Fazer Fungus!

[Wyberton John]

My poor baby is sick - she badly needs some bike antibiotics!

Having not lifted my fuel tank for 2 years (not a year as I say in the vid - last year I only rode it 4 times due to poor health and did practically nothing as far as maintenance goes), whilst stripping the bike for a thorough dig-out clean up, I removed the tank to find this:

https://youtu.be/H2dfkjEpJZw


Finished puking? Well, I'm open to suggestions to the best way forward (excluding scrapping or aiming a fire hose at it), but I think cleaning it all off with a bucket and some rags will take forever and probably won't get rid of everything it needs to.

Yuk!
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Fazer Thou Gen 1

[Ste]

New bike time.

Cillit Bang should kill whatever life forms you've been cultivating there.

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

I'd start with Tesco's mildew remover.

[Sister Sledge]

I'd say Domestos but then again it'll melt copper wires that stuff.
What about treating it with Jayes Fluid? I just don't know.
Perhaps bleach and then rinse that off quickly using a hot water pressure washer and then drying and sorting the connectors immediately??

The workshop? Is it wood did you say? If it is it looks like that green coating you get on things that've been parked beneath some trees for a long time?

Is their a washing machine or tumble dryer in the workshop or venting to it? Tumble dryers chuck our damp air and kill things.

Could well be an allergic reaction to it. I do know that mildew can wreck peoples lungs.
Might be good news for you this - the bike is showing you what's making you ill.
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CCM 404 DS

[ADSrox0r]

Has it got foam padding under the tank? If so it'll be a mould breeding ground.
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Current bikes: '08 VFR 800 VTEC(yo) , '07 ZZR1400 Winter hack: '95 Aprilia 650 Pegaso Currently lusting after: RC30

[Wyberton John]

Thanks for your replies, guys.

No - there's no foam under the tank.

Yes, it is a wooden workshop we bought from Homebase. Got a builder neighbour to lay down a concrete base and built it ourselves on top.

The previous one, erected by the then owners, was a real shithouse of a shed - the buggers hadn't bothered with a proper foundation and just built the thing on a couple of wood palletts, as we found out when my foot went straight through the floor!

I digress...

I'm taking it the Cillit Bang comment wasn't a joke - and looking at the low-down, it actually looks like it might be right for the job, seeing as my bicarbonate of soda hasn't been so great at this kind of thing

We'll keep an eye out for some in town tomorrow.

I'm very reluctant to put the pressure washer on that lot - but I'd be quite happy to douse it with a garden hose after 'treatment'. I can see me then cleaning up every individual cable and hose until it's all free of fungus and gleaming again - which might take a while.

In any case, I'll make sure to upload some pics when it's sorted.

edit: No, no ventilation - but one of the windows has broken in half, how about that?
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Fazer Thou Gen 1

[Wyberton John]

Just spotted this:

How to Remove Mold From Rubber

Vinegar.
Protect your skin and eyes with rubber gloves and goggles.
Fill a clean, half-gallon spray bottle with white distilled vinegar. ...
Spray the mold with the vinegar, and let the vinegar saturate the mold for two to four hours.
Rinse the rubber with water, and dry it thoroughly.
Bleach.

Sounds reasonable - I use white vinegar for a number of hygiene
applications
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Fazer Thou Gen 1

[Ste]

Cillit Bang was a serious suggestion although it was more of a guess than a suggestion. No idea what it will do to paintwork that it comes into contact with so be slightly careful.

Unless the mouldy fungus washes straight off after Cillit Bang has had a chance to soak in and do it's thing, you'll need to attack the mould with a brush and that won't be a nice job.

[Andy_Pagin]

I've found this works well on household mould
https://i.imgur.com/4xuwq4j.jpg
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They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[grr666]

Phwooooar!!! I'd fucking love to clean that. Even if it took all day. Would look new after I had finished too.

#detailersarementallyill


FWIW I'd use a strong APC and water mixture first. I'd use a brush to agitate the mould and suds and get into all
the nooks and crannies. Then rinse with watering can complete with its diffuser. After the bulk of the scuzz had gone
I'd clean each bit individually as many times as necessary. I'd tear up rag into strips and clean tight areas using a "flossing"
technique, throwing the strips away as they become crudded up. Avoid direct sunshine until you want the bike to dry,
APC shouldn't be allowed to bake on and should be kept wet until it's rinsed away.

https://www.theartofcleanliness.com/automotive/best-all-purpose-cleaners-car-detailing/
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Wyberton John]

Thanks for the further suggestions.

I've bought a couple of suitable washing-up brushes and have a large bag full of old socks to use for gungy cleaning jobs - perfect for this.

I'm going to try the neat white vinegar first - followed by bleach and then, if that doesn't shift it, the Cillit Bang stuff (or whatever suitable stuff we find in the local shops).

