It’s definitely a last resort, and was only in there for about 10mins. I had tried everything before that and on the VF1000R the cylinders and crankcase are one piece, so no gaskets to worry about!

I would add the rust remover, let that do its thing then pump the tank out. What’s left can be removed with compressed air or just leave it outside in the sun to evaporate for a few days, then rinse with acetone. I’ve also used a heat gun to dry the inside of the tank if it’s cold weather. But for sure you need to get every drop out otherwise it will get sucked up into your carbs.

@@MCSR52 Thanks for the quick reply. How are you using the air gun? I'd tried that previously going in through the filler hole but nothing really happened...are you sealing the opening somehow to create presssure to force the liquid out?

@@user-mg8mc1db8r I fitted an extension to my blow gun so it could reach the back of the tank through the filler, turned the tank upside down and blasted it forcing the air back out the filler . It’s not perfect but helps. The other thing to try is take some absorbent towel and stuff it into the front end of the tank with some of it hanging out the filler neck. Then tilt the tank so all the water/fuel runs to the front and gets absorbed by the towel, leave it a day or two and you should be good. Worst case you have a little water come through to the carbs, just start the bike up, fit a drain hose to the outlet on the float bowl of each carb one at a time, open up the drain with the bike running. The fuel pump will soon push the bad fuel/water through.

@@MCSR52 ok now I'm off to try all this....many many thanks again for the advice!