Spring maintenance suggestions... | GTAMotorcycle.com

Spring maintenance suggestions...

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croco

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For personal reasons I stopped riding around September of last year, and I haven't even looked at my bike since. It's a 2010 GSXR600 with brand new tires and 1000km on the oil, Motul 10w40 Motul full synthetic. There may or may not be half a tank of gas in it, probably less. The battery was not taken out, the engine hasn't been started and the bike was not rolled. Just sat there waiting for me.

The question is what do I need to do to get it rolling again? My short list is

- Check the gas level and top it up with Premium. Hopefully my tank hasn't started to rust yet.
- Check tire pressure
- Clean and lube the chain
- Recharge battery with battery tender

The coolant should be ok, the brake lines should be alright as well. Should I do a fresh oil change, or can I get a few more kilometers out of the current oil change? Should I run some injector cleaner in the first tank? Should I change my headlight oil and replace the muffler bearings? :rolleyes:

I'm a bit worried about cranking it over the first time in such a long while. I never had a bike sit for so long in the 10 years I've been riding...
 
First maybe charge up the battery.

While you don't have a carbureted bike I would personally put a small shot of seafoam on the tank just to clean out any gunk or crap in the gas line..

my 2 cents!
 
Bleed your brakes and put fresh fluid in there, other than that you've listed everything else.
 
Thanks for the replies, I will look into bleeding the brakes as well.

On a side note, I've just realized I've been on GTAM for more than 10 years now. How time flies...
 
Bikes aren't as delicate as people make them out to be. Your bike is fine. You may have hardspots on the tires if you didn't put on foam or off the ground.

Just charge the battery, change the oil, clean and lube that chain, air up the tires (and change if needed - hardspots), and you should be good to go.
 
Oil breaks down into acidic compounds after a while, plus crud sinks down to the bottom of the sump over time.
I'd at least change the oil, some might suggest even before you start the engine again..

If the gas tank's only been half full, then try to get a look inside for rust, maybe a dental mirror? - water can condense above the fuel level in the tank, especially if it's gone through a few heat/cool cycles. Rust particles are not good in either carb jets or fuel injectors. Tank can be drained and cleaned if necessary.

Why take chances?
 
croco said:
For personal reasons I stopped riding around September of last year, and I haven't even looked at my bike since. It's a 2010 GSXR600 with brand new tires and 1000km on the oil, Motul 10w40 Motul full synthetic. There may or may not be half a tank of gas in it, probably less. The battery was not taken out, the engine hasn't been started and the bike was not rolled. Just sat there waiting for me.

The question is what do I need to do to get it rolling again? My short list is

- Check the gas level and top it up with Premium. Hopefully my tank hasn't started to rust yet.
- Check tire pressure
- Clean and lube the chain
- Recharge battery with battery tender

The coolant should be ok, the brake lines should be alright as well. Should I do a fresh oil change, or can I get a few more kilometers out of the current oil change? Should I run some injector cleaner in the first tank? Should I change my headlight oil and replace the muffler bearings? :rolleyes:

I'm a bit worried about cranking it over the first time in such a long while. I never had a bike sit for so long in the 10 years I've been riding...
Click to expand...

that should be number 1 on your list!
 
JFD said:
Bikes aren't as delicate as people make them out to be. Your bike is fine. You may have hardspots on the tires if you didn't put on foam or off the ground.
Click to expand...

+1 believe it or not my dad bought his bike back in the late 80s. Its has never had a winterization, or any sort of major maintenance. I'm not even sure he changed the oil before. Its covered up, and has a bunch of geckos living under the covers. Every couple years when we go visit India, the bike starts up like a charm.

10727_156742380859_6860200_n.jpg
 
KarGo said:
+1 believe it or not my dad bought his bike back in the late 80s. Its has never had a winterization, or any sort of major maintenance. I'm not even sure he changed the oil before. Its covered up, and has a bunch of geckos living under the covers. Every couple years when we go visit India, the bike starts up like a charm.

10727_156742380859_6860200_n.jpg
Click to expand...

My first bike, i bought in 93. It was a 77 gs 550. Had been in storage since 81. Not been started or anything.

I changed the oil, filled her up and after some starting attempts, it ran just fine.

Now, yes, there was rust in the tank, which i added an inline filter for, but other than that, thing ran golden.
 
Reinstall battery, fresh oil & filter, and add air to tires (if necessary) for me. Bike has been stored indoors (condo underground) all winter, and I added sta-bil to a full tank of 91 before I put her to sleep for the winter.

One question though regarding tires and hardspots. Assuming they aren't overly bad, I take it a good ride or two that heats the tires back up should 'de-flatspot' the tires? I know on my car if I let it sit too long the first drive isn't overly smooth...but it gets better once the tires have come up to temp for an extended period of time. I'm hoping I don't have any though -- I never put it on stands (as I don't have a front stand), but I did chalk the tires and roll her around for 10 mins or so once a month, then made sure the tires weren't sitting in the same place as before.
 
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conundrum said:
One question though regarding tires and hardspots. Assuming they aren't overly bad, I take it a good ride or two that heats the tires back up should 'de-flatspot' the tires?
Click to expand...


I had flat spots on my tires last season, and my mechanic told me that the tires needed to be replaced. Assuming my mechanic's an honest guy, I think flat spots are permanent and can't be ridden out. I could be wrong.

Anyway, I now store my bike on both front and rear stands.
 
I wouldn't even bother changing the oil. Charge the battery, top off the gas, check the tire pressure, and ride the thing.
 
matt365 said:
I wouldn't even bother changing the oil. Charge the battery, top off the gas, check the tire pressure, and ride the thing.
Click to expand...

Only reason I'm doing the oil on mine is that I'm at around 4-5K on the current oil, and never changed it before the end of last season (also figured I'd rather start off fresh, than let it sit and collect moisture or anything over the winter months). Honda claims the 250 can go 12K but I don't fully believe that (maybe with syth).
 
JFD said:
Headlight oil is srs business.
Click to expand...

If you think that's serious you should see what happens when a muffler bearing lets go. It could take out the snifter valve in seconds! :D

Op for the cost I'd change the oil anyways. Fresh start to the season. The rest has already been said.
 
If you changed the oil before storage,leave it alone.Waste of money and resources to do it again.Use the fuel recommended in your manual.Premium is a waste if it runs on 87.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I changed the oil (1200km on the old one, but it was changed sometime last August) with Motul Synthetic. Inflated the tires. Topped up the gas, had about half a tank left. Started within a second of pushing the start button. :D I rode about 20km, just to get it warmed up properly and the battery recharged a bit, and it ran great. I wish I could have gotten more riding, but I could not find the spare oil filter, so I had to go pick up a new one.

I was amazed how easy it is to change the oil on this bike. No fairing disassembly required as both the drain bolt and filter are accessible IF the engine is cold. The filter has to be squeezed out between the exhaust pipes, and if they're hot you figure it out. :p I don't know about tire hard spots, did not feel any difference where it was sitting but we'll see later. The battery did not need charging. The chain still need a good cleaning, but it's already lubed properly.

All in all, things turned out better than expected. :)
 
You'd feel the 'thumpthump' as it rode. If it sounded fine, you're fine.
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