winterizing questions

[xenarcher]

I've been searching the forums on how to winterize the bike. I still have a couple of questions though:

1) One of the suggestions is to drain the carb of fuel. This can be done by running the bike dry, and/or draining the bowl directly by removing the carb screws. In either case, the fuel needs to be cut off. Is the only way to get at the fuel shutoff valve to remove the gas tank? Seems like an awful inconvenience that could have been avoided if there was an "off" position on the fuel petcock...

2) There was also a suggestion to get the front tire off the ground by putting a 2x4 under it (with the bike on the center stand, of course). However, I saw no explanation as to what this accomplishes. Could somebody please explain?

[ajaxgs]

put stabil in the tank and fill up ,change the oil ......... as for the tire take the weight of the front to prevent flat spots on the tire

[manofthefield]

If you want to drain the carbs, then yes you need to turn off the tank mounted petcock and open up the carb screws.  Like ajax, I just add sta-bil to the tank per the directions on the bottle and run the bike for a bit to get the stabilized gas in the carbs, fuel lines, etc.

IIRC, Wood under front wheel also keeps the front tire from getting really cold... concrete is a great conductor of heat(cold) while wood is a good insulator

[xenarcher]

Ah, cool. Thanks for the answers, guys!

[pandy]

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=312.0 

[Flywheel]

IIRC, Wood under front wheel also keeps the front tire from getting really cold... concrete is a great conductor of heat(cold) while wood is a good insulator.

Concrete, like rock, can heatsink energy well, but like air, it is an ineffective conductor. Concrete is also alkaline, porous and has a fairly high moisture content. Rubber apparently absorbs moisture, slowly, over time. The theory goes that tires wick the (now alkaline) mositure out of the concrete and into the rubber; since it is corrosive, it swells and breaks down the material. Wood or cardboard are drier and ph neutral, so they are much better materials to put your tires on. 

[manofthefield]

Okay, I'd go with what he said, it sounds a lot better   I stand by my Sta-bil recommendation though