Winterizing a bike?

[number9]

Given I'm new to the whole sub-zero temperature thing, I was just wondering what NESR folks do for winterizing their bikes? I'm sure there's a pantload of links on teh intarweb but I thought I'd get real peoples' opinions...

Drain the fuel tank completely, or fill it up & use a stabilizer? Drain brake fluid or just flush it when winter is over? Take wheels & tyres off and leave them somewhere warm? Trickle-charge battery or take it out & leave it somewhere warm?

That's all I can think of now

[theothersean]

put knobbies on the rims, ice screws in the knobbies and take it out on a frozen lake, ride it year round.

[dave72370]

Well for me, I am filling the tank, putting in stabilizer, then parking in it my friends heated basement

[JeffL]

I've got a bulkhead going down into my basement with a decent set of stairs, and I'm actually planning on tearing the bike down completely and rebuilding/rewiring it this winter, so what I'm going to do is strap the bike down to a sheet of plywood, tie a rope off to the plywood, and slide it down the stairs, and vice versa come spring time.

Then I a) dont have to work on it in the garage in the nut freezing cold, and b) warm winter storage.

At least theoretically it will slide up/down the stairs. Gravity wins all the time, so it will definitely go DOWN, if need be, it will just come back up the stairs in pieces.

[theothersean]

Put stabil in the tank and go for a short ride to get the stabil in the whole fuel system, then top off the tank.

Change the oil ( its debated that oil that has been run through the engine has properties to it that may be harmful if left to sit for a while, so fresh oil is a good idea )


disconnect the battery charge it and keep it in a warm place , battery tender would be best.

stuff a rag in the end of the tail pipe to keep the mice out

over inflate the tires by 10 lbs to keep them from getting a flat spot while parked, (remember to remove the extra air before you go for a ride) Or put the bike up on stands to get the tires off the ground.




OR just sell the thing now and buy a new on in the spring

[RandyO]

I vote for knobby tires, heated grips and pigtail to battery for gerbings, keep a small bottle of lock deicer handy in event ignition or fuel tank locks freeze, run 2-3 psi less in your tires so they heat up on cold pavement. keep battery tender on battery before rides on exceptionally cold mornings, a salamander or ready heater can be effective in warming bike for starts on extremely frigid (below 0) mornings

don't be fraid to use duct tape to seal leaks in your gear, windchill at speed can be 50 to 80 below zero or more

[R7]

Originally posted by JeffL
At least theoretically it will slide up/down the stairs. Gravity wins all the time, so it will definitely go DOWN, if need be, it will just come back up the stairs in pieces.

I can tell ya the plywood thing is a bad idea Get a plank and a couple friends, one person controling the bars (front brake and using the clutch as a rear brake while in 1st gear) and someone to help balance the bike on the way down.
I bring the 7 in every year and i'm in the same situation with the bulkhead doors. 3 people can easily get the bike back up the stairs as well, I don't take anything off the bike.

As for winter storage, the bike I bring inside I completely drain the fuel from the tank and all the fuel lines and I just disconnect the battery.

Any bike stored in a changing climate like a garage or a shed I fill the tank to the top, take the battery out and bring it inside, and spray some corrosive prone area's with WD-40. It's also a good idea to plug the exhaust pipe nad the intake area to keep livestock out

[number9]

Originally posted by theothersean
Put stabil in the tank and go for a short ride to get the stabil in the whole fuel system, then top off the tank.

Okay, no problem there.

Change the oil ( its debated that oil that has been run through the engine has properties to it that may be harmful if left to sit for a while, so fresh oil is a good idea )

I've never heard that debated? I am almost surprised some people don't recommend draining all the oil, just in case some of it freezes up in an oil line or a valley somewhere...

disconnect the battery charge it and keep it in a warm place , battery tender would be best.

stuff a rag in the end of the tail pipe to keep the mice out

over inflate the tires by 10 lbs to keep them from getting a flat spot while parked, (remember to remove the extra air before you go for a ride) Or put the bike up on stands to get the tires off the ground.

Yep, I'll need to get myself a battery tender & front and rear stands (paddock stands as we call them). I think that about covers it?

[number9]

Originally posted by RandyO
I vote for knobby tires, heated grips and pigtail to battery for gerbings, keep a small bottle of lock deicer handy in event ignition or fuel tank locks freeze, run 2-3 psi less in your tires so they heat up on cold pavement. keep battery tender on battery before rides on exceptionally cold mornings, a salamander or ready heater can be effective in warming bike for starts on extremely frigid (below 0) mornings

don't be fraid to use duct tape to seal leaks in your gear, windchill at speed can be 50 to 80 below zero or more

Okay, first things first: what's a gerbing?! Secondly, what are you riding? I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to find knobby tires for a Mille

[RandyO]

Avon Extreme Wets are available in 120/70-17 front and 180/55-17 rear and 160/60-17 rear
gerbings

[highsider]

Step One: Roll bike in house.

Step Two: Put bike on rearstand. If you dont have one, buy one.

Step Three: Position bike in front of television.

Step Four: Go to fridge and get beer.

Step Five: SIt on bike, drinking beer, and watch bike racing on TV.

Optional Step Six: Make "vroom vroom" noises as you watch bike racing.

