Winterizing motorcycle

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Ndx

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Hi Guys,

The bike has only 600km on it... Should I change the oil before winter...
In spring it will go for the first maintenance

What fuel stabilizer should I use?

I can drain oil quickly and add new... But I don't have any filters in stock.

Thx
 
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Since your current oil isn't "used up", it will protect fine.

Sta-bil green (for ethanol) is better than red is better than nothing.

If you have carbs, it's better to run them dry.

Cover your tail pipe and air intake to keep mice out.
 
To get to nearly 373,000 miles, you must be doing something right. So I'd just continue with whatever you're doing.
 
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If you have carbs, it's better to run them dry.


+1. Or drain them.

Then in the spring, a little SeaFoam in the 1st tank will really clean things up on case jets and other orifices got a little varnish on them anyway.
 
Injected so no carbs
smile.gif

I just picked up red stabil... Last bottle others we're OOS
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Do they make winter tires for motorcycles?
45.gif


They sure do... Including studded ones.
But I will pass haha
 
Mine is dual carburetor and starts so much easier when I run it dry vs leaving fuel in it. If I run it dry it fires right up and runs great. If I leave fuel in it over winter it is so hard to start and idles / runs rough for a few hundred miles.
 
Drain the gas tank and run it dry. Leave the oil in and change it before your first ride. If you plan on riding this winter make sure the heater is putting out.
 
Originally Posted by Ndx
Injected so no carbs
smile.gif

I just picked up red stabil... Last bottle others we're OOS


Still run some SeaFoam or similar (techron, Gumout Regane - not the same cleaning mechanism but same idea) in the spring as you'll get some varnish in the system even with the stabilizer. Just unavoidable as some of the lighter hydrocarbons will still do it.

Battery on tender. If in an unheated garage, take the battery inside, stick it on a tender somewhere safe. I lived in Northern VT for several years and had an unheated garage - but never bought a new battery; most of my riding mates got one each season.
wink.gif
 
I fill mine with Chevron 87 octane, plug in the battery tender and it always fires right up come spring. (fuel injected)
 
I have had two incidences where running the engine dry caused me more issues in the spring and one incident where I drained the tank and also caused me problems.

Every year I would drain the four bowls on my 900RR prior to winter and start it back up 5 months later. In ~15 years of ownership, I never had this bike sitting for longer than 5 months. However, one year during the typical spring startup, fuel was spewing unstoppable from the carb overflow tube because one of the floats in the bowl was stuck down in the "empty" position as expected when you drain the bowl dry. Even after tapping with the head of the screwdriver repeatedly, I couldn't break the float free successfully so I had to spend the extra time pulling the bank out and opening all the bowls and flicking the float that was stuck before reassembling. So from my experience, I will not run or drain carb dry. I will use stabil if stored.

The second incident was from my lawn mower that was in storage for four years as I moved from the suburbs to the city and then back again. Fuel poured out from the single carb because of stuck bowl but kind of not unexpected from what I learned with my 900RR and certainly four years didn't help.

Lastly, even earlier was my FZR1000 where I use to drain the tank dry prior to winter. Not sure if the spotted rust buildup inside the tank was over several progressive yearly drains or just after one year. I purchased this motorcycle brand new so think the steel tank was not like this when new. I now fill the tank right to the neck with practically no air gaps. I think after 5 months, the gas is still fresh enough with stabil to fire right up but I personally siphon out this gas and dump it in my car and refill the bike with fresh gas just to be sure.
 
Originally Posted by Ndx
Hi Guys,

The bike has only 600km on it... Should I change the oil before winter...
In spring it will go for the first maintenance

What fuel stabilizer should I use?

I can drain oil quickly and add new... But I don't have any filters in stock.

Thx

Battery on a tender (unless lithium)
Push the bike around the garage every so often (unless both off the ground)
E0 gas in.
That's all I've ever done.
 
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However, one year during the typical spring startup, fuel was spewing unstoppable from the carb overflow tube because one of the floats in the bowl was stuck down in the "empty" position as expected when you drain the bowl dry.


I bought a used Honda CB once that had that problem from sitting a long time.

I did what you did to correct it, but there's an easier way. Plug the tube and fill the bowls with a mix of gas and strong solvent (SeaFoam, etc. - much stronger than recommendation for running it on). Let sit a day and it will almost always fix it w/o disassembly. Learned that later.
 
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