Fuel Tank question - FB Mondial HPS 125 cc

[Cleo the cat]

Hi folks,

I'm a new rider and just got my first bike

I recently bought this and have been checking the battery level which is a bit of a pain with this bike - you need to take the fuel tank off as its underneath it which thanks to a youtube video I managed to achieve without breaking anything

To take the fuel tank off I unplugged an electric wire and the "main" fuel pipe the only other things attached to it where two rubber thin hose's (one at each side) which when i followed down the bike and didn't seem to be connected to anything.

I don't know If these are a general thing on most fuel tanks, some sort of overflow maybe?

This is my first bike (just done my CBT ) which I bought a few weeks ago from ebay, It has a new MOT but needs a service which I'm going to sort out this week.

Thanks for any help

[P.addy]

You don't need to really check the battery. If it doesn't start, then you do.

[Cleo the cat]

I was going to leave it be, but its not been used much in the last couple months so thought I would check it to be on the safe side.

Do bike's lose roughly 1% charge per day?

Being a new biker thought the experience wouldn't hurt either, I would like to get reasonably self sufficient at maintaining things.

I didn't plan on taking the fuel tank of quite yet though but never mind.

I took a picture (hopefully it shows up) to show the two hose's

[MarJay]

[Cleo the cat]

Thanks for the help !

[Riejufixing]

One could be to drain water that collects around the fuel tank filling hole (under the tank lid).

[NJD]

A newbie that has an activate interest in knowing the mechanical state of their bike: miracles do occur.

You may be able to get a cable that connects to the battery permanently and then you can just plug a charger into it as and when needed, but as Paddy points out the only real time you need to check it from hereon (providing voltage reading was in correct range, and no problems are occurring with electrics / start-up) is when a problem occurs.

Keep in mind that you'd need a plug outlet nearby so may only be useful if you've got a garage. I've never left a bike alone long enough to warrant a trickle charge, or had one were the battery was hard to get to when I did want to charge it so can't comment on practicality of them (permanent fixed plug charger).

Buying a charger can't hurt for the long-run. I went with Sealey SP13S, but the ones you'll find in your local shop (J&S, etc) will probably be Oxford branded (can't comment).

Biggest tip that newbies miss is to coat their bikes in ACF-50. One of the spray cans should be more than enough, and a clean rag (or a few). Will smoke and smell like shit on start-up but will protect bike as good as one can expect if ridden in winter.

heated grips may also prove helpful if you're going to ride at this time of year (ensure you get one with the same packaging as it has better waterproof connectors and a built in in-line fuse over the older, and perhaps now cheaper, version that looks identical -- measuring the length of your current grips will tell you what size you'd need, if interested). And perhaps handguards, but depends a lot on the bike.
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[P.addy]

[Cleo the cat]

Thanks for the info/tips

NJD & Paddy - I bought a charger on sale a couple weeks ago, oxford oximiser 900 and been reading through the instructions, turns out it comes with the wires you mentioned you can leave on to get easy access in the future, glad about that

I also bought a can of the ACF 50 when I got the charger It sounded like it would be handy, haven't used it yet though on my to do list.

The bike also needs new grips which I was having a little look for, wasn't sure about those heated ones but I'll give them another look. The stock ones that come with the bike tend to go miss colored brown fades goes abit yellowish ( my ones ) and the red ones turn pink.

I'm hoping to get some riding done over the winter If its mild enough and no ice, my area tends to be OK, salty sea air rarely snows.

cheers again