It's that time of year (I'm going to stick it out for as long as possible), and I have some specific questions for my situation that I'm still unsure of. I'm going to store my motorcycle in my shed in the backyard (locked, completely watertight, animal-free, etc). It'll be under a light motorcycle cover tied around the bottom, on front and rear stands, battery on a trickle charger in my basement, fresh oil and filter before storing it.

So here are my questions.

1. Is it better to completely fill the tank with stabilizer, leave it on full choke, petcock to on, or is it better to drain the tank and carbs from all fuel?

2. Either way, I assume the float bowls should be emptied. Is there an easy way to do that? Do I have to empty the bowls if I put in stabilizer? I've never winterized a carb'd engine before.

3. Am I forgetting anything? I've read pretty much every thread on here so hopefully I'm not.

TIA for helping out a newb.

I am no expert, but I have been told to NEVER drain the carb bowls.  Fuel lubricates the seals, and when emptied and sat to dry out they can harden and crack.

Same goes for the fuel petcocks.  When I simply pulled them out and set them aside to paint my tank, in a months time they seized up!  I got them loose again, but it was a PITA.

Personally I prefer to leave stabilized fuel in my bowls, and be prepared for people to reply to this thread swearing up and down additives don't work 

Quote from: Watcher on October 12, 2013, 07:10:01 AM
I am no expert, but I have been told to NEVER drain the carb bowls.  Fuel lubricates the seals, and when emptied and sat to dry out they can harden and crack.

Same goes for the fuel petcocks.  When I simply pulled them out and set them aside to paint my tank, in a months time they seized up!  I got them loose again, but it was a PITA.

I agree with this, In fact I'd spray wd40 on the outer side of the carb every month and see if I can ride it as much as possible.
When it breaks like 50 I'd ride it. 1-2 through winter will do.
Cool.
Buddha.

Alrighty, full tank with stabil it is.

It won't be away for too many months. I plan to ride it until the first snow and then take it out as soon as I can to get some preventative maintenance done in the early spring (valve adjustment, brakes, new chain and sprockets). So hopefully it only be in the shed for 3 or 4 months.

You keep the tank full so it wont rust

Quote from: weedahoe on October 12, 2013, 08:37:00 PM
You keep the tank full so it wont rust

Hehe ... you must be thinking of the good old days when gasoline didn't have alcohol and oxygen ...
To keep a steel tank from rusting nowadays you need to have it bone dry first (which is near impossible on a GS tank) and slosh it with oil.

Cool.
Buddha.

Maybe I am going off old into. My old man always told me to keep it full. I have no personal experience in this as I live in a climate where I ride all year round

Also another suggestion would be to put it up on the center stand, and prop the front end up so that it isn't resting on your tires. For your spring tune up it wouldn't be a bad idea to purchase some speed bleaders over winter, and flush and fill the break fluid in the spring A light coat of WD-40 isn't a bad idea all over except rotors.

Quote from: weedahoe on October 13, 2013, 06:24:55 AM
Maybe I am going off old into. My old man always told me to keep it full. I have no personal experience in this as I live in a climate where I ride all year round

Having a full tank minimizes the airspace in the tank that would otherwise collect moisture due to condensation in said airspace from daily temperature change, really not a giant issue if the bike is stored indoors with a more controlled atmosphere.....more of an issue if the bike is stored in an unheated garage or outside, your father is wise 

To the OP....if your shed is a metal shed, your better off just covering you bike and leaving it outdoors.....I left my GS750 in a metal shed for one winter in Washington State, when I pulled it out in spring it had all kinds of rust and corrosion on it from.....you guessed it, the condensation caused from the metal shed 

+1 on full tank with stabil. I run it enough so the stabilized fuel fills the float bowls... then put it in an unheated garage. Haven't had any rust problems so far. It's also nice to have it where you can take it for a spin on those odd warm days in the winter... then top it off and put it away again.

My shed is wood with roof vents. Shouldn't be any problems with rust or corrosion hopefully.

Well here's what's worked for me for the past 20 winters....



Fill the tank completely, with the added stabilizer. If you can find it in your area, get non-ethanol gas, if not then make sure you get the appropriate stabilizer meant for the corn gas.

Take it for a ride and run the treated gas through the carbs, hit WOT at least a couple times.

I've always drained the carbs. Your main jets will thank you. You can use the drain screw on the bowls or better yet, turn the gas off when running and let the carbs run dry, (clears the jets) then use the drain screw to get the last bit. As far as seals hardening, there aren't many... if any?.... seals in the float bowl.

In the spring, once I've run through the tank of stabilized "old" gas, I run the next fresh tank with a little Seafoam or other carb cleaner.

Never had a problem doing these things, no rusty tanks, bikes always fired right up after the 4-6 month nap.


Oh and Wagoneer ..... good call on getting the wheels off the ground, keeping the battery charged, and changing the oil as mentioned in your OP 

I took the easy way out, no winter prep required if you ride it some all winter as I do here in NE Ohio.   

ummm .. NOT questioning the plus and minus of using stabiliser, i have no views either way ... but .. what does it do? ... keep the gas from breaking down? rust inhibitor? jelly-crud neutraliser?

.. and .. if thats it .. then .. isnt using old fuel generally 'frowned upon' because it loses its bang?...

i dont think i'll need to use stabiliser in aussie anyway .. not cold enough where i am..

just .. if use stabiliser .. and then start of new season .. do the users drain the old stabilised fuel out and get fresh fuel before riding? .. or just ride with the stabilised fuel? saving the cost of another couple gallons?... does it smoke things up at all? ...

curious as to what in-bike benefit is perceived to be gained from having full tank of stabilised fuel vs just a full tank of fuel?

