| Author | Message | ||
     Cataract2 |
Well, as some know, I just got out here to Germany. Well, I have my bikes out here now and winter is almost upon us. When the military moved my bikes I have to drain the tanks of all gas. I've been holding off on registering my bikes due to waiting to get my license and then with not having time. I'm tempted to just save the insurance money and registration fees as I won't be able to ride this winter (snow, blah) and figure I could wait till spring to do this stuff. I'm wondering if I can just leave the tanks empty through the winter or if I should get them filled up? Filling them up would require me to register them and such, but I would do so if the tanks need to be full. | ||
| Gunut75 |
If it's a steel tank, keep it full. Add a little stabilizer and you'll be fine. Plastic and aluminum, it won't hurt to keep it empty. If it has carbs, start it, shut off the petcock and let it run out of gas so nothing remains in the float bowl. I stick with those rules, and never have any problems. How long is the winter in Germany anyway? Comparable to Wisconsin? I've never been there. | ||
| Thumper74 |
German foreign exchange student mooching off of me says it's about like northern Ohio, depending on where you're at. I'd just leave them dry... If there's no fuel in the carb circuits, they can't gum up... | ||
| Delta_one |
I would fill and stabil and run it for a bit so everything circulates a bit but to avoid the registration cant you just buy a fuel jug and throw it in your trunk to fill the bikes with? (or somebody else's trunk since you don't have a drivers yet) | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
If I remember rightly you're near Ramstein, you should be riding mid March (ish) comfortably. Worst weather is usually Jan/Feb. The Germans are generally very efficient at keeping the roads open though, so with some warm gear there'll not be that many days you can't ride there. | ||
| Xl1200r |
I'd shy away from emptying the float bowls and the carbs. What makes gas gum up is moisture, and if the bowl is empty condensation can form when it gets cold. Use some stabilizer and keep the bowls and carbs filled to the brim - nowhere for condensation to form that way. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Sorry, should have mentioned. The bikes are both Buells. 05 XB9SX and 08 1125R. | ||
| Nillaice |
okay, then either run them dry or put some stabil in the gas | ||
| Nillaice |
and keep the battery warm and float-charged either in teh bike or pull it out and put bring it inside, leaving the rest of teh bike out in the cold. also flat spots may form on the tires from sitting all winter, especially the softer compunds | ||
| Cataract2 |
Batteries are always on a maintainer winter or not. I move the bikes around enough to prevent the flat spots. Tanks will remain dry till spring. Might as well save some $. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Maybe we'll meet for a jar sometime when the weather's better. It's about 340 miles, so a nice day's run if we meet in the middle somewhere. | ||
| Brumbear |
Sorry Cat I asked the wife about my garage in Wiesbaden but she is renting it out to the nieghbor to offset maintenance fees or hausgeld I believe it's called. I didn't think about that man I wish I could have helped you out.Wiesbaden is about 70 miles from Landstuhl I think. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Ooh Wiesbaden...... When I used to tramp international work, back in the day's of being divorced & single again, we used to deliver to Panasonic's plant at Wiesbaden regularly, & I had a couple of "things" going on round there. One of them in a beautiful village called Oppenheim just down river. Of course I'm happily re-married now so that sort of thing no longer happens. At all. Really. Honestly, I've changed. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Hey, no problem on the garage. I've got one at the apartment I'm in. Bikes are nice and cozy in there. Just needed to know about leaving the gas tanks empty. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I honestly wouldn't store the tanks dry. I'd fill them to the brim, run the bikes for a bit to make sure the system is all 'wet', add some stabil and store them full. Air is what gums fuel (and fuel residue), and I can guarantee there's residue in there from when you drained the tanks. It won't hurt the aluminum...but the fittings and hoses and orifices will get gakked up and full of varnish. I keep my tanks full all winter, have for over a dozen years...no fuel-related problems yet. I don't use stabil....but I do ride all winter so the gas gets cycled through to the tune of a couple fresh tanks during the course of the winter. And that's on plastic tuber tanks, aluminum XB and 1125 tanks, and the steel tank on my old FLHP. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Rat, unfortunatly I had to drain them to be shipped by the military to here. So they've been dry since mid Aug. At this point there's not much I can do and I figure anything in them is long gone now. I ran the bike to empty the lines before shipping them. Guess I'll just wait till winter is over and then fill the tanks and run some cleaner through them. Sea Foam maybe. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I may be missing something here, but if the bikes are downstairs in your garage why can't you drop a little fuel & stabiliser in both to stop all the seals & stuff drying out? You'd only need about a litre in each, just to fill the systems. | ||
| Cataract2 |
No gas can. Least, not yet. Lack of time. Eh, didn't think about doing that being that my head is full of other stuff, like setting up the home. |
