| Author | Message | ||
     Kevinjgray88 |
well it will be that time of year again soon here in wisconsin. and i had a couple winter storage questions. i just got my oil change 1200 miles ago and its synthetic. do you suggest i still change it or will it be fine. also if anyone could let me know what they do or use to clean and lube the bike so it doesnt rust and so on. thanks for the help | ||
| S1125r |
Oil changes are cheap insurance. | ||
| Jules |
There's some reasonable info on this site: http://www.autoevolution.com/news/motorcycle-winte r-storage-tips-before-and-after-15960.html I ride all year round so don't have the same things to consider... | ||
| Zane_t |
As long as the oil is clean, it'll be fine. Just don't store a vehicle with old oil. Keeping the bike dry is most important when storing, and if a battery maintainer isn't being used, try to charge it once a month. A little fuel stabilizer doesn't hurt either. Also, stuffing oily rags in the air inlet and exhaust outlets will help keep the critters out. | ||
| Badlionsfan |
Sta-bil for the fuel (follow the instructions!) and hook up to a battery tender. A rag in the exhaust if it's where mice can frolic and a soft cover to keep the dust off and you'll be ready to ride the first sign of spring. | ||
| Gofastalot99 |
I full up the gas tank, put a fuel stabilizer in and run for a couple of minutes, change the oil and I wash mine a few days before covering the bike up for storage and I put a smart charger on the bike. The smart chargers are well worth the $. My first Sportster battery lasted 8 years - it might have lasted longer but I gave it to a friend after 6 years when he needed a battery - he never used a smart charger and only got another two years out of it. My current Sportster battery is 8 years old and my Road King battery is 6 years old. In the spring I check the tire pressure, belts/chains, etc. start and let idle for a few minutes and then ride. I don't typically start the bikes at all during the winter because I figure I will just "dry" start it once in the spring instead of dry starting it once a month during the winter. One thing I do as much as I remember during the winter is to move the bikes around so they don't sit on the same spot on the tire all winter. | ||
| Jng1226 |
I feel so sorry for you people in the great white north and midwest. Those Sta-bil ads are very funny but I can't imagine they sell much in the Southwest and Southeast of the country. Our roads may suck in FL but at least we ride all year long. In fact, this is the time where riding actually gets most comfortable. | ||
| Tattoodnscrewd |
Hey now. ... Don't feel bad for all of us .. I live in WI too and the season isn't even close to being over .. Not that it matters much for me .. I also ride year round ... Streets aren't covered in snow and ice all winter ... | ||
| Carbonbigfoot |
Yup. Some years we even have it freeze here... R | ||
| Peter_nikols |
What happens if you disconnect the battery? I get the feeling that it's not a good idea... Thanks Peter | ||
| Kevinjgray88 |
hey tattodnscrewd so if you ride through out the winter do you do anything to winterize your bike? if i wanted to ride during the winter so i didnt have to store it how often should i take it out at minimum | ||
| Froggy |
I stored my 1125R last winter while riding my CR and Blast. I didn't do a damn thing to the R, and it still fired up on my first attempt in the spring, gas and oil was fine. The Blast does better in the snow than the CR from my experience. | ||
| Badlionsfan |
Peter it won't hurt anything I guess, but your just better off use a battery tender cuz simply disconnecting won't help much either. For 30 bucks or whatever they cost, they're cheap battery insurance. Many dealers pre-wire a pig tail so you can just plug it in. If yours isn't, hook up the pig tail that comes with the tender and use it whenever you bike is in the garage. Like Gofast said, it'll improve your battery life. | ||
| Kevinjgray88 |
so froggy you didnt do a dam thing with the R? the only thing i was second quessing was changing the only, i just put synthetic in about 1200 miles ago and dont want to waste it if i dont have too | ||
| Gofastalot99 |
Disconnecting the battery helps because it will reduce the minuscule external load to zero but will not stop the natural discharge that occurs over time. Many of my friends do not use a tender and their batteries last from 2-4 years. The price of a tender is about $25-30 and if it adds 50%-100% to the life of a battery it is well worth it IMO. | ||
