oil + filter! what to use?

[Slono]

Thanks for the replies about why you shouldn't start your bike in the winter. But what if I ride it a couple times a month on top of starting it up and getting it up to the right temperatures? Then should I even bother winterizing it if I'm still going to ride?

 

[Boom King]

Excessive idling is no good. It won't reach the proper temps to burn off the water that's created during combustion and drains your battery. If you're going to start it, then ride it. Otherwise leave it be. No need to winterize if you can ride it over the winter.

 

[toysareforboys]

Excessive idling is no good. It won't reach the proper temps to burn off the water that's created during combustion and drains your battery. If you're going to start it, then ride it. Otherwise leave it be. No need to winterize if you can ride it over the winter.

This.

Bring your battery inside so it's warm and charged for those days you want to ride. If it's sitting outside and it was -15 over night your bike won't want to start in the morning

-Jamie M.

 

[Boom King]

And FWIW, I leave my battery in the bike plugged into a smart charger on trickle mode. Done it this way the past couple of winters with no issues. Bike fires right up come spring.

 

[Sabex]

If it's sitting outside and it was -15 over night your bike won't want to start in the morning

-Jamie M.

Nothing a little pushin' won't solve... or a boost from a car!

 

[toysareforboys]

And FWIW, I leave my battery in the bike plugged into a smart charger on trickle mode. Done it this way the past couple of winters with no issues. Bike fires right up come spring.

This year it'll get so cold it'll split your battery and you'll need a new one come spring

Nothing a little pushin' won't solve... or a boost from a car!

It's SUPER bad for your battery, stator and rectifier to bump start your bike with a cold and/or discharged battery and have the bike try and charge it. That's askin for a very expensive repair bill

-Jamie M.

 

[Boom King]

This year it'll get so cold it'll split your battery and you'll need a new one come spring

Are you being serious?

 

[toysareforboys]

Are you being serious?

I had my CBR 929 plugged into a battery tender. Thought everything was hunky dorey come spring and I see my sub frame melted in half from the battery acid leaking out of the big crack all the way down the side of the battery. Honda said my battery tender boiled the battery, the shop said it wasn't good to leave a battery tender connected to the battery in cold temperatures but most likely it froze and cracked. Who knows.

-Jamie M.

 

[infernobuster]

And FWIW, I leave my battery in the bike plugged into a smart charger on trickle mode. Done it this way the past couple of winters with no issues. Bike fires right up come spring.

+1. I have left my battery in my bike for years now on a Battery Tender Jr.
Never seen a battery split due to the cold. IF THAT even made sense, then every vehicle that sits outside would be subject to that.

Nothing like GTAM, opinoins are like ********, everyones got one.

 

[Boom King]

I had my CBR 929 plugged into a battery tender. Thought everything was hunky dorey come spring and I see my sub frame melted in half from the battery acid leaking out of the big crack all the way down the side of the battery. Honda said my battery tender boiled the battery, the shop said it wasn't good to leave a battery tender connected to the battery in cold temperatures but most likely it froze and cracked. Who knows.

-Jamie M.

Damn, that must've sucked but I appreciate the word of caution. Perhaps you had a faulty battery tender that didn't know when to stop charging or charged it too fast. I put my smart charger on 2 amp trickle mode and it stops charging when it detects a 100% capacity. Last winter I only connected it every couple of weeks and it was fine. The battery capacity read somewhere around 87% after letting it sit for a couple of weeks. My bike sleeps in my unheated garage so it's not like it's sitting outside.

Having the battery freeze might be possible but it would mean that your charger most likely failed to charge it all and the battery just drained. It takes somewhere around - 55 C for the electrolytes in a healthy and fully charged battery to freeze whereas in a depleted battery it only takes -2 C. If the battery in my bike sitting inside my garage were to freeze then I'd be more worried about getting my car in the driveway started to get to work.

 

[toysareforboys]

Damn, that must've sucked but I appreciate the word of caution. Perhaps you had a faulty battery tender that didn't know when to stop charging or charged it too fast. I put my smart charger on 2 amp trickle mode and it stops charging when it detects a 100% capacity. Last winter I only connected it every couple of weeks and it was fine. The battery capacity read somewhere around 87% after letting it sit for a couple of weeks. My bike sleeps in my unheated garage so it's not like it's sitting outside.

Having the battery freeze might be possible but it would mean that your charger most likely failed to charge it all and the battery just drained. It takes somewhere around - 55 C for the electrolytes in a healthy and fully charged battery to freeze whereas in a depleted battery it only takes -2 C. If the battery in my bike sitting inside my garage were to freeze then I'd be more worried about getting my car in the driveway started to get to work.

Yeah, it was probably the tender. When I had my battery replaced the battery tender was dead and got warm when plugged into the new battery (but not plugged into AC!), so it could have malfunctioned and drained the battery causing it to split or freeze.

-Jamie M.

 

[Boom King]

Yeah, it was probably the tender. When I had my battery replaced the battery tender was dead and got warm when plugged into the new battery (but not plugged into AC!), so it could have malfunctioned and drained the battery causing it to split or freeze.

-Jamie M.

Jamie, that makes total sense. What brand and model was the tender? Was it old?

 

[toysareforboys]

Jamie, that makes total sense. What brand and model was the tender? Was it old?

It was new, Battery Tender. The big metal one. I left it on an interlocking brick, under a bucket, probably got moisture in it so I don't blame the charger specifically.

-Jamie M.