Winterizing Thread.
 

gonna fill the tank and add some sea foam, let idle for ten minutes, top it off, and close the cap.

then im gonna take all my plastics off (since i'll be either selling and/or painting them this winter) and bring them in, along w/ the headlights and instrument panels etc.

Gonna cover the exaust tightly to reduce any condensation which may cause rust.

put her up on stands.

take the battery out and get it on a tender.

catalog all parts that need to be replaced before next season.

then puttin the cover on her. Sigh.

anything i'm missing please post up, im sure other people will be doing the same thing this month or next and have some tips.

no need to post up if you're from the south. Yes i know you ride all year.

Ill be doing the same things in the next couple weeks. I wont be taking my plastics off though. Im hoping that next week when it should be in the 60s that I can get the chain cleaned and lubed and get a little more riding in and then its time to put her away.

yeap. thurs-fri next week is when i'll prolly do it, hoping to get out next week for a little bit when its *burr* sixty.

clean chain is already checked off. its pretty spotless right now. may take it off and soak it in kero for good measure though.

Don't forget to change the oil and clean the bike really well. :dthumb:

Good points. I do have to clean mine up a little bit. My oil wasnt done long ago so Im leaving that alone and changing it after a couple hundred come spring time.

yea definatly after i take the plastics off i'll give her a good rub down.

I forgot to mention oil changing though. personally mine needs changed anyways, so i'll be sure to take care of it... i dont want dirty oil sediment building up in my engine. just be sure to cycle your oil every couple of weeks by starting it up and letting it run.

Don't do that... You will let condensation in the motor. It's better to just let it sit. A tip I got from Gas Man a couple years back.

Thats what I keep hearing too. I didnt start mine at all last winter and it ran perfect once I started it in the spring and no issues since, so thats what Im doing again this year.

how is condensation gonna get in your motor if you keep your tank full and your exaust covered when not in use?

If you let it run, the heat cycle in the engine going from cold to hot then back to cold will cause condensation when the temperature outside is cold.

hrmmm, good point. but condensation occurs when a hot air (with water vapor) meets a cold surface, and although that WOULD happen in the engine as it heated it would be expelled by the exhaust.

i gotta look more into this.

may as well lube the chain before you store it, so those O rings dont dry out and disappear on you.

I dont get the removing the battery from the bike to keep a tender on it though.you could do that while its still in there.

I wonder how much money I would save/put into modding my bike if we had an off season here.

probably not much as you'd mod your truck

Not really. I only jumped on the lights, intake and bed extender because it was a steal and a half.

It's been in the 40s this week and I have been still riding. But when it gets really cold I am going to change the
- change the oil
- change the fork oil
- fill the tank (putting some stabil in it too)
- need to clean/lube the chain this weekend regardless and probably tighten it too
- change the spark plugs
- see what's wrong with my coolant system (think I have a leak somewhere)
- maybe change out the steering bearing (feels like the bars are turning too easily at slow speeds)

I am from the south, but I lived in Akron, OH with nothing but a bike.

I'm not sure that sea-foam is a stabilizer, I think it's just a carb/injector cleaner, you might want to double check that. Sta-bil is a fuel stabilizer that works really well.

Also, I alwaus used to pull the spark plugs and squirt a small shot of an oil based lubricant (usually Marvel's Mystery Oil) directly into the cylinders, helps repel any moisture and keeps valves and such from rusting and sticking.

Good Luck! Come visit if you want to go for a ride.

I used stabil last year but Im thinking about giving the sea foam a shot after something gas man posted a while back about using it for storage.

Mine will officially be put away in the next week or two. I do all of the above, including a good wash. I don't change the oil tho, never have, probly never will. I change oil at the proper intervals.

I also use Sta-bil. Always works well for me.

I only change my oil on normal intervals, but my bikes rarely set still for more than 2 months in the winter. I do agree with not starting till your ready to start season. Cold starts are the hardest on any engine. If you plan on riding for a while, then go for it. Otherwise, just let her sit.

