Gas has been sitting in the tank for about 15 years

Hi this my first time posting and first time I've had to deal with a bike like this one, I just got a 86 vf500f that's been sitting in a shop for 20 years, When I picked it up I was told there was no gas in it, come to find out the gas was in there the whole time and I just need to clean out the tank and I know how to clean the tank but I don't know how to get that fitler out that sits on top of the petcock can anyone help me get it out?

Also was wondering if switching to a top gas tank filter would be better than the bottom one after its all cleaned out, and if anyone does have any special tricks on cleaning out the gas tank easier I would love to hear them. Thanks so much for the help

 

Is the filter stuck to the tank or petcock? My 500 didn’t have a filter, so I put a small inline filter between the tank and carbs. It took me a couple of tries to get fuel line layout proper.
I did this mod to my petcock as well. Cleaning…I rinse with ton old isopropyl alcohol. I am sure others have better methods.

http://daughertymotorsports.com/howto/tankvalve/tankvalve.html

 

You can drain most of the fuel that is left by tipping the tank over. There is a hole in the filler lip so the fuel will come out. The way the tank is designed the fuel will sit lower than the petcock so you have to tip it over.

I just went through this on my 86 interceptor.

2 bolts hold the one year only petcock in place. Gasket is simple oring. Part is NLA the oring from a cbr1100 will work. If you want I can dig out my notes.

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Is there rust in tank?

 

Oh yeah you can move the tank around and hear it lol it sucks but I can clean it and reseal if I have to, next problem is the lock on the cap is broken and won't open has anyone had this happen to them either

 

Yeah it has a little one that sits on the peacock it's oem on there I might have to do that conversion though I didn't even think about that

 

Been a while since I had a VF500F, but here are my thoughts:

1) Im not sure there's an in tank filter on that petcock is there ?. As I recall they have 2 pickup tubes (for fuel "On" and Fuel "reserve") and the filter is inline outside the tank (unless im thinking of the VF1000R....its been a while)
2) Soak the gas cap in penetrating oil, inject into the key hole, let soak. insert the key and work it back and forth (don't snap the key off).. Soak with more penetrating oil, repeat...
3) once you get the cap off syphon all the fuel out with a vacume oil/fluid extractor (theyre cheap and will get out 99% off the liquids)
4) there are all kinds of recipes for rust removal, everything from Vinegar, to electrolysis, to Liquid rust removers, to severe use of Acids.

 

I was going to try electrolysis in the coming months on a Yamaha tank. Looks like it works well.

 

I've done it on a few tanks. It's easy and it works really good. If you have a paint job you're trying to save, it's your best option along with the Rust-Eze type products. It just takes some time.

 

Good to know! The paint is really nice, so I don't want to mess it up.

 

I think that's the 1000r you're thinking of I don't know if it's just mine that has it, I'll try and take a picture of it when I get home today I looked on all of the oem diagrams and it looks like it came stock.

Thanks for the tips tho, I was gonna wash it out with MEK I've used it on a tank before and it looked beautiful. I also had to by a new gas cap because the key I got isn't the right one and the guy doesn't know where it went lol

 

86 500s are gravity feed and have in tank strainers and no fuel filter. The 84-85 had fuel pumps and external in-line filters.

 

Maybe that's what it is just the strainer, gotcha I always thought it was a filter