Hitchcocks Forum

Hi guys after some advice I looked inside my fuel tank on my 2008 year Bullet 350 and I can see a light brown film so woundering what's best to clean it out. With and also is it easy to take the tank off I can see the front and rear bolts and also do I need to remove the fuel tap for this process thanks guys

Assuming it's light rust, the traditional way to shift it is to throw a load of small pebbles and some fuel in then rock it back and forth. The pebbles scrape the rust off then you rinse it out with several changes of petrol.

A better way (so you don't get pebbles stuck in there) is to thread a load of nuts loosely on a bit of string instead of pebbles. Easier to fish out.

Yes, the tank is easy to remove. Disconnect the fuel line then it's just a bolt front and rear. Remember the head-steady also attaches to the back bolt when you reassemble, it's easy to miss it out.

Yes, I would remove the fuel tap, all that swilling can damage the reserve spout adn you don't want it getting gummed up with the rust you dislodge.

Use an inline fuel filter between the tank and the carb when you re-attach it.

Some tanks have a yellow-ish coating on the inside which is a corrosion protection measure.

If it is rust then brick acid will remove it effectively.

As per the others but if the bike is on your front driveway then take the tank into the back garden to keep the contents well away from the rest of the bike........If using any form of acid then lots of clean, cold water to rinse away the contents and --- of course wear the appropriate protective clothing......Diluted acid makes a great weed-killer and plant killer also !!.......Avoid splashing---Avoid breathing in any acid fumes !!.........You might well find pin-prick rot holes at the bottom of the tank which have just recently come through to the outside

Don't look in your tank?

Thanks guys yeah it's not caked in rust flames just a coating I've noticed reguarding the inline fuel filter wear do I fit it as I haven't much room picture below of space

Inline filter not such an issue becausae you have a sediment bowl and gauze. You'll soon see if there is muck in there. Trickier to fit one in with a monoblok. The fuel inlet for a concentric is lower down.


You do still get diddy little inline screen folters that would fit in there if you want to go belt and braces though.


I suspect you'll find that if you rinse it out with acid or any water-based solution, you'll get just as much flash-rust forming by the time it's dry as you sucessfully remove.


You can also do the electrolysis thing if you fill it with washing soda solution, stick a sacrificial lump of iron hanging in the middle (not touching the sides) and hook it up to the positive of a battery charger for a few days (negative to the tank). This will make a layer of black sludge form between any corrosion and the bare metal, the rust will then just rinse off. This even works with spectacularly rusty metal.


I have seen me blast a rusty tank out with a pressure washer then rinse out with boiling water followed by an airline followed by putting it in the airing cupboard with a dehumidifier going to make it dry fast.


It'll still flash rust.


Only way to stop that I know is to clean all the rust off then rinse it out with strong phosphoric acid solution to make the inside go black.


Drying as much as possible then spraying the inside with wd40 then rinsing that off with petrol is also reasonably effective.

I recently installed a new tank on my 2000 500. The new tank is lined with a brown coating that resembles rust but clearly isn't.

I seem to remember that new Indian tanks had a light coating inside, of what turned out to be primer and general overspray..

Mine had a brownish red coating thickest under the filler hole and thinning out further back..

Its still there now after fifteen years so i wouldn't be getting too aggressive with it thinking its rust..

Unless your going to use a sealer i think a wash out with paraffin and oil mix, like they use on steam engine motions would suffice..

Would certainly be easier to dispose of then dirty petrol..

Incidentally I use brick acid to clean heat exchanger waterways, and was refused sale at my local builders merchants the other day whilst there safety procedures where under revue..

Seems the feckwits of London have been throwing it in peoples faces and parliament are going to knee-jerk in their usual way and ban/restrict sales, or try too..

May be an idea to get some in stock before it goes the way of the old Nitromores paint stripper, completely useless stuff...


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... f-products