People have probably been shot for less, but here goes....

I know people with bikes that, during winter storage, they go out once or twice a week and let their bike idle and get up to operating temp then shut them down, and I know people that don't touch their bikes after being preped for winter until spring.

What's the general consensus on letting the bike run up to operating temp then shutting it down a couple times a week during the cold?

:fear:

 

I've been told by professionals that if you don't start your bike up every now and then that the gas will gel up and clog everything. So your 2 options are either start up every so often (I'm doing it about once every week to two weeks), or winterize. I haven't had a problem yet. I plan on getting a tune up about March time frame. That will be about when it's warm enough to ride up here in CT. Until then, I'll keep starting. I've got some friends that that is all they do every winter is start their bikes up once a week. They've had them now for about 10 years each. It's all in your preference.

 

Prep it for winter and leave it alone. Otherwise you just undo all the prep you did pepping it for winter, then you have to prep it again, by then winter is over and you've wasted all that time prepping for winter. Three times.

 

+1 :thumbsup:

 

That's very interesting. Did those same professionals "tell" you that once you have started your bike some magical process prevents the gas from "gelling up and clogging everthing". Lets understand this. The same gas you leave in the bike all winter gells if you don't start the bike every so often, but by starting the bike that same gas doesn't gell. And what are the professions of these professioanls. Tea leaf reading? I guess you should keep starting that sucker then. Frankly Ii'd ask some other pros if I were you. Oh maybe not. Does commons sense have any bearing on storing your bike? Delving into what really works might serve you better.

 

I think this is a graet topic!!!!

 

winterize it properly, and that is the key, properly, and leave it alone. Yes gas can gum up if left sitting, that is why as part of the winterizing, you treat the gas with something like Sta-bil, so you don't have that problem. Starting it up and shutting it down constantly, will do more harm than good. Will it be the end of your bike, absolutedly not. But if you don't let it fully warm up each time, you can leave condensation in the muffler or other interior, leading to rust. With every start you just add to the wear and tear on your starter other such components. Leading to failure before otherwise would happen. And it is just another thing to do every week or two, why? If you look at any bike manual, or general motorcycle shop manual, they all say to winterize. "All the ask the tech" features in all the major motorcycle magazines all say to winterize when this question comes up. You really think they all don't know what they are talking about?

 

Put some stabil or some similar product in the gas and start it every so often is what I do since i have easy access to the bike. If I had to leave it unattended all winter I'd do a proper fog. I've always been of the mindset to do one or the other but not both for the reason k1c mentioned.

I think either is fine, but just pick one and do it. Basically just an owner preference.

The worst thing IMO would be just to park it after the fall riding is done and never look at it again til spring.

 

One plus of starting it and letting it run is that it's a poor man's battery tender.

 

Dudemeister - I've been told that the battery doesn't do much in the way of charging when the bike is idling or even while riding at very low RPM. Just sayin' what I've heard. I'm not an expert on anything other than f*uckin' up a few too many times over the years.

 

hallelujah!

 

Hey Bud. Buzz off. That is my job. But Spike, as far a s I am concerned has a good point. Short runnings leads to rust. I can't speak for bikes cause I am still new to this but on a car, if you start and go short ttrips every day to and from wwork for five minute trips, you can count on a new exhaust sytemreal fast. But long drives , the exhaust system seems to last twice as long. My bike doesn't stop long enough for any rigormorteous to set in

 

Yep, That Too.

 

I would agree with this, at idle, you aren't getting much juice. In fact years ago when I took the experienced rider course with the MSF, on my CBR600F3, we spent so much time ideling and never went very fast, that my battery drained in the afternoon and wouldn't restart, I had to jump it. Worse before that my alarm, sensing the battery was going low was set off, so there I was in the MSF course, with my bike alarm screaming bloody murder. And being nearly deaf and being unable to tell sound direction, I had no idea the noise was coming from me! ;-)

 

+2
I mean come on now, yes set it up if you intend to actually store it for like 6 months plus, but what gas goes bad in 2-4 months? keep your machine in a constant temperature area that's dry fill the tank to the brim, put fresh lube in the crank case, you might charge the battery once in a while with a trickle charger, check the air in the tires, depending again on just what one calls winterize. To me it's more a myth. than a process, this is the new millennium right? Shit My riding mower sits for 6 months at a time and fires up every season not missing a beat and it's going on 15 years now.

 

start it up once a month and hold it wide open for 5 minutes......then pour half a can of slick50 into tank with some seafoam and all will be fine...on a serious note stabil will keep gas useable for six months..if your bike has sat up for 3 months or more maybe drain tank add fresh gas when time to ride and add a few drops of oil in each cylinder for the dry start prevension......i change oil every new riding season,plugs,clean airfilter lube and adjust chain, and check all bolts and tire pressure just me.....remember alot of people here can't even tune up a lawnmower( so go by your owners manuel, the engineer who wrote it probaleee knows what hes talking about)..but they are great spellers...

 

Depending on storage and atmospheric conditions modern gas can go 'off' in as little as a month. Stabil or not, the gas tank, and any other hollow space that holds fuel, should be filled full enough as to eliminate the possibility of air entrapment and the subsequent condensation of water into the the fuel, which in turn contributes to gasoline breaking down. A problem exacerbated by ethanol in modern gas, though admittedly more of a problem for carburetted motors than for fuel injected ones. Your lawn mower doesn't care what you put in it precisely because it's in such a low state of tune. Your car won't care either for similar reasons. Bikes these days can be so sensitive to the octane of gasoline that even a small amount of reduction in the gasolines efficiency can cause annoying and often difficult to diagnose problems. As mentioned previously by the smart guys........Fill it up with fresh gas, add stabil or similar, change the oil, charge the battery once in a while, oil the bores, check the air pressure in the tyres..........Hey RVFR, sounds like you're winterizing your bike through simple common sense anyway.

 

Motor is out but the sta-bil is in..


Man that is the scariest avatar I have seen!!!

 

he he he, that avatar is meant to be funny not to be scary. Anyway, that's a good point about the idle RPMs not charging up the battery. I should've added a note that you can just rev it up and let it run a little over 6K RPM for several minutes. hell, if you're getting too cranky sitting around the house you can even go for a little 20 minute ride.