2001 SV650 - Tips on getting road worthy

[R1ffR4ff]

Originally Posted by Ludwig-von

Ok, making a start. Actually quite excited about this but there's a lot of advice out there and not sure what to follow:

Couple of quick questions.

I've got the fuel tank off and drained. Doesn't look like there's rust in there but lots of powdery residue. People seem to recommend filling with white vinegar for a week, draining, filling with BB's/Bolts, shaking for 15 mins, rinsing with distilled water and repeating if necessary. Is this the right approach?

I'll get to carbs, sparks etc shortly I guess but, looking at the frame, there's some oxidisation and the forks are looking fairly bad. I've seen someone take some 400+ grade sandpaper to get rid of this then polish the forks etc up.

Again, any recommendations on whether to do this or not?

Think that will keep me going for a while.....

If there isn't a lot of corrosion give the Vinegar a miss. It will most likely destroy the low fuel level sensor unless you remove that as well. Just flush with a bit of fuel and check for debris. If you want to scrape the tank out and use vinegar then remove the Low-Fuel assembly and I use a small oil pump chain I have in my garage on a bit of wire for this.

The Petcock can be carefully disassembled and cleaned and the Upright fuel filter is replaceable if required.

This one may fit,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycl...cAAOSw-ZJd8PxB

I've recently done a full fuel system service on my 99 including fuel tank,petcock,fuel pump and carb service. The trouble I had with seized screws tells me my carbs have most likely never been touched since coming from the factory and I had to use left hand drills on a couple and make some repairs.

I also fitted an inline fuel filter as a second defence against any crud getting through to the Carbs/Fuel bodies.

I also fitted a cheap Vacuum Petcock to a Pal's SV650S but had to mess around with two fuel pipe diameters running and in-line fuel filter as a kind of joining converter with Fuel clamps as the cheap eBay ones that work fine have a stupid 10mm spigot on one side

[ChrisCurvyS]

If it's any encouragement I recently took on an SV of a similar vintage that had been off the road for about 7 years and essentially all it's taken to get ut roadworthy again for the mot was the fork seals. It has an occasional backfire on tick over but seems to run fine other than that.

[daktulos]

Originally Posted by R1ffR4ff

I've recently done a full fuel system service on my 99 including fuel tank,petcock,fuel pump and carb service. The trouble I had with seized screws tells me my carbs have most likely never been touched since coming from the factory and I had to use left hand drills on a couple and make some repairs.

That reminds me - another important requirement is a set of JIS screwdrivers.

[R1ffR4ff]

Originally Posted by daktulos

That reminds me - another important requirement is a set of JIS screwdrivers.

10+ !!!!!

In this case they wouldn't have helped though as some of the carb screws were fine on the heads but just seized solid through lack of movement over the years and of course it was more prevalent on the Front carb

My 99 was running pretty good before I did the work but now it runs pretty much like it's just come out of the Showroom and with new plugs and re-balanced Carbs the,"Growl" is back in the engine and totally vibration free

FYI.

I'm not usually in favour of cheap tools but I needed something quick and these worked fine,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10PC-EASY...72.m2749.l2649

[Ludwig-von]

Nice one, thanks all.

Will leave cosmetic stuff until I’m sure I can get it running but any tips on refurbing the forks, frame, exhaust etc. would be good.

Had POR-15 recommended for the tank so will look at getting some of that. All other fluids should be easy enough to drain and replace. I reckon I’ll do as suggested and try getting it running before take the carbs out for cleaning.

Anyone use SeaFoam or anything similar? Figured it might be worth running this after changing all fluids and before taking the carbs out. If I can avoid doing that the. I reckon the rest should be fairly straightforward.

Thanks again, really appreciate all the tips and advice so far!!

[daktulos]

Originally Posted by Ludwig-von

Anyone use SeaFoam or anything similar? Figured it might be worth running this after changing all fluids and before taking the carbs out. If I can avoid doing that the. I reckon the rest should be fairly straightforward.

I tried Seafoam after it was running, but didn't notice it making much difference, apart from white smoke. YMMV.

[R1ffR4ff]

Originally Posted by Ludwig-von

Nice one, thanks all.

Will leave cosmetic stuff until I’m sure I can get it running but any tips on refurbing the forks, frame, exhaust etc. would be good.



Anyone use SeaFoam or anything similar? Figured it might be worth running this after changing all fluids and before taking the carbs out. If I can avoid doing that the. I reckon the rest should be fairly straightforward.

Thanks again, really appreciate all the tips and advice so far!!

I use Redex in my fuel which is similar in effect to Seafoam but any of the fuel cleaners do the same thing. I have done for years and I get very few fuel system problems. It's always worth a shot before stripping carbs.

[Ludwig-von]

Right, making some progress as have had a couple of hours free. Decided to go for the vinegar treatment on the fuel tank as it was easily accessible. Have removed sparks and just waiting for replacements, picking up a new battery at the weekend. Have started a general clean up of oxidised bits and most parts seem to be cleaning up with very fine sandpaper, the forks are going to be the fun bit....

Couple more bits of advice needed. Am replacing oil, I assume is should change the filter as well. Any recommendations?

Brakes are seized, what’s the easiest way of dealing with this?

Throttle is completely seized, I’ll check out some tutorials but if there are any ideas anyone has on potential quick fixes let me know.

Cheers

[Dave20046]

Always do the filter with the oil. Hiflo filtro I use or K&N if I get a deal.
You should also check the air filter and spark plugs. If you're keeping the bike a while I'd buy a K&N filter for the airbox. Spark plugs NGK CR8e from memory but double check.

Look around for guides on refurbishing brakes - I'd buy a full seal kit (check wemoto?) and some red rubber grease - depending on the state of the pistons you may need to do them at which point it might be cheaper to buy some good second hand calipers.
You're going to need a lot of patience and concentration removing the pistons, if one pops out and the other hasn't budged you'll lose all pressure and the other will be a nightmare to get out without a compressor

I'd hit them with a rubber mallet while on the bike and then either remove the caliper or the front wheel - latter probably easier if very seized. make sure you have something to hold one piston in place while you pump the brake lever to edge the other out. Either a g-clamp or firmly held bar across the piston - after it moves a few millimeter swap to the other and repeat the process until they're both just about to pop out. You can usuall see brake fluid welling around them or they might try and cockle to one side - at that point hold the one that's doing that as best you can and pop the other out and pull them both out. OR they may not be able to be pulled out completely on standard brakes (I forget) and you may have to split the caliper at this point, use a good fitting socket as I imagine these will be pretty seized.

At this point find some brake refurb instructions but basically split the callipers remember which bolts and seals went where (lay them out organised), remove all seals and clean crap behind them with brake cleaner and or brake fluid, don't use metalic things so you avoid marking the metal - tooth picks are good. Smear new seals with red rubber grease and refit them. Check the pistons , and deep rust that will touch the seals = new piston time, if there's rust on the outer edges that will never hit the seals you can wirewool the raised bits down (for just in case moments) coat them in red dubber grease thinly (not the bottom) and pop back in. Clean all threads on the bolts and apply copper slip lightly and torque up evenly. Rebleed system with new fluid, I'd highly advise buying new stainless steel hoses if the bike has rubber.

[Ludwig-von]

Thank you. Hoping to get the bike started this weekend, will sort the brakes shortly after.

One thing IÂ’ve noticed on the fuel pump is thereÂ’s a rubber teat on the fuel pump that sits inside the tank (does that make sense? I can post a photo of it doesnÂ’t) and it appears to have perished. Do I need to replace the pump or is it ok?