A couple of winterizing questions

[ukflyer]

So now it is too cold to ride my baby, so she is nicely cossetted away in the garage.

To my horror nobody here in the UK sells any kind of fuel treatment to stop the fuel going 'off'. I have tried Halfords and they have never heard of it!!!

So..... I have about a third of a tank in the bike. Should I drain it out? (if so how do you do that without stripping off the fairing?) or should I fill it up to prevent condensation but risk gumming up the injectors and valves?

Is there any other way around this problem? Maybe start her up and run her in the garage every couple of weeks for 15-20 mins?

Second question:
Should oil be changed before or after the winter hibernation? I had synthetic put in in August but have only ridden about 300 miles since.

Many thanks,
James.

[dolson]

I can't believe there isn't any Sta-Bil there or something like that.

I would fill the tank all the way. The more air in there the more condensation which is what you don't want.

As far as firing it up that's another concern for condensation forming in the engine and gearbox do to incomplete heat cycles.

What are you looking at, a couple of months? Probably no harm in this since it's in a garage. Thoroughly clean and put a good coat of wax on it paying attention to the metal bits and pieces. Plug the tail pipe, fill the tank, pull the battery and keep that on a tender.
I wouldn't put a cover over it because of condensation unless you devise some way to keep the cover totally off any part of it. Put it on the centerstand and rotate the front tire to a different position every so often.

You have it inside, that's the main thing.

Don

[JRCollings]

James, skip crap places like Halfords and go to a boat chandlers - They WILL have fuel conditioners as they are sold / used for winterizing boats.

[DaveM]

Err excuse me Wot's winterizing mean?

DaveM:

[Lazarus Long]

Originally Posted by DaveM

Err excuse me Wot's winterizing mean?

DaveM:

Go sit on a nail ya cheeky bugger. :

Going cabin crazy over here, miss my bike riding fix, at least 3 more month until I can take it out again.

j/k Dave

[DaveM]

I shouldn't tease.

If I was you guys with snow and ice I would go nuts.:

I am very lucky, all year round sun............with the odd totally destructive tropical storm thrown in.

DaveM:

[johnny]

Originally Posted by DaveM

Err excuse me Wot's winterizing mean?

DaveM:

My sentiments exactly. its about 30 deg out rite now, VeRy WiNdY, and it snowed earlier. Yet, I just got back from a 30mile round-trip to return some gifts and stop for lunch. The cold just makes me hold-on tighter! LOL

[ralphus]

Originally Posted by DaveM

I am very lucky, all year round sun............with the odd totally destructive tropical storm thrown in.

Dave

We unfortunates from down south have had to put up with these ads "Queensland : Beautiful one day, perfect the next" for years.

I have been to Queensland 5 times in the last 30+ years and I reckon 90% of the time I have spent in the "Sunshine State" it has been overcast and bucketing down with rain and the odd cyclone thrown in for good measure.

Which part of Queensland do you come from where you get all year round sun? Because I want to go there next time!

Ralphus

[DaveM]

Originally Posted by ralphus

Dave

We unfortunates from down south have had to put up with these ads "Queensland : Beautiful one day, perfect the next" for years.

I have been to Queensland 5 times in the last 30+ years and I reckon 90% of the time I have spent in the "Sunshine State" it has been overcast and bucketing down with rain and the odd cyclone thrown in for good measure.

Which part of Queensland do you come from where you get all year round sun? Because I want to go there next time!

Ralphus

Pretty rich Ralphus with you in Melbourne, you have the most miserable climate of the whole country!!!:

Brisvagus of course and we do get a lot of sun it has been in the mid 30's Celsius most of the last few weeks.

It is very rare in SE Queensland to get the type of weather you describe. A typical summers day is 36 degress C 85% relative humidity and an average winters day (our dry season) it is 21 - 22 degrees C with low humidity and cloudless.

See just like the advert says. And if it was like that it must have been more than 10 years ago because we have had hardly any rain at all for at least 10 years.
Until this years summer (2008).

Hence the city dam levels were down to 15% until a couple of months ago when summer storms started.

DaveM:

[Triple Ripple]

Another winterizing tip I was given is to place a piece of plywood under the tire to insulate it from the concrete. Seems frozen concrete and extended tire contact is not a good thing. This way you don't have to rub your face and wonder when was the last time you rotated your tire.