A baffling fuel tank problem

[Rockdoc]

I purchased my unrunning but otherwise beautiful 2002 VS1400GLP with 9,325 miles on it very cheap because it'd been sitting for at least 6 years unridden in a garage. After cleaning the carbs several times I finally got it running good. However, the gas tank inside was just as filthy as the carbs so being somewhat lazy I installed an inline fuel filter between the fuel tank and the pump.

I'd tried to clean the tank by sloshing some fresh gas in it and pouring it out. However, between the baffle at the tank inlet and the design of the tank where the engines gas feeds come out I pretty much gave up trying to slosh the filth from the tank. That was when I installed the inline fuel filter. Fortunately, I never ran the engine without the filter!

The bike ran fine for 495 miles, but began to misfire on the way home the other day. The thing was, it would start to misfire around 65mph, at lower speeds it ran fine. When I got home the first thing I checked was the clear plastic fuel filter, it was really FILTHY inside! I've since replaced the filter and I expect to continue replacing it as needed until the fuel tank cleans itself out (I've successfully done this with several old cars). However, I'd like to just clean the tank out and be done with it. I've read up on several tank cleaning methods but between the tank inlet baffle and the design of the tank at the outlet end, to be frank, I'm baffled! Is there any tank cleaning method that stands out when it comes to these bikes?

Steve

PS even if I get the tank really clean inside I'll still run with the fuel filter, to me it's just good practice.

[sgtcall]

What Navigator says here. viewtopic.php?f=72&t=14456

[FallenAngel]

apple vinegar does a really good job