Hello everyone, nice to meet you and glad to finally be able to post!

So, I recently acquired an XT225, just under 3000 miles for a good price I think.
I don't wanna disclose the price cause I'll feel twice as dumb.

Thought I was getting a good deal, and maybe I am but I just feel a little ripped. Anyhow!

The tank has rust in it, what's the best way to get rid of it? I've heard of putting in BB's or Marbles and shaking it around but I've also heard of those BB's and Marbles getting lodged and stuck somewhere

I was going to try that and then rinse it out, soak it in Evaporust and letting that finish it off.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Next, the blinkers don't work and the lowbeam doesn't come on (high beam does however). The front turn signals come on but they don't blink, rear ones don't come on at all (but the taillight does)

This, I wasn't too worried about, I'm gonna end up taking it to the shop unless one of my buddies can help me out with the wirings.

There's a little more too but I don't wanna seem like I'm crying over some easy fixes, at least more than I already am. (Stuff like it seems to be leaking oil somewhere, that probably just warrants a couple turns of the wrench and the engine is a little dirty/caked with grime. Maybe a pressure washer or a brass brush with Simple Green?)

This bike is definitely sweet and I wanna enjoy it to the fullest extent. So if anyone has any advice on this sort of stuff please spill your guts out!

You might just need new bulbs for the lights. The low beam might be burn out, so only the high beam is working. When I've had turn signal bulbs burn out in the past, it's stopped the other bulbs from blinking. Easy enough to check a bulb.

It's been a long time since I've tried to remove rust from a gas tank. I used white vinegar to dissolve the rust and then bought something to coat the inside to keep it from rusting again, but others on here might have better ideas. I'm betting there are some good youtube videos showing how to do it.

Someone just posted a detailed method for removing tank rust. I can't find the damn post for you! Perhaps he'll see this and provide a link to those instructions. Very good as I recall.

As for lights, first check for burned out bulbs and/or corrosion in the sockets. The headlight socket can get corroded easily as its terminals are open. Failing that you'll need to back up into wiring, connectors, flasher and switches. All of this is reasonably easy to service/fix, it's just time consuming.

As for troubleshooting electrical problems we don't want you to be known as the Prince of Darkness. Good luck and I hope you can make some gains.

@ThumperStorm

Thanks! I really didn't think that other bulbs not working would effect the others. I'll have to take a peek sometime! I just assumed that the wiring would be faulty, never thought to pin it down on some bad bulbs! I'll be sure to clean out the terminals and everything too.
(Didn't even think that lowbeam had a light, I keep jumping to conclusions. I'm a little new to wrenching.)

I didn't think use to white vinegar either, but I'm not sure if it would work on the rusting that's on my bike. I'll have to post some pictures of it sometime, its not rusted everywhere but there's some significant rust.

@Muniac
Thanks for your consideration! I'll trundle through the forums and see if I can pull anything up myself.
I wouldn't go that far, just stuff that I can look at and go "hm that doesn't look right" and then google to see if its something an amateur can do.

There's been several threads recently with info about rusty gas tanks. You can try vinegar or muriatic acid.

http://www.xt225.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=127182

http://www.xt225.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=49087

I've just recently become acquainted with this stuff:

https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalo...r-and-inhibitor

....and I have to say that I am impressed with its performance.
I don't know if it is safe to use (or recommended) in gas tanks, but it works wonders with any other rusted metal!

POR 15 treatment for the inside of the tank.

peejman - Thanks for finding the rusty tank posts. Calls into question the quality of admin.

with under 3000m there's a good chance everything is okay and it's just the battery. It's worth doing the battery test first (or better yet starting with a new batter) because it's frustrating trouble shooting electrical problems if the real problem is just low voltage under load.

patuca

Found a couple more...

http://www.xt225.com/forums/ubbthreads.p...true#Post143736

http://www.xt225.com/forums/ubbthreads.p...true#Post142939