the safe side?
____________________
Space Is Deep

[mudcow007]

agree with vincent, that looks spanking new compared to all of my tanks

me personally i would stick a bit of juice in there, slosh it around an drain into a container - if it has bits in, then use seafoam etc

if its clear, wack it back on an use (& abuse)

i thinks your thinking too much into it.....

[skatefreak]

I picked up a cbr600 f3 (1995) with 38,000 on the clock that had been left for 2-3 years unused.
New battery, oil change, new pads, (should have bled the brakes) and off for the MOT!
Been using it for a year now, reliable as anything!
Will get valve clearances/filters/plugs etc done this summer

Best regards

-Jvr

[MCR101]

cheers for the replies, agreed my plan seems a bit OTT now, so will just put in some fresh fuel and rinse the tank out and see what comes out...

hopefully will get a chance to do this over the weekend.

anyone any idea where to get rid of old fuel? none of our council recycling centres take it and I don't have anything else petrol powered to use it on.

[mudcow007]

[Vincent]

[Az]

[MCR101]

Today I've changed the oil, checked the air filter which was fine, put a bit of oil in each cylinder and changed the spark plugs. I didn't bother changing the oil filter, I'll change that on the next oil change after I've got the bike running.

I did have a problem with one of the spark plug leads, where the rubber at the end of lead stuck to the spark plug when I removed the lead. I then couldn't get my socket on the spark plug to remove it.

After a bit of head scratching, I tried pulling the rubber out with some long nose pliers, but this only pulled out the top half, so I took a screw driver to it to break it into two pieces which I was then able to remove. I sprayed some compressed air in there to get rid of any bits and then was able to remove the spark plug.

Here is a pic of the spark plugs (and the rubber in two pieces) and you can see on the bottom spark plug the black rubber line around the plug where the rubber had melted onto it.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-iCeu4S02AJU/U5yo2OIpmwI/AAAAAAAAAkg/uLbvI9neo0M/w800-h564-no/IMAG0657.jpg

Is the rubber part at the end of the spark plug lead needed? I've attached the lead back to the spark plug without the rubber, is this going to be ok?

[edit: found that the rubber part is called the spark plug cap seal. I've ordered one ]

Luckily this was on the rear sparkplug which is accessible under the seat, if it had been the front one where access is limited, I'd have been stuck.

I've managed to get a used battery of a someone which is supposedly fine and is currently on the trickle charger.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to rinse the fuel tank with fresh fuel, re-attach the tank and starting it up. Fingers crossed.

[mudcow007]

yep its cool to leave em off, they are only there to stop water from getting at your caps

wont stop it from running

[TUG]

[Alex A]

Replace it.

[mudcow007]