Winter Project. ST went home on a trailer last fall

As a last defiant act on the last real good day of riding weather last fall, my 97 ST decided not to start when it was time to go home from work. I hit the starter button and there was nothing. Just a soft click of the headlight relay when I hit the starter. Battery checked out okay. Attempted jump start had same results. Engine would not turn over. Starter motor did not even engage. Father-in-law comes to the rescue and we trailer it home to his heated-floor, farm workshop where it has hibernated nice and cozy next to brother-in-law?s Yamaha Venture. It was in the low teens/single digits for temps last week but the days are getting longer and it?s time to resolve these issues and get ready for spring. Can?t get here too soon. Note: Working in a heated shop in nice!

As long as we?re in the shop, there are several other things to work on. I got a new Airtex fuel pump to put in. Last summer on a hot ride I think I starved-out the carbs when the old pump choked up. After some hot stop-n-go traffic getting through US/CA border, me and my ridding buddy hit I-69 to head back home (His ride is a nice 93 ST) I get up to 70 or so and the bike starts to miss and stumble. Back off to 60mph or so and for the next 10 minutes all is well. After the tank/fuel pump cooled down a bit at highway speeds I can roll back up to 70mph. There were no problems since. Probably the known fuel pump issue I think.
With multi-meter and new pump in-hand, new tools I got for my birthday, I settle in to start work last week. So begins the odyssey. First thing to do is pull the Tupperware so I can pull/check the starter. Father-in-law had one on those nice little rolling stools to sit on and roll around. I say had because as soon as I parked by big butt on it, it collapsed. I just about threw an allen wrench set over my shoulder through a glass window! After recovering from that, I was able to pull the starter, looks okay. Pulled/checked starter main relay, looks okay. Metered whatever seemed appropriate, all seems well. Put it all back together and at least now the motor turns over but rather weakly. The battery had been on my 2/6 amp charger for several hours so I thought it was fully charged. Turns out my cheap Harbor Freight charger isn?t up to the task anymore. Looks like a new battery charger is in my future. Battery is back in but the electrical gremlin has not been evicted yet.

On to the fuel pump. I removed the tank and pulled the pump. What a mess in there! There was loose rust and scale all over the inside of the tank. I?ve had this bike less than two years. It had about 17k on the clock when I got it. It was a salvaged title so I?m pretty sure she sat around a few years in a barn or something before getting fixed up. Most of the damage was to the bodywork. Frame and fork are all good. After draining the gas and removing the sending unit, I hosed out a lot of crud. Put in a gallon of evapo-o-rust and sloshed it around for few days. I threw in a hand full of ?? lock washers and shook the tank until my arms fell off. That cleaned out more junk. I went to the local Honda shop to order replacement gaskets for the sending unit and fuel pump hatch. They had a Kreem tank coating kit so I picked that up. After another cleaning session with the prep kit the tank looked pretty good. I Kreemed it yesterday afternoon and it?s curing now.

With the tank out, I cleaned up the forward swing arm which had some chipped paint and rusty spots. I want to put in an inner mud flap to keep stones and debris from pummeling the rear suspension. I live on a gravel road so stones do go flying.
The odyssey continues.

Good luck with the repairs, I hope you do not find any other problems.

The cleaned up, Kreemed tank went back in with the new fuel pump. With the nice white coating you can really see well inside the tank. I included a pic with the new Airtex pump installed. I removed the original vent hose/return line from the OEM pump. It serves no purpose with the new install. Based on previous threads, I cut off the part of the oem pump assembly that contained the bypass valve and preassure regulator. After theading in a right-angle hose barb I connected all fuel lines as you see in the pic. I did a function flow test by setting the pump assembly in a fuel can and connecting it to a power source. Flow is good and the pressure releif works to spill off excess flow if the main line closes off as would happen when the carb bowls fill with fuel.
For the swing-arm cleanup I scrubbed off all the looose rusty dirt and hit it with a rust conveter coating. After that I sprayed it with truck bed liner. This should give it a tough stone-chip free layer of protection. I had to remove the middle stainless nut from the added inner fender mup flap. It interferred with the tank setting down in the frame. The mup flap was cut out from an old set of rubber wadders. I don't know how durable it will be but it should keep dirt and stones from flying off the rear tire and bouncing of the top of the rear suspension.
After putting it all back together with about 1 1/2 gallons in the newly coated tank, I was able to get her started and she idle happily for about 5 minutes. Stopped by the Honda shop for a gallon of GN4 and that's the next project. I'm still not quite sure about the electrical starter gremiln that is still running about. It hasn't showed it's ugy head yet. Hopefully it's gone. Waiting on the snow to melt now.