[richw]

Fogging Oil

Its just fun to say

I like putting a few ounces of oil or mystery oil in the gas running the bike untill its through the system.

If you love her a fogging oil spay down the intakes coats all with protective oil including the pipe.

Drain the tank if she's going inside. Storing gas where you sleep not to cool. Its the daily temperature change that sucks moist air in an out of the tank that causes the rust. Constant dry basement no problem.

Not so bad now adays but old oil does have organic acids and moisture that can pit metal. Run her hard to full heat to drive off moisture, change oil and filter leave yourself a note your good to go next year.

[number9]

Those Avons look... chunky. I take it they work well?

[JeffL]

Originally posted by R7
I can tell ya the plywood thing is a bad idea Get a plank and a couple friends, one person controling the bars (front brake and using the clutch as a rear brake while in 1st gear) and someone to help balance the bike on the way down.
I bring the 7 in every year and i'm in the same situation with the bulkhead doors. 3 people can easily get the bike back up the stairs as well, I don't take anything off the bike.

As for winter storage, the bike I bring inside I completely drain the fuel from the tank and all the fuel lines and I just disconnect the battery.

Any bike stored in a changing climate like a garage or a shed I fill the tank to the top, take the battery out and bring it inside, and spray some corrosive prone area's with WD-40. It's also a good idea to plug the exhaust pipe nad the intake area to keep livestock out

No no, dont worry. If I can slide 350lb oil tanks up and down cellar stairs of all types, I think I can manage this. I mean, whats the worst that could happen?

[RandyO]

Originally posted by number9
Those Avons look... chunky. I take it they work well?

MY assumption is yes, I run Pirelli MTR60's in winter, but they only come in a 160/60 for the rear, but I do know a couple other SVers that use the Avon Rains rather than the Pirelli's with no complaints other than they wear out fast on dry normal temp pavement, like maybe 1500 miles at best, on colder pavement * wet condition, I have stretched the pirellis out to 3500 miles

[number9]

Here goes, again...

Last year, when winter came, I added a few capfuls of Sta-Bil (what they recommended on the bottle, IIRC) to my full tank and pretty much just left the bike sitting all winter in an unheated garage. What ended up happening was the carb bowls gummed up, leaked gas slowly during the winter, and then the bike was unrideable in spring: I had to pull the carbs and have them professionally cleaned.

Fucked if I'm doing all that again.

What is the best way to tackle this problem for this coming winter? Should I add enough Sta-Bil to the tank so that the bike runs smoky - which is what the parts counter guy said - or should I fill the tank, ride home, and drain the fuel bowls? Then try cranking the bike for a few seconds to really dry it out? Or what?

Thanks, guys.

[RandyO]

I just had a set of Karoo's mounted on my V-strom last week

[breakdirt916]

What ended up happening was the carb bowls gummed up, leaked gas slowly during the winter, and then the bike was unrideable in spring

how did gummed carbs lead to leaking gas?

where did the gas leak from?

[number9]

how did gummed carbs lead to leaking gas?

where did the gas leak from?

I think it interfered with the float; the gummy crap in the carbs meant that the bowls were effectively now smaller in volume but the float level never changed. So, the float was thinking it was supposed to allow fuel to go out when it wasn't. Or something, I don't know shit about carbs

[Crash Dummy Denno]

I just had a set of Karoo's mounted on my V-strom last week

how are those for canyon carving

[joeswamp]

Here goes, again...

Last year, when winter came, I added a few capfuls of Sta-Bil (what they recommended on the bottle, IIRC) to my full tank and pretty much just left the bike sitting all winter in an unheated garage. What ended up happening was the carb bowls gummed up, leaked gas slowly during the winter, and then the bike was unrideable in spring: I had to pull the carbs and have them professionally cleaned.

Fucked if I'm doing all that again.

What is the best way to tackle this problem for this coming winter? Should I add enough Sta-Bil to the tank so that the bike runs smoky - which is what the parts counter guy said - or should I fill the tank, ride home, and drain the fuel bowls? Then try cranking the bike for a few seconds to really dry it out? Or what?

Thanks, guys.

Did you run the stabilized gas through the carbs? After you add the Stabil you're supposed to run the thing for ten minutes or so, then make sure the tank is really full. On my Triumph I usually stabilize the fuel, get it through the carbs, and then drain the float bowls just to make sure.

I just added Stabil to my SV track bike and ran it through the system before I pulled the battery. Looked like a huge pain to drain the float bowls so I guess I'll leave them full.

Usually the biggest risk of leaving fuel in the carbs is that the tiny idle jets will clog -- the bike will then be hard to start and run like crap at idle. Shouldn't happen though if the fuel in the carbs has Stabil in it.

[number9]

Joe: Yeah, I did that, I rode for about 10 minutes.. maybe I should have gone longer? I think I'm going to do both, i.e. add Sta-Bil and drain the bowls (which I think is pretty easy).

[CMG241]

FILL YOUR TANKS TO THE TOP! If tank is steel it needs to be covered in fuel to avoid rust.

[RandyO]

how are those for canyon carving

surprisingly good, better than the Deathwings that come stock on the V-Strom

[akira700]

Boy looks like I picked a good weekend to go
to anti-freeze. Even in Boston it was mighty nippy out this
morning! No frost but pretty close.