Normally, I ride through the winter except for those few days when the roads are covered with ice as they don't grit the roads in our village however I am about to have to leave both my '08 800 and '14 1200 alone in the garage for 4 months or so. I have a single Optimate smart charger and have asked Mrs Skids to swap it over between the 2 every month or so and start both bikes allowing them to warm to normal operating temperature at the same. Both bikes are clean & polished but what else can I do now before I leave & what can Mrs Skids do to help?
Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
And next time I will spell check the title as you can't edit it once posted! :wacko:
That is okay as those of us across the pond can assume this is just one of those minor British variations in spelling :happy:
Most people do not start their bikes through non-riding months because the moisture of combustion may not burn out of the oil and exhaust with merely a warmup, versus a decent ride. That said, I have begun to wonder if non-use allows mineral buildup on thermostats and causes early deaths. Running it would lube and clean the thermostat with coolant, so there is one plus.
Got stands? Whether or not you do, you can inflate the tires to their maximum pressure in order to avoid flat spots where they touch the ground.
Since you are starting the bikes you may not want to cover them and the exhaust, as your friend will have to remove such at each startup.
Edited December 22, 2015 by KnightSwapping the optimate around is a good idea, I wouldn't recommend starting the bikes though,better to just fill the tanks,add some fuel stabilizer if you want, I would use seafoam if it were me.
Saoirse32Swapping the optimate around is a good idea, I wouldn't recommend starting the bikes though,better to just fill the tanks,add some fuel stabilizer if you want, I would use seafoam if it were me.
I agree. I store mine for close to 6 months every year. I change the oil, add a stabilizer to the gas and top it off, and put a tender on the battery. Then I walk away for 6 months. No need to run it.
Conedodger
Saoirse32Swapping the optimate around is a good idea, I wouldn't recommend starting the bikes though,better to just fill the tanks,add some fuel stabilizer if you want, I would use seafoam if it were me.
I agree. I store mine for close to 6 months every year. I change the oil, add a stabilizer to the gas and top it off, and put a tender on the battery. Then I walk away for 6 months. No need to run it.
Wow six months , I would move if I had to wait six months to ride .
I do the above as well as spraying some WD40 into the exhaust to help prevent corrosion. Seal the exhaust and air box intake with saran type wrap. Place Bounce sheets (fabric softener) in strategic locations under the seat and amongst the wiring to discourage vermin from nesting or chewing the wires.
And yeah....minimum six months storage here. :sad:
Edited December 22, 2015 by HughJebolzakHey Terry try the bounce fabric softener sheets,
SwitchbladeHey Terry try the bounce fabric softener sheets,
Whoa. Is that a nest made of bounce sheets etc?
Or were you being serious.
The saran I mentioned helps stop critters from getting in the air box too, as well as moisture.
I put tinfoil on my Miata exhaust pipes to keep the nests out as well.
Switchblade
Conedodger
Saoirse32Swapping the optimate around is a good idea, I wouldn't recommend starting the bikes though,better to just fill the tanks,add some fuel stabilizer if you want, I would use seafoam if it were me.
I agree. I store mine for close to 6 months every year. I change the oil, add a stabilizer to the gas and top it off, and put a tender on the battery. Then I walk away for 6 months. No need to run it.
Wow six months , I would move if I had to wait six months to ride .
The only good thing about it is every spring it's like getting a new low mileage bike to ride. But, yeah, I want to move. :sad:
My three VFRs and NC30 have just been sprayed with ACF 50 from a spray gun. Better covering than from a can. Buy the liter bottle, cheaper than the cans. Sheet the wheels up though.
SwitchbladeHey Terry try the bounce fabric softener sheets,
I had bought this machine in Virginia and hauled it straight to T-Mac. When it was first started it ran rough. We pulled the air cleaner and that is what we found.
The bike was stored in a barn-like structure in a semi-rural area and had not been ridden for some time.
It was the second time I bought a fifth gen that had a rodent nest in it. The first one was also stored in a pole barn in a semi-rural area east of Cleveland . I had the seller check out the air box because I'd just read about another nest right here on VFRD.
It's recommended to always check out those air boxes. YMMV
Don't bother with starting it, as has been said the condensation will be an issue. Whenever my bikes have been laid up for winter I have done nothing apart from the battery charging. Never had a problem.