Quote from: Janx101 on October 14, 2013, 04:16:30 PM
what does it do? ... keep the gas from breaking down?  jelly-crud neutraliser?

yes

.. and .. if thats it .. then .. isnt using old fuel generally 'frowned upon' because it loses its bang?...

yes

i dont think i'll need to use stabiliser in aussie anyway .. not cold enough where i am..

if you can ride all year long, then good on ya, you got nothin to worry about

just .. if use stabiliser .. and then start of new season .. do the users drain the old stabilised fuel out and get fresh fuel

no, that's the whole point of using the stabilizer, so the bike is ready to go come spring

does it smoke things up at all? ...

nope, not in my experience

curious as to what in-bike benefit is perceived to be gained from having full tank of stabilised fuel vs just a full tank of fuel?

The fuel doesn't break down and gum up, I doubt you have ethanol in your gas down there so it's probably not as big of an issue 

  .... errr... .. ummm.... wellllll...

i am currently .. and have been since before last xmas (i think) .. been using a local E10 .. on purpose! .. its advertised on the pump as 94Ron (aussie) ... 

have still not noticed any real change from when i was trying out hi octane 98 (aussie) ... which is higher than the bike can generally make use of anyway ...

it did get a bit cranky a few times late last year on a tank or 2 of 91(aussie) ... but it was fill up there or walk .. at the time...

so ... as yet .. i have noticed no issues with the bike from the e10 fuel  ... maybe they are down the track? ... if something goes cockeyed then i'll investigate and fix it...

one of the main reasons i started trying the e10 is ... its about 5c a litre cheaper where i usually get it... yeah i know the tank doesnt cost that much to fill ... at the time i was really tight on the budget too though...

and because i can... and because i realised that i personally only had heard 'what other people said' .. and had no real direct information done by myself... which is not a shot at anyone!! .. i wanted to test and experience what 'everyone said' .. the gs500 is probably one of the most 'simple tech' common bikes available now... so why not eh!?

would i recommend it to my mate who has a 2008 GSXR 1000 ? .. no probably not... cos his bike CAN make use of hi octane.... (plus i think he is being sneaky and trying out methyl benzine fuel mixes occasionally .. sometimes his exhaust smells funny .. like benzine) ...

would i use it in the Yamaha MT09 i hope to get next year? ... again.. probably not... fuel injection and i believe its good for hi octane fuel also...

the missus Toyota Avensis Verso (looks like this)


has been running on e10 since we got it... (4 years ago , secondhand) ... with ZERO problems anywhere in the system

the daughters suzuki swift now... and the holden zafira before that also ran on e10 with zero problems...

maybe all the cars have the 'ethanol proof' seals/lines/whichever in them already ..

but i still can report no fuel system issues with any of the vehicles! 

... im hoping i keep the gs500 as long as gsJack has had his... and eventually report that the bike has run on e10 for 30-40 years and never had a problem? ... maybe .. maybe not! ..

but i wont stop using it unless i have problems... and then even if i do... i'll see how i feel about the cost of any repairs at the time... weigh that up against the likely timeline of having it happen again... and go from there...

i dont doubt that heaps of people HAVE had problems... junk in the tank .. line failures ... seal issues... etc etc etc ..... i just think that perhaps some of those problems were attributed to e10 whether or not the problem would have occured anyway on normal fuel? .. who knows? ..

oh and i dont mean this to anyone as an attack... but i do not care in the slightest what 'popular mechanics magazine' .. or .. 'a fuel company' .. or... 'this friend of a friend read this article' ... says! (dont talk to me about engineers though!!) ... i have had no problems with e10 fuel ... until such time as i do then i'll be happy to continue as i am.. 

... oh yeah ... in my 42 years of life .. i have seen several instances (some of it back in the day.. over 20 years ago) .. of water in diesel , water in 'super' (as it was known then... i suppose 95Ron? ) , water in regular/standard petrol , water in kerosene , water in mower fuel .. mostly from bad/leaky/poor storage underground tanks... some from 'doctored' fuel ... and some from long term stored fuel ... so while ethanol may have its 'water retentive/attraction' properties .. i dont think it is the first fuel ever to have water issues .. however caused ... 

low usage/poor maintenance/bad storage .. can and do affect any fuel anywhere ..

i left 3/4 of a tank of e10 in my bike for about 6-7 weeks earlier this year... it was wet crappy weather too... didnt get to ride it for various reasons that whole time... have checked the innards of the tank a few times when its been real low and needed filling since... there may be a spot of rust or a few flakes of crud in there too!! ... from some point in the bikes life... its still purring like a kitty in general though...

-quasi rant with a smiley face- OFF!

Well, I use stabilizer when the bike is going to be sitting for a couple of months without running. It prevents the gas from separating into water and varnish. I tend not to ride when there is salt and ice on the roads, which I imagine Aussies wouldn't have a problem with that (jealous!) As far as E10 fuel, I'm afraid to run it in New York City traffic. We tend to sit in traffic for long periods of time where air cooled engines run really hot. Anything that could add heat is a recipe for engine failure. I have had a few times where I needed to pull to the side and turn it off. I haven't tried E10, mostly because I don't want to chance overheating more than I already do.