Hello! I am a new member and I am looking forward to being a part of the Magna community.
Bottom line up front: I need help with removing my fuel tank on a 1984 VF700C.
This is the first bike I've owned and I've never been mechanically inclined. I bought a Clymer's guide and it is usually a very good guide, but sometimes it makes jumps that I can't follow. For example, I'm trying to replace the thermostat. Step 1, remove that side panels and seat. Check. Step 2, remove the fuel tank as described in Chapter 6. Ok, let's open chapter 6. Steps one through 4 are pretty easy, removing panels and disconnecting the battery basically. Step 5, "remove the fuel line from the lower fitting on the secondary fuel tank." This is where I'm lost. There are no pictures and despite all of my searching on bike and the internet, I can't figure out what the "lower fitting" on the secondary fuel tank. Where is it?
I looked ahead and I think I can work my way through the rest of the steps, but I have no idea what the lower fitting is. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. Also, does anyone have any recommendations for cleaners to revive the shine on my fuel tank and engine components?
The rest of the story: Being my first post, I thought I'd share my story. I bought my father's 1984 Magna as my first bike 2 years ago, it was basically a hand-me-down. I was stationed in San Antonio at the time and I drove it for the summer. It started to overheat after about 30 minutes of riding. My father helped me troubleshoot the problem and after awhile we decided the next step was to replace the thermostat. Well, it was about that time that I moved to Enid, OK. We moved in the fall so I put the bike in the garage and there she sat. For various reasons I never got around to fixing the bike. I tried to start it up this spring and it wouldn't crank, the battery was dead. I decided that my goal this summer was the fix up the bike and clean it.
When my father first bought this bike, I didn't really think it was anything special. In fact, I thought it was kind of ugly. But I get it now, and last week I decided I want to make it look better than it did the day I got it from my dad and make him regret that he was foolish enough to sell it to me! So I started working. I couldn't revive the battery, but I figured since I had it out I might as well replace the thermostat like I had planned. And here I am on this forum because I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm a pilot so I understand the basics of things like fuel and hydraulic systems and carbs, etc. But it doesn't always translate very well, especially since I don't fix the planes I fly, I just know how they work. However, I'm excited to learn and I'm happy to become more familiar with motorcycles and how to work on them. First things first, let's get this fuel tank off!
Welcome from Tampa Bay, Floriduh...
Sorry, I have a Gen 3 Magna with no aux. Tank, but someone will chime in with some knowledge..
The sub fuel tank is located near the side covet there should be a hose at the top of the tank and one at the bottom. I had a 86 700cc magna which didn't have the sub tank but also had a overheating problem, a lot of the 1st gen v45 magna's had this overheating problem. Replacing the thermostat may help but one of the largest problems come from the fact that the fan doesn't activate as it should. There is a temperature switch located on the front of the radiator that is suppost to activate the fan when the temperature reaches a certain level a lot of people had problems with these and many people bypassed the switch and put a toggle switch up top so that they could switch the fan on when needed. I also did that then when I was riding in stop and go traffic I could turn the fan on as needed. This may or may not be part of your problem but just passing along the info. Good luck and welcome to MOOT.