bearing in mind i'm a numpty when it comes to bikes....
 

how easy/difficult is it to remove the petrol tank?

my chum has a fuel injected bike and he says his is a case of unscrew a couple of screws, unclip a few clips and roberts your fathers brother. is it that simple with my carbed baby? its a 2000 model btw.....

Pretty much got it there Keith - most fiddly bit (on the CBR600 I did) was unclipping the fuel hose from the bottom - useful to have someone else around to hold the tank up...

http://www.sv650.org/sv_manuals.htm for a good step by step guide.

Yeah, it is pretty much that easy, but can be a little fiddly.

Basically you undo the two bolts at the front of the tank, and prop it up. Then disconnected the petrol pump's power lead, and fiddle with the fuel line until you can disconnect that from the pump.

Then, undo the pivot bolt under the rear of the tank. Then, holding the tank, giving it a wiggle, pull the bolt out. Then you'd better be ready to carry it away - hope not too much petrol is in it!

You'll have to take the front seat off as well.

Unscrew the little black vented triangles under the front seat and fold back. You will then see the screws that hold the seat on.

dunno whether to drain the tank first?

what i'm trying to get at is the drain tap, mine has come away from the main body of the tank. i've tried a few things, such as putting a blanking grommit over the hole to stop fuel escaping. this works but it obviously prevents water draining away that may collect in the filler cap well. my last effort will be to try a bit of araldite see if that works before i go to the more considerable expense of a new (or recond.) tank.

i've tried arc welding but it was too tricky, too volatile.... :D

i think tho that getting to the tap from underneath will be waaaaaay to hard. too small and tight (fnarr)

ace! nice one CS. had a looksee at the manual i reckon i'll go for the tank lift up and see how easy/hard it is before going the full monty and taking the bugger off

cheers

keith