| Author | Message | ||
     Statik |
this is the 1st bike that I actually care about (the others were beaters) Storing it for the winter and busting out the sleds. gonna do the obvious things like pull the battery out, fill the fuel, add some stabil, etc. silly question: can I just leave it on the kick stand all winter? and anything else I should do? thanx | ||
| Newfie_buell |
Silly answer!!!! I don't think it would stay up on its own all winter!!!!  All I ever do with my bikes is add some stabilizer and tickle the battery every so often. I have even left the battery in the bike in freezing weather over the winter as I don't have a heated garage. I have to replace it once every three years. I might take it out this time, I like leaving it in until there is a pile of snow on the ground as I will ride it. The Big DR650 I have stays prepped all year round as I like riding that in snow, sucks on ice though, but that makes it more interesting. | ||
| Statik |
hehe, I mean, do I need to put it on a stand, or will the kickstand make it thru the winter..... | ||
| Midknyte |
Stick a sheet of plywood under it. Protects the tires from lye leeching out of your cement floor. | ||
| Whistle |
^^^What he said. I put the rear up on my stand and the front sets on a piece of wood. | ||
| Buelluk |
Big, What are you putting it away for, there will be some nice days when you will want to get that scoot out and ride it through the winter around NP. | ||
| Statik |
not really putting it away, just putting it to the back of the garage and the sleds to the front. | ||
| Newfie_buell |
Just park it and no big worries. | ||
| Statik |
thats sounds good.  | ||
| Iamike |
I've had a couple of buddies that parked their bikes in a barn when they got married. One a '76 Electra Glide the other a '70 Ducati 250. Both got middle age disease, pulled them out, changed the oil, new battery and started them up. Winterization is overrated. | ||
| Midknyte |
Throwing the battery on a tender is the important one. | ||
| Jeremyh |
treat gas would be next crucial move if it is going to sit un ridden for the entire winter. You guys that think winterization is overrated apparently have never had a 60 thousand dollar boat become useless due to failure to winterize it. Winterization is not expensive and is a good habit to get into, besides it gives you one more reason to tinker with your toys and get to know them better. I mean •••• if you left your girlfriend/wife alone all winter without some love how the hell do you think she would treat you come spring time. Most likely she'd sht in your cheerios by finding a better care taker. | ||
| Bikertrash05 |
Battery tender and straight gas. In Milwaukee the gas is reformulated, which has to be stabilized, but non-reformulated gas you are good to go with just the battery tender. I live 15 minutes away from the next county, so I never by reformulated gas for my bike. | ||
| Fusa21 |
Winterizing can be done in a varying amount of paranoia. A good starting point is filling the tank full, as much as you are comfortable with before spilling. That way there is no chance of moisture condensing on the inside of the tank when the temps rise and fall. If you have carbs...drain them, or even better yet, remove them and give them a good bath in carb cleaner and reinstall. Then the Battery should be removed and occasionally trickle charged. If the electrolyte/gel freezes it can crack the Lead plates inside the Battery causing potential intermittent problems that get expensive/time consuming to diagnose. If you're really Paranoid, I've heard of guys pulling the heads off, coating the cylinders with oil, and putting it back together. To me that seems a waste of a perfectly good set of top-end gaskets. As for leaving the battery in the bike all winter to ride it on that one 40 degree day in January. I can't imagine anyone that is worried about storing their bike, just so, is going to ride it when the roads are caked in Corrosion causing SALT. I loaded my last bike in the back of my pickup to take it to my buddies house to do some winter projects, it corroded all kinds of stuff just from the salt spray off the tires. Your mileage may vary. |
