I’m storage a motorcycle long term. It has sentimental value. I’m holding onto it in hopes a family member can someday adopt it.
It’s already been stored for a while. I’ve just cleaned the gas tanks out. Initially it seemed like they were really rusted bad, but it turned it out just had this really nasty sediment in it. It almost looked like dirt.
I’m unsure the best way to store them.
Fill with non-ethanol gas
Spray with WD-40, or otherwise coat the inside with oil or ATF
a. Put silica gel packs inside
Is non-ethanol gas really going to store well? Other ideas?
Gas will go bad over time as the VOCs evaporate out of solution and you’re left with all the other compounds and water that eventually lead to corrosion of the tank itself.
For long term storage you want to drain the tank and do some preventative maintenance with a fuel tank sealer.
It’s easy to do.
Empty the tank of all fuel using an old jerry can and take it to a chemical recycling service, or re-use it in another vehicle, or maybe your lawn mower if it’s compatible.
Remove the petcock and set with the bike for reassembly later.
Let the tank air dry with the cap off
Once the leftover gas has mostly evaporated, rinse the tank out with a garden hose to wash out the sediment. You can empty this into a 5 gallon bucket and let it evaporate before disposing of the sediment residue.
If there’s any rust in the tank, pour some course playground sand you get from the big box store and shake the tank around real good to help break up any rust blooms and buff the interior surface.
NOTE: You’ll want to use a respirator as silica dust is a major lung hazard. Be sure to rinse the tank after this with the garden hose to get rid of any excess silica dust and let the tank air dry.
From there you just follow the sealer can instructions as needed, but basically you plug the petcock hole, pour the tank sealer in the tank, install the gas cap or a plug of some sort and slosh and rotate the tank around to evenly coat the interior and pour the excess out and let it cure. Apply extra coats as directed, but it’s typically one-and-done.
Once you do this, the tank should be ready for long term storage , but honestly if you’re going to store a gas tank for longer than two months (60+ days) I would just drain and dry the tank like you would when winterizing your mower.
A couple things to add, I’d suggest using something larger than sand to clean the inside of the tank out. A bike chain, or a length of regular link chain, nuts and bolts, ¼" or larger ball bearings are things that will be a lot easier to remove than sand. If the inner tank is pretty clean, I’d suggest just spraying the inside with a light oil or WD-40. Sealers are ok… I’ve used POR-15 tank sealer and it’s worked great, but I’ve also seen some pretty bad failures from some other products (don’t use Kreem!). If you really want to protect the tank, pull it off the bike and store it inside your house where the humidity shouldn’t be as high (I’m assuming that long-term storage is not indoors).
Another thing to do is drain your carbs. If you leave gas in them, they will need a thorough cleaning before trying to get the bike running again.
I’m hesitant to use sealers… about 15 years ago I had to remove the sealer that someone else had put in there. It was flaking away and constantly plugging up the fuel system. It was very difficult to remove. In fact, this time around when I cleaned them remnants of that sealer were still coming out…
