Do I need to do anything special to prepare my bike for winter? I am not planning on riding at all until about march so I planned on sucking out the gas tank and didn't know if I needed to do anything else. I just had the oil changed about 450 miles ago.
Let me know what you all think.
mike
I always say don't winterise the bike, winterise the rider and keep ridin' but that is not always possible.
There is a section in the owners manual that tells you how to prepare the bike for storage and I have seen it quoted chapter-and-verse in a previous post. There has been a lot posted on this subject. Most of the guy's don't drain the tank but put in an addative I think. Remove the plugs and put in a teaspoonful of oil is another favourite but be carefull that oil is all you put into the cylinders. Try using search you will find everything you want.
Fill the tank and drop in Fuel Stabalizer in the tank then ride it home so it has a chance to get in the carbs. Wash, wax, and polish. Remove the plugs, spray fogging oil in the cyls, turn it over, spray it in again. Spray fogging oil in the pipes and plug them. Make note that the pipes are plugged. put it on the center stand and cover any metal you fear will rust with WD-40. Cover the bike.
Quote from: VTNewbcover any metal you fear will rust with WD-40. Cover the bike.
...with a cover that breathes (not a tarp). If parking in a garage, an old bedsheet will keep the dust off, but not trap moisture.
I also prop up the block a little, so both tires are off the ground. An insulated plastic sheet under the bike will help keep moisture from rising. Park over concrete if possible (not over dirt).
Hook the battery to a good Battery Tender.
Wipe the forks clean before you wipe them with oil.
Optional: change the oil before the winter
Really optional: change the brake fluid
this is my first winter with a bike. i have heard that if you will just go start the bike and run it for about 30-45 min once or twice a week and you should be alright. i havent gotten a real confirmation on if this will work, but might be worth a shot
any one else know if this is ok?
If you go out and start your bike and run it for 30-45 minutes you might be ok...BUT...it can overheat sitting still running in a shed. Be careful of that. A better option...
Put on some insulated Joe Rocket gear (like their Meteor 4 jacket and Revolution pants), a heated vest from Cabelas, warm gloves, a balaclava, your helmet...start the bike up...go ride it for 3-45 minutes. :-)
Seriously, I rode last year down to 0 degrees (with a much lower windchill) in that kind of gear and was toasty warm. If there's no snow or ice on the roads...riding is possible.
Scott
Just letting the bike idle will do nothing for the life battery. It requires 4-5k rpms to charge it.
Quote from: southjerzriderz... a heated vest from Cabelas, ...
i dont know if there are multiple cabelas but i live 30-45 min away from one in eastern PA. where are u?
Quote from: dgyverJust letting the bike idle will do nothing for the life battery. It requires 4-5k rpms to charge it.
someone on here (dont remember who), said they hooked their bike up to something that tells them when its charging. he said that it charges as long as the bike is running. who was that btw?
At idle, the charging system only puts out about 12 volts. To charge the battery requires over 13 volts. The drain on the battery from starting will be very unlikely to be recovered from just idleing.
Put a volt meter across your battery with the bike off, during starting, idleing, reving to 5k and reving with the lights on high beam. Note the voltage at each stage.
Quote from: weaselnoze
Quote from: dgyverJust letting the bike idle will do nothing for the life battery. It requires 4-5k rpms to charge it.
someone on here (dont remember who), said they hooked their bike up to something that tells them when its charging. he said that it charges as long as the bike is running. who was that btw?
I think it was me. :x
Here is what I measured tonight:
rpm__volts at battery
1200 13.2
2000 14.8
3000 14.4
4000 14.2
5000 14.2
As you can see, very little charging at idle.
I put an ammeter in series with the battery and measured about 1 amp charging current at 2 -3000 rpm. So if I ran at that rpm for fifteen minutes I would charge the battery about .25 amp hour (AH). More than enough to offset the loss of normal starting.
I figure normal starting would be 100 amps for maybe 2 sec.
That comes out to .06 AH.
If you include the lights for 5 sec. that's another .02 AH. Total .08 AH.