[newbster_rider]

I was wondering if you guys could give me the lowdown on some winterizing tips . I Just bought my bike, but ive never had anything this new. SO I put the stabilizer in the gas. I also run it every week for 10min just to keep it the cylinder lubed. Is there anything else i should be doing?

 

[Motorcycle Man]

Do not run it weekly. That does more harm than good.

Disconnect the battery.

 

[Dalma]

Once you add fuel stabilizer you want to run it once long enough to be sure that the fuel in carbs / injectors has mixed with the stabilier. You next need to either add a proper trickle charger to the battery or better yet pull it from the bike and store it someplace warm and trickle charge it about once per month. Do not start your bike during the winter unless you actually plan to ride it.

 

[SpideRider]

The last two posts have everything you need. :thumbup

 

[Motoki]

How come you shouldnt start your bike once in a blue moon during the winter? Ive done it in the past but havnt seen any problems? I just thought running the engine once or twice during the winter will keep the injectors from building up sludge and carbon deposits etc.

 

[adam112]

get your girlfriend out of bed at 2 am, turn the shower on ICE COLD and throw her in. take her out, explain you need to do an experiment. Now quickly try to do the nasty, no foreplay.

Hows that feel on the old piston.

Now do that once a week for 10 minutes.

 

[Guest]

if you wanna go all out, fog your cylinders with fogging oil, stabilize your gas, trickle charge your battery, put the bike on stands, and walk away.

when it's time to ride, put the battery back in, change the engine oil, drop it off the stands, crank it over to get rid of the fogging oil, and have at it.

 

[Motoki]

As posted i said once in a blue moon during the winter not once a week for 10minutes. I just thought it helps circulate the fluilds etc. around. I could be wrong i just wanted to know how bad would it damage the bike by starting in a few times over the winter.

 

[Guest]

motoki, you are simply dispersing the condensation from the engine oil around the engine. unless you are going for a long rip, running the engine at idle isn't very good for it while it's in storage mode. you are also taking some charge off the battery, as at idle it isn't charging as well as compared to full out riding.

 

[TeeTee]

As posted i said once in a blue moon during the winter not once a week for 10minutes. I just thought it helps circulate the fluilds etc. around. I could be wrong i just wanted to know how bad would it damage the bike by starting in a few times over the winter.

The other posts are right. The reason is that one of the components of your exhaust is water and lots of it. In an engine fully up to temperature this water is just steam and any that gets into the crankcase just comes out the breather. But when you start and run it at idle for a few minutes this water condenses out far too easily on the cold engine parts and also gets into the oil. It'll stay there because the oil doesn't get hot enough to boil it away and you can see this because the oil will look milky whitish. And that's fairly bad.

And injectors just sitting with stablilized gas in them won't sludge up over the sort of time frames that we store our bikes for.

The only difference that I follow that goes against what has been said already is that I change my oil and filter in the fall and just run it normally in the spring. The oil doesn't go bad over the winter and if the bike isn't run at all it won't get any significant moisture into the oil.

 

[Wayne]

In addition to what Tee Tee said about water in your oil etc., you'll likely have water sitting throughout the exhaust system as well; also bad.

 

[adiabatic]

Once you add fuel stabilizer you want to run it once long enough to be sure that the fuel in carbs / injectors has mixed with the stabilier.

Regarding mixing and injectors: on the last ride of the season I like to fill the tank 75%, add stabilizer for a full tank then take the bike for a 20 minute last ride (sniff, sniff...). Stop at the closest gas station to home, fill bike to the overflow point then ride home and park.

 

[newbster_rider]

Alright! Thanks for the input guys! Will put it to good use! ALSO i put my new bike as my AVATAR! take a look! :rockon

 

[heisenberg9]

I think this is the most concise thread on this topic here to date.

 

[Guest]

Regarding mixing and injectors: on the last ride of the season I like to fill the tank 75%, add stabilizer for a full tank then take the bike for a 20 minute last ride (sniff, sniff...). Stop at the closest gas station to home, fill bike to the overflow point then ride home and park.

20 mins is overkill to get stabilizer into the throttle bodies. you are wasting it twofold. you run 20 mins worth of it out before it even starts to do anything, then you dilute it by adding another 1/4 tank of gas.

do a mix for a full tank of gas in the garage, run the bike for a few minutes tops, shut it down and count the days to the new season.

 

[Machinist]

Oil Change!!!!

Leaveing Used Oil in your Crakcase over The Winter is not a Good thing it's a Good Idea to Change the Oil and Filter When you Put it away for the winter .
I Hook up a Battery tender as well on My QUAD and My Bike and the Battery is Alway's Fresh and ready to go When I Put it Back on the Road.

 

[fetdex]

just ride the dam thing.......hahahahaha...........I take the long route to the mail box around the block to timmies then home.next year im thinking of even insureing it.

 

[adiabatic]

20 mins is overkill to get stabilizer into the throttle bodies. you are wasting it twofold. you run 20 mins worth of it out before it even starts to do anything, then you dilute it by adding another 1/4 tank of gas.

It was 20 minutes because 10 (10 being what was recommended on the bottle) would've been a tease

If you read my OP closely I put enough stabilizer in for the full tank. If anything I was riding the bike with "extra" stabilizer then the final topping up of the tank brings the concentration to about the right value.

 

[greenboy]

In addition to what's been already said:

- wash, dry and wax bike
- lube chain
- newspaper, cardboard or wood under tires
- for the additonal cost, a battery tender is much easier to live with than a battery charger
- if outdoors, use a bike cover and stuff clean dry rags into the exhaust pipe opening(s)
- check tire pressure once per month, and rotate the tires a few degrees every few weeks (mark sidewalls with chalk for reference).

Finally and most importantly, keep a full box of Kleenex nearby for those inevitable Withdrawal Days you go to look at your bike and drool all over it.