Well, with the tech tips information in hand, I dug in to replace my fuel lines and filter, inspect the points on the fuel pump and clean out my tank. I am sooooo glad I did. All this was precipitated by a look inside the filler portion of my fuel tank one day when refueling. I noticed that there was a small amount of surface rust, just as predicted on this website, from moisture accumulation in a less-than-full tank. The bike (a 98) has only 13k miles on it, however, it is 10 years old. So, on with the project. I will say that since the tank had to come out anyway, I did it 'by the book'; ie, bags, supports, seats, subframe, etc. Looks funny without all that stuff on!
Ever wonder how much crap can accumulate in a fuel filter? I’m betting mine was a factory original, never replaced. When I got it out I cut it open. The photos will tell the story. Needless to say, the tank is out and will receive a thorough cleaning followed by POR-15, new fuel lines and a fuel level sensor gasket.
The fuel pump points were checked and found to be in rough shape. I operated on it, thanks to the tech tip on the ‘old’ website, and the operation went well. To clean up the points I used a strip of 320 wet/dry sandpaper about 8x1”, folded in half lengthwise, drawn back and forth between the points letting the spring pressure of the points alone apply pressure on the sandpaper. Then I followed up with some 600 wet/dry in the same manner to get a smooth finish on the points. To get the sandpaper slid in between the points I had to use something pointier than my stubby finger to hold the points open while inserting the sandpaper. I used a machinist scribe, but anything will do. See the before and after photos.
I hope this will help someone contemplating the same operation. It isn't as daunting as I thought it would be!
