Lots off good suggestions, I also pump up my front tire to its maximum psi and rotate it when I remember and mark it with chalk so the tire does not sit with the weight on the same spot during the off season.
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Winterizing your motorcycle
- Thread starter Tjf
- Start date
Okay. Add fuel stabilizer on an empty tank, and then fill-up with whatever one normally fills up with. If there truely is no point, then me adding Yamalube's Fuel Stabilizer at like $2 a tiny bottle is like putting a Tooney in the middle of center ice. It's good luck.
kiwi
Well-known member
The concrete floor thing is not applicable to modern batteries. You can consult google for more clarification, but it was the very very old batteries from years ago that this was a problem for.
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chief ten bears
Member
Do not leave old oil in the bike over the winter. Used oil is acidic and is a no no for sitting over the winter. You want to do an oil change and put fresh oil in, then park for winter. Come spring, you just ride and go, no need to change oil again.
The reason I say again in the spring is because people don't like leaving oil to sit and absorb condensate etc. The whole silly 5k or 3 months things of conditioning that cars deliver which I don't pay attention to anymore especially now that mine is almost 14 years old.
Joots
Well-known member
It's not that it's going to corrode through anything. But it could increase tolerances in the engine, slowly damaging it. Besides, that just means it's that much easier to pull it out in the spring.
I haven't read through the thread to see who suggested this, but the two oil changes is overkill - just change oil once in the winter. Takes care of the possibility of acidic etching, and you only change oil once. There really is no reason to change it again in the spring. Oil does not absorb moisture - it may collect in the oil but that will quickly evaporate the first time you run it.
Okay. Add fuel stabilizer on an empty tank, and then fill-up with whatever one normally fills up with. If there truely is no point, then me adding Yamalube's Fuel Stabilizer at like $2 a tiny bottle is like putting a Tooney in the middle of center ice. It's good luck.
I am making this perfectly clear for the benefit of other people reading this thread - Sunspark was not suggesting the fuel stabilizer was pointless. He was suggesting storing it with ethanol-free gas was pointless ... which it more or less is. There are a variety of reasons why you might want to store your bike with ethanol-free fuel ... there is a teeny-tiny perecentage of bikes of a certain vintage that this might actually matter for storage purposes, and that is where the bike has (cheap) fuel seals that swell when they come in contact with ethanol. In those cases, you are probably better off just draining all gas out of the bike. FOR MOST PEOPLE, you don't need to worry about whether or not your bike has ethanol in it when you're storing it.
I'll put that on the pile of oil myths.
I will pay anyone $10,000 cash if they can prove acidic oil etching.
Exactly how does the oil not etch before you store the bike?
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Ethanol is not the problem, the water absorption is the problem, even on modern engines. It has nothing to do with seals. That issue was fixed 20 years ago. You can see a tank rust in one winter with ethanol fuel.
http://www.drivenracingoil.com/news...-yourself-ethanol-is-killing-your-carburetor/
http://usafuelservice.com/ethanolbasics.htm
http://www.jackssmallengines.com/small_engine_storage.cfm
etc.
silverbullet132
Well-known member
Agreed it is a waste to change twice, just change once before winter and ride on the new oil in the spring.
+1 That's what I do. I also use el-cheapo oil (Rotella dino) when winterizing and do a relatively quick change come spring.
As mentioned; rust in a metal tank. Now if you have a Ducati, KTM, or any other bike with a plastic tank, then you could be looking at deformation issues with ethanol fuel.
skip
Well-known member
I've put 72k trouble free on my current bike and 68k on my previous ride using that very el-cheapo oil
And combustion by-products + water from condensation = weak acid solution. I really do not want type the chem out on my phone. But just change the oil before you park it. Do not start it over the winter and then ride off in the spring. I charge my bat up in march when I start to ride again.
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I've put 72k trouble free on my current bike and 68k on my previous ride using that very el-cheapo oil
And combustion by-products + water from condensation = weak acid solution. I really do not want type the chem out on my phone. But just change the oil before you park it. Do not start it over the winter and then ride off in the spring. I charge my bat up in march when I start to ride again.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2
I got no issues running it but using the synthetic variety (T6) allows me to stretch out my intervals which saves $$$ on filters and saves me time, which are both a-ok in my books. With my riding style, I can definitely feel the difference in the ease of shifting after about 2-3k of running the 15w40.. The 5w40 shifts as smooth at change time as it did when I just pour it in, but I stiil change it around the 6k mark.
3rd season and counting. I've had a carbbed bike for 2 and a FIed bike for 1.
The carbbed one I just drained the carbs, charged the battery, and put on the center stand. Every week I'd rotate the wheel touching the floor (front?).
FI was put on both front and rear stands, put a GSXR cover over it because I'm a fanboy, and charged the battery.
In both cases I changed the oil at around late/mid September and don't change it again till April. Once in a while if the weather is nice I'll take it for a spin lol
The carbbed one I just drained the carbs, charged the battery, and put on the center stand. Every week I'd rotate the wheel touching the floor (front?).
FI was put on both front and rear stands, put a GSXR cover over it because I'm a fanboy, and charged the battery.
In both cases I changed the oil at around late/mid September and don't change it again till April. Once in a while if the weather is nice I'll take it for a spin lol
Clean and lube before. It's quick and easy... I'd typically do a 5min ride which circulates the stabilizer and warms up the chain and oil.. Clean and lube the chain, change the oil, put battery on tender or just trickle-charge once a month and put the bike up on stands.
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