After a decent slushing and drying - with a hairdryer if necessary - I'll apply a liberal toothbrushing of Armor All, wiping it to a nice shine

That's 'Plan A', anyway. I have plenty of protective clothing and face masks, too.
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Fazer Thou Gen 1

[Sister Sledge]

What about Milton Fluid? You know - sterilises babys bottles? Doesn't seem to damage babies so might be OK on motorcycle electrics??
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CCM 404 DS

[MCN]

Cillit Bang is as good at sorting this sort of problem as Wire Brush and Detol.

The radiator on my bike was clagged up with 'corrosion', road grit, bugs.

Cillit bang was skooshed into the bastirt and then rinsed off and repeated several times.

Radiator function was thoroughly restored enough to get some more miles out of the bastirt before eventual replacement.

Cillit Bang is not a Joke.

'Wiper System for Visors' is funny though. (Not for some folk mind you. Watch what you say. Or watch what you see if you have a 'Precipetant Friend' fitted. Yet to see a production version. We are all waiting.)
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[doggone]

Some kind of steam action would be good, and do away with airborne particles which would be best avoided.

It looks rather like sticky (tree?) pollen which has subsequently gone mouldy.
I noticed the other day amazing clouds of pollen from leylandii type conifers, which you don't think of as having 'catkins'

[Wyberton John]

I've just completed thoroughly soaking it in white vinegar - smell like a chip shop now!

At around 4pm I'll go and wrinse it off - I've covered it over with an old sweatshirt in the meantime.

I bought two bottle of the Cillit Bang this morning - not sure which would be better to use as one only states hard surfaces for degunging and the other is an overall cleaner job.

The strong one is the black mould remover thing - I'm not sure what that will do to my rubber pipes, so a bit wary.

After slushing through and drying off as much as poss later this afternoon, I'll check it in the morning and apply the heavy stuff.

*tried calling Cillit Bang lot to ask, but the lazy fekkers are 9-5 weekday shineyarses. Sent an email, but I don't fancy hanging around till next week for a reply - they will probably just give me the prepared legal cop-out clauses bollox anyway.
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Fazer Thou Gen 1

[doggone]

The cillit bang active ingredient is bleach - Sodium Hypochloride.
That's the same stuff put in swimming pools and drinking water at low rate.
It could damage rubber but if properly removed after a sensible period should be OK

[grr666]

I can't imagine for a moment BARRY SCOTT will say go ahead and spray this all over your motorcycle tbh.
On using household products in automotive applications , I've known people to successfully clean turbos with Mr Muscle
oven cleaner so it's not as daft as it sounds.
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Freddyfruitba...]

Isn't the bigger picture here preventing it from happening again? Which it surely will if the bike's stored in the same place?
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KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS->R1250RS

[Ste]

What are you wanting to ask Cillit Bang?

Their advice on using their products to clean mouldy fungus from motorcycles will range from "we don't know" to "we strongly you advise you not to do that because your bike could dissolve causing many fluffy kittens to die".

Be careful with where you're spraying it and try using it on a small area first to make sure it's not going to melt your bike. You're only really at risk of it doing bad things to rubber hoses or any other part of your bike if you leave it for too long before hosing it off.

[Wyberton John]

All done.

Checked under the cover and found the vinegar had all evapourated, so I got on with the Cillit Bang stuff - I used the mild, general use one.

Sprayed it liberally, all over the affected area, then rubbed it around with a 2inch nylon-haired stiff paintbrush, left it for about 1 minute then poured 2 fills of the garden watering can over it - gave everything a decent wipe, aaaand...

went from this...

https://i.postimg.cc/NGmhmJPT/gunge.jpg

to this:

https://i.postimg.cc/j2zGT2Jv/degunge.jpg

Still not completely finished - but the rest can wait, as my back is aching like a barsteward.

So thanks to Ste - as the first to mention it - the Bang did the trick!

Going to be spending the whole week working on this spring clean, so I'll be knocking back the diazepam at some rate (it loosens the muscles) and working my microwave overtime with the wheat bag!

It's hard work being an old duffer

Sorted!
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Fazer Thou Gen 1

[Sister Sledge]

Kin ell it even turned the bike around for you!

Be careful to fully rinse off. Some sprays have diluted acid in them and it'll eat connectors if not fully washed out (if it got in).
For me I'd be going over the wire connectors and redoing any weather protection on them - that factor 50 stuff or whatever it is.
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CCM 404 DS

[Wyberton John]

After rinsing I cleaned the major connectors - I'll do the rest tomorrow.
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Fazer Thou Gen 1

[gbrand42]

When I saw this thread was about irritating and unsightly fungus on a fazer I thought for a minute Bodytard was back.
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Yamaha RD50M, Honda C90, Yamaha RS100, Yamaha RD125LC, Honda XL125 V9 Varadero, Honda NT700VA, Honda VFR800X, Honda CRF1000L, Honda ST1300 Pan European

[Wyberton John]

[Ste]

Yeah it's a bit of a useless reply but they were always going to say something that.

Send them a reply with copies of the before and after photos so they get to see how well it worked.