Sounds like you have everything setup... now just have good follow thru.

pssh if it aint snowin im riding lol. been thinking of pulling my daytona out of the garage for snow duty though

Not to argue with G-man but I've never done anything to "winterize" a motorcycle in all my years of riding. Apart from lubing the chain and putting it on stands. I normally go out and start it every week on two and that's it. I've never had any problems whatsoever with any bike because of this.:idk:

I do have one question though...how will water "get into your motor" from starting it? It's a "sealed system" for the most part. I can see the water already in the crankcase condensing but not how you'll add water to your oil. Lastly,I don't "Summerize" my car/truck that barely gets driven for 8 months of the year..... a motorcycle isn't any different than a car as far as I'm concerned.

Is your oil pan completely full of oil? Nope. There is air in there. And what does air do when it goes from extreme to extreme? It will create condesation, same goes for your rocker boxes. The oil pump system is sealed as it needs to build up pressure but when the oil leaves the pump system and just gets flung around moving parts in the heads and such or returns to the oil pan... BAM there it is... AIR

Damn how did that get there!! :D

Um Chris,that air is already in there, right? So any moisture is already in your engine. How will it increase is my question? Besides,does that mean I shouldn't start my car when it's cold? Aren't both engines the same in that regard (I know the differences between a bike engine and a car). IDK all I'm saying is I've followed my procedure every year for about 20 and have never had a problem. In fact,I've never had any engine problems with a bike (knock on wood).

Anyway,believe it or not I'm not questioning YOU but mostly questioning the practice. Before,people would talk about gummed up carbs,who has carbs now? Injectors won't get "gummed up" if you run the bike every so often,besides gasoline is much better quality than 100 years ago when this "ritual winterization" started. I'm not sure it was ever necessary but it's should be even less necessary now in my mind...

It's not that the air changes or anything, its that the air gets warm. The air outside is cold, so when you turn off the engine and the inside air quits moving, the cold air on the outside causes condensation to form on the sides of the oil pan etc. thus causing the possibility of rust.
My question to those that do it... Why start it every couple weeks?

I ride, unless it's snowing, snow on the ground, or ice..

Winterizing is for pussies..

Mine was officially in storage in the middle of August, fresh oil, sta-bil from the tank through the throttle doddies, all the way to the cylinders. Chain cleaned and waxed before it was crated and she's already on front/rear stands. It's time to get some mods/repairs done! I just wonder how far I'll take her apart this time? It'll probably be worse than last time. I think Rae remembers how bad it was the last time I took her apart.

Your car is different because you actually drive it daily...

Ok,well I don't drive my car hardly ever and it sits for weeks at a time. I had my truck,in Michigan,and when I turned it back in after the lease it had under 20,000 miles. I've seen motors that have sat for over a year start up and run,:idk:. Anyway,I really don't want to argue,I was just curious as to why you people do it. Now I know,you're afraid that the water vapor that is already in your motor will condense,like it does anyway,from changes in temperature. I've heard all the normal reasons before so....

Doesn't that happen anyway? I mean won't the water vapor condense when the temp gets low enough anyway? Isn't it better to move the oil around every so often to keep everything coated with oil and displace the water if only temporally?Oh and I start my bike to keep the battery charged and the fuel injectors clear of any possible clogs. Plus, I get to keep a connection to my bike through the Winter.

i winterize because its something for me to do with my bike while i cant ride it. Im sure it'd be fine if i just took the key out and let it sit all winter. i could probobly put urine in the gas tank and it'd start right up, its a freakin honda.

Try that and report back to us in the spring.

I agree with changing the oil in spring before riding as opposed to before storage.

i'll have to get my BAC up real high in order to ensure its flammability.

So last night would have been a great time to try?

ha no. I need one of those whiskey nights. or gin nights.

definitely need real alcohol.

got some moonshine down in them there smokies jeeps?

Yup Come on by. We sit and sip a lil.