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I plan on riding as long as the temp is above 20 degrees and there is no snow on the ground. I keep the bike in a non-heated garage. If I were to guess, it wouldn't sit longer than a month straight, however, I could start it up daily. Battery tender and stabilizer in the fuel? Would that be fine?

Thanks.

Or just store it at my shop.

As long as you start it once a week and let it run for a bit you don't really have to do much.

thatkid wrote:Or just store it at my shop.

As long as you start it once a week and let it run for a bit you don't really have to do much.

hi,
As above + anti-freeze in your coolant system.

Personally I drain the gas tank down & give the inside a good clean out ( just in case there is odd crap in it, then fill to the brim. Top up as required after a warm up session.

On a similar subject, I've got my bike parked in my basement (street level) and over the cold months I want to warm it up periodically, but don't want to drag it out to the back alley to do it. I am thinking of running a 2-3 inch hose from the muffler to the nearest window (about 10 ft).
thatkid, you've got a shop now ) anything I need to worry about in terms of back-pressure or fumes?

WSM wrote:On a similar subject, I've got my bike parked in my basement (street level) and over the cold months I want to warm it up periodically, but don't want to drag it out to the back alley to do it. I am thinking of running a 2-3 inch hose from the muffler to the nearest window (about 10 ft).
thatkid, you've got a shop now ) anything I need to worry about in terms of back-pressure or fumes?

We tried that with our workshop back in the dayand went with 4" clothes drier corrogated hose over about 6ft
4" would rest over most exhaust pipe ends and we also added a bit of plastic soil pipe (the outlet pipe for a toilet) at the outlet to keep it open and not flop shut and back feeding the fumes.

A fan in front does not hurt to keep engine from over heating & helps keep the exhaust from backing up into the work area as the pipe is not sealed to the exhaust.

thatkid wrote:Or just store it at my shop.

As long as you start it once a week and let it run for a bit you don't really have to do much.

I would but my budget doesn't allow it. I have some things to do over the winter, rebuild the forks, rear shock, misc. I'm definitely going to get with you on the valve adjustments though. Figure around March.

So, should I add stabilizer to the fuel, or just keep it topped off?

Up here in Canada, we know how to winterize our bikes.

The general consensus is that it is more harmful to start a bike up every so often than it is to just let it sit. If you're going to start it, you should be willing to take it out for a good run and get it fully warmed up. The process of combustion produces water vapour, and unless you plan on starting your bike and taking it to full operating temperature for more than 15 minutes, this water vapour is going to condense in your exhaust system and other places and eventually cause corrosion issues. Then, there is the battery. They rarely charge properly in a bike that's left idling. Depending on how cold it gets, the simple act of starting the engine can cause damage. Do you plan on keeping a 5W30 oil in it over the winter? 20W50 doesn't flow and lubricate well at low temperatures. The simple act of starting a bike involves moving it around, and this is hard on fork seals, hoses, and wires. More than one bike has developed a fork seal leak because of being rolled around the garage in sub-freezing temperatures.

I used to be quite anal about winterization, but now I keep it simple:

-wash bike, lube chain
-change oil and filter
-drain carbs
-stabilize gas and top up tank (although I often siphon it out at some point to feed the snowblower)
-remove battery and keep trickle charged
-park it in the corner of the garage, throw a breathable cover on it and forget about it until spring. Where I live, there is a solid 5 months of snow.

I hear ya on taking it out vs. letting it idle. I'll probably ride until the first snow then winterize.

Hawker wrote: I used to be quite anal about winterization, but now I keep it simple:

-wash bike, lube chain
-change oil and filter
-drain carbs
-stabilize gas and top up tank (although I often siphon it out at some point to feed the snowblower)
-remove battery and keep trickle charged
-park it in the corner of the garage, throw a breathable cover on it and forget about it until spring. Where I live, there is a solid 5 months of snow.

I am able to keep my bike at room temp in my basement. Heck, my bed is about 20 feet from it! And I just did the first two steps. Any recommendations on trickle chargers/stabilizers? Brands, things to watch out for, etc?

EDIT: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2240&p=24171&hilit= ... ger#p24171

I use Sta-bil in the fuel, which seems to do the trick. Come spring the bike fires up and runs just fine, although I make a point of freshening up the fuel ASAP.

As for chargers, do not use anything bigger than 1 amp on a bike battery. I use a basic 0.5A charger from Canadian Tire, although you can buy fancy ones that sense the battery condition and only charge when needed - you hook it up, plug it in, and forget about it until spring. With mine, I have to check the battery condition with a multimeter and charge when needed. I have always stored my batteries in the house, but I have recently been told that is a bad idea. At room temperature, apparently inactive batteries will sulphate their plates? I'm going to try storing them out in the garage this year (it only gets down to -12C during the dead of winter, even when it's -35C outside. The garage is well insulated and I'm always parking warm car engines in there). I usually pop it on the charger for a couple of hours once a month or so.

Some people swear by storing their bikes in heated shops, but I am personally against it. Warm air is moist air, and moisture causes corrosion. Cold air is dry. You should especially avoid a situation where the temperature fluctuates from below freezing to above freezing and back again. You will get a ton of condensation on your bike every single time it warms up to above freezing, which is bad for everything. If you live in a climate where it is freezing one day and warm the next, it's best to store your bike somewhere heated to avoid the condensation, and this is the only situation where I would recommend heated storage.

When it first starts to melt in the spring, I tend to start working on any regular maintenance or modifications. It takes several weeks of steady melting to get rid of the snow and dry up the roads, so the garage is warm enough to work in by then.

eh...get the ice tires and keep riding

shredex wrote:eh...get the ice tires and keep riding

No comments from the Floridian.

IV riden in the 23 degree weather we had here...
coldest its been since that one time it got to 18 degrees and snowed

23 would be warm here about a month out of the year. Sig? FZR?

sig? you mean stig?