Long term storage fuel tank

Looking for some advise on putting my 66 r50/2 to bed for a few years. I replaced all fluids with new. I also Fogged the engine. My question is about the fuel tank. I plan on taking the bike from the garage to the basement of the house. The basement is finished and the bike would be in a year round stabil temp. I have drained the tank. Is there something I should put in it for long storage (coating). Or just leave it dry. The OE coating in the tank looks good from what I can tell. I thought about removing the tank and leaving it in the garage full of fuel and drian it a few times a year and just use the old gas in the mower? The carbs have been drianed and cleaned and I removed the floats.

Any other pointers would be welcomed. I'm a firm believer in ride em don't hide em but I think I may be doing more harm than good when I only ride it a few times a year.

Thanks
Roy

Hi Roy:

When you drained the tank, did you open the petcocks and drain, or did you remove the petcocks and drain?

I ask because a little water collects in the well where the petcocks are, and by removing the petcocks you can be sure you get it out. It's also a good time to replace the filters on the petcocks.

I did not get all the water out on an airhead I had put in storage for a few years, and it ended up rusting the wells. Had to have the tank dipped, cleaned, welded, recoated inside, and repainted. Five minutes of work would have saved me a lot of hassle and money.

for long term storage, be sure to remove all gas from carb...easiest way to idle your engine until it dies. after draining tank of course.

good call to remove fuel petcocks ... note some seals that go dry will break. can't be helped
give a few squirts of marvel mystery oil down plug hole, then crank a few times.

"basement is finished and the bike would be in a year round stabil temp"

I agree - remove the petcocks - leave cap off and stuff some plastic screen or plastic
chore girl type stuff in gas fill opening and petcock holes to keep critters out but permit airflow - also remove crossover hose from back ends of tank

Get all the gas out of the carbs - requires remove and replace bottom plugs after dry.

If you have the original type petcocks with corks inside you can store them outside in the garage in a jar full of gas and stabil to prevent the corks from going dry.

For storage in outside garage in hot/cold Michigan remove tank and coat inside with a mix of gas and gear oil and let drain thoroughly - this will protect even a tank with inside lining flaked off or lightly rusty - easy to wash out gear oil residue with gas before putting back in service.

You do not want ANY GAS AT ALL - EVEN A LITTLE BIT IN CARBS in your basement which probably has flame type furnace of some type. It could leak make explosive vapor and even if not the presence of your bike's remains in basement of house that burned for any reason will probably make a serious insurance settlement problem.

Thanks for all the input. I did not remove the petcocks just drained the fuel through them. I will remove them and clean and lube. I did remove plugs and put some oil in the cyclinders after I fogged them while it was running. I removed and took carbs apart to clean and remove all fuel. I also removed the battery. Coating the inside of the tank with some oil sounds like a good idea. Its going to be sad putting her in the basement. I may block off a section in my autoshop showroom and put her on display for me and my customers.

Thanks again

Roy

Petcock storage

I have seen numerous references to the cork drying out if stored a long time. One suggestion I saw was to remove and clean the petcocks, and stored them in a jar of mineral oil. FWIW. My R50/2 was in storage for over 30 years, and while there was no deteriorated fuel in the tank, carbs or petcocks, the petcock levers were loose and it is almost a certainty I will have to have them redone.
Jim