MaxSwell
SwitchbladeHey Terry try the bounce fabric softener sheets,
I had bought this machine in Virginia and hauled it straight to T-Mac. When it was first started it ran rough. We pulled the air cleaner and that is what we found.
The bike was stored in a barn-like structure in a semi-rural area and had not been ridden for some time.
It was the second time I bought a fifth gen that had a rodent nest in it. The first one was also stored in a pole barn in a semi-rural area east of Cleveland . I had the seller check out the air box because I'd just read about another nest right here on VFRD.
It's recommended to always check out those air boxes. YMMV
I remember it well I had just checked in and you were complaining the about the acceleration and I said lets pull the tank and check the filter .
Still have it on video .
Six months with bikes in storage due to winter.
Gruesome. How do you guys not go insane?
I always did when I had that situation. Ack! :pissed:
As mentioned, starting is not good due to condensation unless you run them enough to get your oil over 100 C and your exhaust pipes hot enough to boil off the moisture... although, your bikes should have stainless exhaust pipes so the latter is not as big an issue for you. Oil is usually 10C - 15C hotter than your coolant so if you run them until your fans comes on the oil is hot enough to boil off any moisture.
6 months storage from some of you guys? And from Guelph yet? LOL
I live in in Manitoba, on the cold bald assed Canadian prairies. My bike gets stored for 4 months maximum ... 3 months in a good year. I'd have to move if I had to store the bike any longer than that. Shit, I was riding in early March this year, and finally put my bike away 2 weekends ago just before the snow and ice finally hit.
If there's no snow / ice on the road, I'm riding! :)
Edited December 23, 2015 by JNBarrettThanks for the tips guys. :beer:
JNBarrett
6 months storage from some of you guys? And from Guelph yet? LOL
I live in in Manitoba, on the cold bald assed Canadian prairies. My bike gets stored for 4 months maximum ... 3 months in a good year. I'd have to move if I had to store the bike any longer than that. Shit, I was riding in early March this year, and finally put my bike away 2 weekends ago just before the snow and ice finally hit.
If there's no snow / ice on the road, I'm riding! :)
They salt and sand the roads here heavily. People drive like it's their first time behind the wheel when it gets a bit slippery. It's a mess really.
If the sand doesn't cause you to go down in a corner, the salt will eat away at your bike.
Best to wait until late spring when the street sweepers get the heavy stuff off and the rains wash the rest away.
Edited December 23, 2015 by HughJebolzakWe use sand and salt here in Manitoba .... but that usually doesn't come out until we have more than 5+cm of snow on the ground. I keep forgetting that folks from Southern Ontario shut everything down with 1cm on the ground and call in the military. ;)
As for the salt on the bike - that's why you rinse it down after.
I guess it's your choice - but if the roads are clean, dry and free of snow/ice ... I'm riding.
Here in Texas I ride year round, expect for the random sbow/ice day. though all ways good to know how to store a bike properly.
Although the temperature may be high enough to enable evaporation will it be for long enough to actually do it all?
SwitchbladeHey Terry try the bounce fabric softener sheets,
I've seen this pic a hundred times and just noticed Terry's smoke. Lucky that thing didn't burn to the ground. :goofy:
Egg on LeggsAlthough the temperature may be high enough to enable evaporation will it be for long enough to actually do it all?
Under normal conditions there's not a lot of water in the crank case. It doesn't take much to turn the oil a little milky looking, just ask anyone who has Seb's clutch cover window. Water & oil don't mix well and even in an emulsion it is in tiny droplets. Water always evaporates, even when it is ice, then condenses again somewhere else; as the temperature rises the rate of evaporation increases until 100C then it has to phase transition into steam and the steam is pushed out through the crank case ventilation and pulled through the throttle bodies and out the exhaust.
The moisture in the crank case is a byproduct from the combustion of fuel and condenses in the cool engine and exhaust. Happens every time you start your engine whether it is Summer or Winter, just takes longer to heat up and boil off in the Winter. So the whole time the bike is warming up it is evaporating water out of the oil and making more from burning the fuel. By the time the oil is 100C the water is out of the oil and any new moisture is not going in... picture dripping water into 100C cooking oil (don't try it, trust me... it boils right back out spattering). Shut the engine off and let it cool and any steam left in the crank case condenses back down into the oil... happens in July or January as long the metal temp drops below the internal dew point of the air inside the crank case. If you live in a hot, dry climate the water may not condense but the moisture is still in the crank case.
