Well, the tank sealing exercise seems to have worked, as far as I can tell thus far. Went through the entire process, and allowed it to cure for a full week. However, when I put the bike back together and put gas in it, I found that gas was leaking (can you say sieve?) from around the petcock. I tightened the screws as much as I could (even managed to get a wrench down in there, but still gas leaks. I figure its one of two things...Either there is a little mound of POR15 around the opening for the petcock, or petcock gasket has gone bad. A dremel will take care of item 1, but for 2, is the gasket a dealer-specific part or can it be gotten from a hardware or auto parts store like other gaskets/parts?

Another question. Since all this has been going on with the tank, I have had the bike sitting on the center stand. Yesterday, I moved it, and put it on the side stand, and it leaked a lot of oil. Is this normal? Indicative of something? Should I be worried? Ideas where it may be coming from? I checked the level in the glass and it looked normal.

Thanks,
--Storm

Not sure about the gasket. No the oil leak is not normal. Can you tell where it is coming from?

Not at this point, no. With the days getting shorter and my commutes seeming to get longer, it was dark by the time I got home, so my lighting wasn't too good.

I'll try to have a look tonight.

--Storm

You could make a new petcock gasket from gasket material that you can buy at an auto parts store. Just copy the pattern from the base of the gas tank onto the material and cut it out.

for the oil leak, make sure the oil in the engine has not been watered down by a gas leak.

The petcock "gasket" isn't really a gasket, it's a rubber oval shaped ring. You can use a rubber O ring from a hardware store, but the diameter must be right. As for the oil leak. Does it stop leaking when you put it back on the centerstand?