Motorcycle Repair: postie blues, rust problem, ct110

Question
hey, i have a 1988 ct110 and it leaks like crazy. its been running poorly but lately i havent been able to start it at all. its been leaking fuel through the air filter for a while now and so i got a new air filter but that didnt seem to make much difference. so i cleaned out the carburator(?) and there was alot of rust in the basin thing and the float was stuck, i cleaned everything and pput it all back together and it was running fine for a while but now its back to old tricks and wont start its not the battery and its got plenty of fuel, please help i need this bike to get to work. 17/f

Answer
Well it sound like you have a tank rust problem.  Cleaning the rust out of the carb only bought you a little time.  Unless you get the tank cleaned out and keep the rust out of the carb by sealing the tank or removing the rust with acid, it will continue to reoccur.  I've used phosphoric acid to clean tanks before and it does a good job. Just don't let it contact any aluminum, like the petcock, or you won't like the result.  The hard starting problem sounds like it's flooding because it's getting too much fuel still.  At least that's where I'd start looking.


Good luck
Rich