The problem is when people start their bike in the Winter and don't get the engine hot enough; they make more water from burning the fuel, especially in a cold engine, and they don't boil off what is already in the oil so they increase the water in the crank case over time. Depending on how cold it is it can take a long time to properly warm-up your engine in the Winter and most people who "turn it over every month" don't heat the engine up to proper operating temps.
I take mine up to operating temps and rev it for a minute or two a couple times a Winter to "clear the exhaust",,,
... really, it is because I miss the sound :goofy:
Honda make a fogging oil spray. Idle engine with air cleaner out if carbureted and spray into intakes as directed on can.
Turn off engine.
I also give a generous spray Up the muffler. It burns off quick later.
A spray into the cylinders with the plugs out is good as well.
Sweeper
SwitchbladeHey Terry try the bounce fabric softener sheets,
I've seen this pic a hundred times and just noticed Terry's smoke. Lucky that thing didn't burn to the ground. :goofy:
I am totally convinced Terry's secret identity is Superman. Only the man of steel could have survived two deer collisions and I personally seen him go thru a barb wire fence and come thru with out a scratch !.
Switchblade
Sweeper
SwitchbladeHey Terry try the bounce fabric softener sheets,
I've seen this pic a hundred times and just noticed Terry's smoke. Lucky that thing didn't burn to the ground. :goofy:
I am totally convinced Terry's secret identity is Superman. Only the man of steel could have survived two deer collisions and I personally seen him go thru a barb wire fence and come thru with out a scratch !.
The secret to my survival, at least with the first deer hit (@ 65mph on I74 in IN) and the barbed-wire-carrier-arrest-landing on NC28 (I was a little beyond my comfort level), was my Aerostich Transit leather suit. The suit has majik armor - TF5. Normally pliable at rest, the harder it is hit, the harder it becomes. And the 1.4mm leather took all the abrasion.
I worship at the Church Of ATGATT. :wheel: :3: ; :wheel: x-x-x-x-x (barbed wire) :ohmy:
I run my bikes in the winter about once every month, they are run at fast idle for at least 4 fan cycles. When hot I put them in gear & run through the gears. This serves a couple of purposes. 1, I know they still work. 2, it lubricates all engine components including all oil seals which go hard if they dry out. 3, The gear run, keeps the clutch lubed, they get sticky if unused, same with the levers etc. 4, Any minor corrosion on steel components is halted early & any particles cleaned off &'trapped in oil filter.
Re the comment about thermostats, I've never had one fail, so maybe it does help heat cycling them !
Mohawk
I run my bikes in the winter about once every month, they are run at fast idle for at least 4 fan cycles. When hot I put them in gear & run through the gears. This serves a couple of purposes. 1, I know they still work. 2, it lubricates all engine components including all oil seals which go hard if they dry out. 3, The gear run, keeps the clutch lubed, they get sticky if unused, same with the levers etc. 4, Any minor corrosion on steel components is halted early & any particles cleaned off &'trapped in oil filter.
Re the comment about thermostats, I've never had one fail, so maybe it does help heat cycling them !
+1... I run it through the gears too for the same reasons.
I really appreciate your inputs guys.
I guess I should have expected contradicting advice but it doesn't mean it isn't welcome.
Thanks all.
Happy holidays. :beer:
Instead of google I'll just ask, what is ACF50? Reading all this being from SoCal sounds pretty dam awful, storage. .I dont need no stinkin storage...:)
Have a great year and hopefully it wont be to long before you get the bikes out again.....
duccmann
Instead of google I'll just ask, what is ACF50? Reading all this being from SoCal sounds pretty dam awful, storage. .I dont need no stinkin storage...:)
Have a great year and hopefully it wont be to long before you get the bikes out again.....
It's an anti-corrosion oily application licensed for use in the aviation industry and is brilliant for protecting bikes exposed to corrosive conditions.
It's a US product, link above is to UK web site.
I use it on all my bikes.
Thanks Skids, might need
it when I move to Colorado in 5 years..... :)
duccmann
Thanks Skids, might need
it when I move to Colorado in 5 years..... :)
Wow... you like to plan ahead!
Always a good idea to spread some motor oil on the exposed area of the fork stanchions to prevent rust pitting.
I know, its the way I roll.
When you hit my age, it goes real fast, trust me.