And then we found rust!

Beautiful day yesterday, by Tassie standards, so headed off to a friend's place to convince him to go for a ride. Got about ten kays down the, winding, road when I caught up to a car. When attempting to overtake it the engine showed all the sings of fuel starvation. Top speed of 95 and strugling to reach that. Crawled the rest of the way to mates place worried about how much crud might find it's way to the injectors. $$$$$? I hadn't seen an external fuel filter anywhere while under the tank on a previous bit of maintenance,when replacing the cooling water.Pulled the tank off. All external hoses were fine so figured the problem was most likely to be in the tank. Pulled the fuel pump/filter assembly out of the tank. Rust corrosion on the frame which holds the pump etc. The filter screen was rinsed in clean fuel and plenty of muck, very fine brown dust like stuff, came out. Used compressed air to clean it up. Stuck a torch in the tank which showed rust spots galore. Boring!! Rinsed the tank out, plenty of flakey bits. Put the whole thing back together and rode it back home, granny style. Started to block up again over the last few kays. Pulled the tank off/apart again. Turfed the fuel. Ran a batch of degreaser around it and rinsed that out. Mixed up a batch of warm water and oxalic acid, the things you find under your work bench, and filled the tank all the way. Tank upside down, no fuel pump etc, but filler cap assembly in place. Two hour soak and on inspection it had dissolved all the rusty spots on the top, inside, of the tank and 95% of the bottom rust. I might get one of those little dentist style mirrors, Repco?, because you can't see much peering through the openings. Plenty of water rinsing which produced tiny silvery coloured bits. Presently slow cooking the tank to evaporate any left over water.
Where next? Not keen on recoating style fixes eg Por15. If it does come off eventually..... what a nightmare you would have. Replace gauze bottom filter and clean internal gauze, Gus's post, and stick it back together? Run some Pt5 Plus Concentrate Petrol treatment , or similar, through it on a regular basis and inspect in six months time?
The reason why I finished up with this problem was simple. I've only just purchased this bike from a guy who had it sitting in his shed, for one and a half years. He managed to put 200 klm on the dial during this period. Stale fuel and condensation would have produced a layer of water in the tank with the end result being rust. How I managed to put 1200 klm on it without the filter blocking until now amazes me. Has anyone put an external fuel filter on to better protect the injectors?
Anyway I thought I'd share this with you. Stick a torch in your tank and have a look.
Suzuki Bandit 1250 S 2009 model.

Yes ,i agree .Bad things are in there .

sorry to hear that bloke, no good for bike or car for that matter to have sitting. Don`t use , you lose it.

Bad luck mate.
Ride these things long enough and sign up for enough forums and you'll find its a problem that bights us all at some point.
Not me yet but I'm sure it will.
At least its not a Suzuki fault and can't be added to the lengthy list we have of them

Some injector cleaners boast water dispersion, but a good thing to do once a month is to throw some metho in with the fuel. Might be an idea to check the breather as well. If it's blocked or restricted the fuel supply will be affected after a few ks

One way to reduce the chance of rust in the fuel tank is to top off the tank as often as you can, especially if the tank and fuel is warm.
If you've been out on a day ride, fill the tank even if you haven't used it all before you put the bike to bed as it will reduce the chance of condensation when the tank/fuel cools down overnight.
It won't eliminate the problem totally but it does make a good dent in it.
Using non ethanol fuel is another good option but sometime hard to do unless you use PULP or higher.

If you do have to store your bike for a few months, you can mix a fuel stabiliser into fresh petrol before you put it to bed.
Keeps fuel stable for 6 months to 12 months from memory. Supercheap sell it.

As a precaution I always fill up before I get home from a ride as I work all week and sometimes the bike can sit for a couple of weeks before I can get out for a ride, it reduces the chance of rust in the tank as its full and not exposed to condensation and rusting, some thing to consider.

Just a follow up on what I did with the , rusty, tank. After soaking it, internally, in oxalic acid most of the rust had dissolved. After drying the tank out I had to go to work for a number off days. At sea, so no chance to continue the repair. When I came back the rust had reappeared so I was back to square one. I needed to recoat the inside. Checked a few products out and POR 15 seemed a good product. Bought the motorcycle tank repair kit locally for $80. Three parts. Cleaner degreaser, a rust dissolver zinc coater and the paint. It also includes a little inspection mirror which is handy. I left the fuel cap assembly in place but protected it by folding a plastic shopping bag several times. I put this over the opening, provide a bit of slack, and shut the cap on that. I also made a cap for the bottom of the tank. Get a bit of printer paper lay it on the hole and run your finger around the outside of the opening and bolt holes. You have made a template. I used a bit of plexy glass to make the cap. Simply follow the instructions . The cleaner degreaser produced plenty of small rusty bits. Rinse this out of the tank with plenty of water.The instructions say not to worry if a bit of moisture is left in the tank. I quick dried it all the same. Couple of saw horses and a heater under it. Tank dry in half an hour. The rust dissolver(phosforic acid) I had to apply twice, you can reuse it, to get rid of all the rust. It took more time then they suggested. Repeat rinse/drying. You're provided with 250 ml of paint. Stir it well because this has lumpy bits in it which sit around the bottom and take some convincing to dissolve. Drop this stuff in the tank and slowly rotate it so as to coat the inside. When you're done lay the tank upside down on your bench and all the left over paint will finish up around the filler cap. I used a clear one meter long plastic tube to suck the unused paint, about 125 ml, back out in small lots. Don't let it pool because it ,apparently, forms bubbles if the layer is too thick. The stuff dries quickly dependent on moisture contents in the air. it is a urethane.They suggest to leave it drying for four days. I painted another bit of metal as well, not part of the tank, to see what it was like once dry. It's tough. I've been riding again for a few days and all seems fine. I hope it stayes that way. I didn't like the idea of coating the tank but when there's plenty of rust you have to do something about it. Hope this is of use to somebody.
Ps. Don't shake the can with the left over paint in it with the cap on. Mine blew the lid off it, minnie boom, and coated me with the remainder of the paint. One set of clothes off to the tip.

I hope i never have to do that .

I used exactly the same stuff on a Honda CT200Ag bike tank. Worked a treat.

If you want to dry the tank quickly (after you clean it with water) pop it in the oven on low heat. My wife loved seeing an old tank in her $2000+ 900mm Italian oven