| Gofastalot99 |
With regard to changing the oil, I only change it once a year, except during engine break-in, so I just change it at the end of the season, usually right before I ride to go get gas to fill up the tank for storage. Yes, synthetic is expensive but I only change once per year on 5 of my 6 vehicles so the cost doesn't amount to much. A good oil should be able to neutralize the acids as long as there is still TBN (Total Base Number = acid neutralizers) left in the oil. At 1,200 miles there should be plenty of TBN left so you will be fine. Because I change once per year and do not wish to have the oil in the engine for two years, I just choose to change it right at winter storage time. | ||
| Froggy |
Actually, I pushed it to the back of the garage so it isn't in the way  But yea, no tender, no oil change, no gas crap. My XB got wrecked in 2008, it sat for about 9 months on the same tank of gas and same oil. Once I got it fixed, I charged the battery (was flat due to the key never being turned to off after the wreck), then rolled it outside and it fired up. 9 month old gas was fine, oil still looked good, rode it about 3k more miles to Homecoming and back then changed the oil. I have a battery tender, but don't use it much. My 03 still is on the original battery, and I have never used the tender on it. I did use the tender on my 09 CR a bit over the winter, but being that I was riding with heated gear I wanted to keep the battery topped off. | ||
| Kevinjgray88 |
ok i think i will skip the oil change. if anyone has any input on that please fill me in. thanks. this is my first time storing a bike in the winter so i was a little worried. the R is my first bike i made it through the whole summer with the beast. i learned on it by myself never even sat on a bike before. i dont know if it was just luck or the fact that i stayed within my comfort zone and worked my way up | ||
| Tattoodnscrewd |
Kevin .. I really don't do much of anything to winterize it. I do use a tender on all my bikes, that would be the one thing I would suggest to do, around here we may have a week or two here and there where the roads aren't clear and with the temps we get it's a good idea to make sure the battery is at it's best. And this is pretty obvious but warm up time is longer before riding. My CR is my all-weather bike - not much to rust, no paint to worry about, not much in the way of raw metal ... usually a good wipe down or quick hose off and it's clean .. which leaves the other bikes sitting longer ... aside from having them rotating on a tender, I do go out and fire em up and let em run a bit every week or so ... I don't know if there is a minimum or not as to how many times to take it out... if there is I don't know ... but I wouldn't worry about any minimum ... if you haven't ridden it for a while, or don't plan to .. keep it on a tender and whenever your driveway is clear - fire it up and let it run a bit - I have always done it on the bikes that sit at least every week or two .. dunno if it's more therapy for me or the bikes but it also can't hurt .. (Message edited by tattoodnscrewd on September 28, 2010) | ||
| Badlionsfan |
Tattoo, starting them up for a few minutes isn't necessarily a good idea. Unless you get it up to full temp, the cold start in cold weather is hard on spark plugs and causes condensation in the crankcase. If you're not gonna ride it, I've always been told to let it sit on the tender. | ||
| Tattoodnscrewd |
You are right ... When I said run em a bit I should have clarified ... full operating temps ... which I do ... Yea - you don't want to fire it up and kill it right away ... I have never been a fan of letting anything sit for any long duration though ... even when I had more cars than bikes (I had a thing for vintage BMW's for about 10 years) - sitting was a bad thing ... gotta get em out and run em, even if only for a short ride/drive .. I like keeping the oil circulating ... I do have a benefit though ..My bikes are kept in a heated garage, so unless I am out riding it never really is a winter cold, cold start .. I keep the garage around 50 degrees in winter. (Message edited by tattoodnscrewd on September 28, 2010) | ||
| Badlionsfan |
That does make a big difference. My garage is heated in the summer, and the AC blows cold as ice all winter.  |
