Winterizing track bike | GTAMotorcycle.com

Winterizing track bike

Corsara

Corsara

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I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but the threads my search found didn't provide an answer to the question I have.

Now that my bike is only for track and no track days to look forward to, it's time to winterize. Other than putting coolant and hooking it up to the battery tender, I'd like to get rid of the old oil. Apparently there are different opinions on the matter, but I've decided to take the path of changing the oil now, and come spring---change again before I ride.

My question(s):

1) I run Mobil 1 4T fully synthetic. Can I put some really cheap regular oil for the winter, and if yes, what kind?

2) Is it fine to leave the old oil filter now, and put a new one in the spring (doesn't seem right to contaminate a new filter with cheap oil now)?

3) Should I start the bike at all during the winter, or leave it sleeping throughout?

Note: I'm storing the bike in an unheated garage off the ground (on the stands).

Thanks in advance for helping me out.
 
ive always heard that you should put in oil and leave it, synthetic can be run through the motor and left all winter where as the dino oil should be put in and left. something along the lines of it has a shelf life once its run through a motor. that being said, if i did a recent oil change i dont usually bother changing it pre winter and only do it when i bring the bike out, and if i do ill put in synthetic and ride around on that after the winter. synthetic doesnt deteriorate from sitting like dino oil does. thats jsut what ive been told, maybe someone can confirm that or correct me where im wrong. also dont start it during the winter, just leave it alone, throw a cover on it, if its on stands youre fine and shouldnt worry much about the tires. also throw in fuel stabilizer and run the bike for 10 or so minutes to work it through everything and keep the fuel from going bad and make sure the tank is topped up all the way. prevents rust.
 
There's no need to change the oil that sat over the winter. Do a full change before you store it and the oil will be fine in the spring. Stabilizer like uchi said. It's the same as storing any other bike which there's atleast 10 threads per year that cover this.
 
make sure there's nothing behind it for the winter. if there is, have fun getting it out all winter. it is a liter
 
There's also no need to put coolant in it. Just drain the water out of the system at the lowest point and put a piece of tape over the ignition switch with "NO COOLANT" written on it. Whatever small pockets of water that might remain in low spots in the system, won't cause a problem because they are not confined. (Water doesn't break your ice cube tray when you put it in the freezer ... same thing.)
 
I do my oil and filter change when winterizing then DON'T START THE BIKE until it time to ride. Starting it "to warm it" will never get the engine to operating temp and you'll only be introducing moisture and the contaminates you got rid of when you changed your oil.
 
coyo said:
I do my oil and filter change when winterizing then DON'T START THE BIKE until it time to ride. Starting it "to warm it" will never get the engine to operating temp and you'll only be introducing moisture and the contaminates you got rid of when you changed your oil.
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If you can't or don't fill the oil filter while installing it I would start it briefly just to fill the oil filter.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2
 
coyo said:
The reason being?
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I always start the bike and let it idle a bit before doing an oil change to lubricate the valve train.

In the 5-10 minutes it takes to drain the oil and spin on a new filter the valve train will stay lubricated. Then in the few seconds it takes after startup to fill the filter the valvetrain is still lubricated.

If you let the bike sit for a few months the valvetrain will become dry. Then when you go to start it in the spring the valvetrain will stay dry while the filter fills with oil. Dry valvetrain is no good!

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2
 
Not sure about it but if you drain the coolant out and leave it empty, won't the water pump seals dry out? I just drain some water and top up with coolant (run it till shes warm, I change the oil warm too). A bit of a pain to flush in the spring but gets me reacquainted with the bike.
 
I do the same... fill with coolant in the winter and flush in the spring. And always circulate after a fresh oil change.

An extra step I do is take off the wheels/tires and bring them in the basement/interior of the house. Keeps the tires away from the freezing concrete garage. I don't move the bike anyway so it just stays on the stands.
 
Thank you all for the great advice! After changing my mind a hundred times, I went ahead and put cheap oil, drained the water from the rad and pump, and the bike is parked on its stands in the deepest end of my garage for its winter sleep. Drying out of the pump seals seems like it could be an issue, but I've decided to take my chances... maybe a stupid reason, but I didn't feel like going to CT just now to buy coolant, so fairings are back on and I'm done with it.
 
id as much worry about corrosion on the inside of the system as the pump seals. Same thing with my carb'd zx6, i can count on even with stabil that i'll need to drain the carbs in the spring. The option of leaving the bowls empty is there but i feel like that would be more likely to lead to moisture and corrosion.
 
Brian P said:
There's also no need to put coolant in it. Just drain the water out of the system at the lowest point and put a piece of tape over the ignition switch with "NO COOLANT" written on it. Whatever small pockets of water that might remain in low spots in the system, won't cause a problem because they are not confined. (Water doesn't break your ice cube tray when you put it in the freezer ... same thing.)
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I do the same.
 
I guess i consider myself lucky because i parked my bike at a friend of mine that has a heated garage so i don't have to worrie about having to flush the water. ;-)
 
sempre1 said:
I guess i consider myself lucky because i parked my bike at a friend of mine that has a heated garage so i don't have to worrie about having to flush the water. ;-)
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Consider yourself very lucky...
Took me forever to remove the cylinder drain bolt and even longer to put it back.
 
sempre1 said:
I guess i consider myself lucky because i parked my bike at a friend of mine that has a heated garage so i don't have to worrie about having to flush the water. ;-)
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until his furnace goes out while he's away for the weekend in february. oops. just drain it, it takes ten seconds
 
sempre1 said:
I guess i consider myself lucky because i parked my bike at a friend of mine that has a heated garage so i don't have to worrie about having to flush the water. ;-)
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My friend was doing that too, during that big power outage in Quebec. New engine and rad in the spring fixed him right up. Why chance it?

-Jamie M.
 
kellen said:
until his furnace goes out while he's away for the weekend in february. oops. just drain it, it takes ten seconds
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toysareforboys said:
My friend was doing that too, during that big power outage in Quebec. New engine and rad in the spring fixed him right up. Why chance it?

-Jamie M.
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Don't know for sure, but even unheated garages never get so terribly cold to make water freeze. For example, I buy bulk 500ml water bottles, and keep them in the garage, I'm yet to get a water from the garage (unheated) and find it frozen..
 
Corsara said:
Don't know for sure, but even unheated garages never get so terribly cold to make water freeze. For example, I buy bulk 500ml water bottles, and keep them in the garage, I'm yet to get a water from the garage (unheated) and find it frozen..
Click to expand...
When the heat in your house quits working for 3 days, the temperature in your garage gets below freezing ;)

-Jamie M.
 
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