Winterization tips

1570 Views 14 Replies 10 Participants Last post by AZgl1800, Oct 8, 2009

cldryder

Discussion Starter · Oct 1, 2009

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It's about that time of year here in the waaay north....

I have about a dozen bikes I keep in unheated storage every year in MN. I have found the following procedures to give me troublefree start-ups come spring. Rules are somewhat generic.

(Note: I left my GL1500 at my sisters in Oregon for 10 months and it started up like it had run the week before using the tips below.)

1. Run the tank near empty and then fill with non-oxygenated (no alcohol) fuel. Immediately add stabil and run for a few minutes to get the treated fuel all the way thru the fuel system. (I have never had a spring fuel problem using this approach. I have had problems from draining it.)

2. change the oil & filter. you don't want to give the various contaminants in used oil all winter to work on your engine internals. plus, it'll be ready to go come spring.

3. stuff the airbox intake and exhaust outlets with steel wool. Mice love airboxes for some reason and sucking a mouse nest into your engine in spring is a downer. Re: the exhaust; you can spend hours trying to figure out why an engine with spark, fuel, and compression won't run until it blows a mouse nest complete with mouse babies out the exhaust. (Also, I don't think mouse pee does much for exhaust systems.) STICK A PIECE OF DUCT TAPE ON THE MIRROR WITH A NOTE ABOUT THE STEEL WOOL SO YOU DON'T FORGET IN SPRING! It also helps to sprinkle moth balls around the bike.

4. Remove the batt., store inside. at a minimum put a battery maintainer on it once a month.

5. lube the chain if applicable.

6. Add note(s) to steel wool note any repair, service, or improvements you're leaving for spring

7. clean it well, put on centerstand, shed a tear as you cover it up. A mousetrap or two on the seat will discourage any cats from climbing up under the cover and snoozing on your seat leaving a mess of pawprints and cat hair for you to clean up come spring (f#@king cats!). you may have to reset the traps a few times.

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AZgl1800

· #2 · Oct 1, 2009

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Nice post. Indexed it.

Bagmaster

· #3 · Oct 1, 2009

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My poor 1100 sits outside under a full cover and the cats are always climbing up underneath it, I'll have to try the mouse trap trick!! I'm looking at getting a bike barn for it as I'm mounting a sidecar and they have one that will fit for trikes or sidecars. They also claim that little smart car will fit in it too!

AZgl1800

· #4 · Oct 1, 2009

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Put some mothballs in a small tin can, place them on the seat.

No self respecting kitty cat will get close to it. Spiders either.

Big E

· #5 · Oct 1, 2009

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I have had this bookmarked for a few years. Hope it helps.

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/winter-storage.html

Cody in MN

· #6 · Oct 1, 2009

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Good suggestions from all...

I just wish I could find any oil for $ 1.25 a quart

( here's a quote from Big E's bookmark ) :cheeky1:

"Get cheap-ass oil. If you're paying more than $1.25/qt, you're paying too much. "

( He did say he's had it bookmarked for a few years )

Very good tips, Thanks dudes :action:

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Oddy

· #7 · Oct 7, 2009

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The shop I took my Goldwing to is adamat NOT to use Sta-bil. HE recommends VP gas, which he said is gas with no additives.

bbach

· #8 · Oct 7, 2009

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Living in the Northland as well, I prefer to do my oil change in the spring with all my summer machines. My feelings are that moisture from the freezing/thawing/freezing cycle up here will get into the oil. I don't see how contaminants in the oil can get into a motor in cold storage unless you start it. I always use stabil as well. If I'm not going to be starting the machine during the winter, I'll remove and trickle charge the battery at least once a month as well. I give all my summer machines a good tune up in the spring. This has worked well for me forway too many years now. (how can I have lived up here this long?)

As far as my goldwing though, my garage is heated and I'll run my wing at least once a weak to keep the engine oiled. The only thing I'll do there is put in fresh fuel and a little stabil.

bbach

· #9 · Oct 7, 2009

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Oddy wrote:

The shop I took my Goldwing to is adamat NOT to use Sta-bil. HE recommends VP gas, which he said is gas with no additives.

Stabil doesn't hurt a thing if used in the correct quantity. More is not better in this case.

2slim

· #10 · Oct 7, 2009

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Filling the air box with a wad of aluminum foil is also a
good way to keep mice out of the air box and without the
risk of small pieces of steel wool getting into the air intakes.

Just my 1.5 cents worth. :action:

cldryder

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 7, 2009

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The suggstion to change the oil in the fall assumes the oilt has some miles on it. Oil gets contaminated with combustion by products as the engine runs.

I had an aviation mechanic tell me one that he's seen significant internal corrosion on aircraft engines that are run only occasionally. changing somewhat used oil in the fall seems cheap insurance.

I agree you might get some condensation moisture over the course of a winters worth of heating/cooling cycles but if its just moisture it should evaporate the 1st time you warm the engine completely in the spring.

bbach

· #12 · Oct 7, 2009

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cldryder wrote:

The suggstion to change the oil in the fall assumes the oilt has some miles on it. Oil gets contaminated with combustion by products as the engine runs.

I had an aviation mechanic tell me one that he's seen significant internal corrosion on aircraft engines that are run only occasionally. changing somewhat used oil in the fall seems cheap insurance.

I agree you might get some condensation moisture over the course of a winters worth of heating/cooling cycles but if its just moisture it should evaporate the 1st time you warm the engine completely in the spring.

I wouldn't argue with an airline mechanic, nor would I want any of you to not change your oil in the fall. I have no idea how anyone knows what is really best or how anyone becomes an expert on these things. Theonly thing I know is that in all my years growing up working on the farm and living all my life in ND,long freezing seasons werebad for oil in all the equipment I've run. Nothing wrong with putting clean oil in the thing and putting it in cold storage, but I myself always do a spring oil change in all my engines, cages and seasonal equipment alike. I don't know, maybe an airplane gets internal corrosion if it is only run once a week. I don't know if that is what you mean by occasional. What I do know is that I never like the looks of the oil I drain out after a hard winter even in machinery that has had no winter use and won't trust my summer riding to oil that has been exposed to that. My system has worked very well for me. In cold storage I've never had old oil hurt a non operating motor. In the spring, I've never had new oil become a problem.

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knute

· #13 · Oct 7, 2009

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but I myself always do a spring oil change in all my engines, cages and seasonal equipment alike. My system has worked very well for me. In cold storage I've never had old oil hurt a non operating motor. In the spring, I've never had new oil become a problem.

I feel the same as you bbach, every spring our tractors (pretty old ones too) would get fired up, idled for about an hour, then oil was dumped and filled with fresh cenex oil, (I don't even want to tell you where the old oil went, let's just say it kept the dust down). I'mnot saying it's okay not to change it in the fall, Im sure it is the better way to go, just a stubborn creature of habit here, and I have never had a problem doing it the way I have been.

3rdwing

· #14 · Oct 7, 2009

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Living in WI I have trouble with mice getting in my garage. Found my air box packed with corn one year on my 89. A friend suggested using bounce dryer sheets (regular sent) to repel the mice. Started doing that 3 years ago no problems with mice in the bike since. I put them in the fairing, by the motor, under the seat, trunk, saddle bags, etc.

I change out the oil/filter when I store the bike, then again in the spring after its been sitting for 5 months.

AZgl1800

· #15 · Oct 8, 2009

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Hmmm, now that is a nice thing to know. Lots easier to use than moth balls in the saddle bags. Nicer smell too.

and now, today, a newer Winterization tips post showed up.
Consider both of them and choose your winter style.

http://www.goldwingfacts.com/forums/forum4/80632.html

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