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Winterize or run it???


speedfrk39

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Do you guys upnorth Winterize your bikes for winter? Or do you just run it every so often? Either way being from Florida we have never worried about this stuff, but I have a lot of bikes and this winter I have been starting them almost every weekend. What is best way to keep your fuel system,battery, ect from damage while sitting for 3-4 months. I have NEVER not ridden, as long as I had a bike. This winter crap sucks, but it sure is pretty.

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Fill the tank to the top and let it sit. Starting it every so often only drains the battery. If it makes you feel better, pull the batt and bring it inside but thats it. Stabilizer if it makes you feel better. Just make sure you have antifreeze in or nothing at all.

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Do you guys upnorth Winterize your bikes for winter? Or do you just run it every so often? Either way being from Florida we have never worried about this stuff, but I have a lot of bikes and this winter I have been starting them almost every weekend. What is best way to keep your fuel system,battery, ect from damage while sitting for 3-4 months. I have NEVER not ridden, as long as I had a bike. This winter crap sucks, but it sure is pretty.

you can go thru the whole song and dance of winterizing it like i did, but when those 60 degree days come in the dead of winter you'll wish you hadnt, which is the exact reason my bike came out of storage about 2 weeks ago. now i just gotta suck it up and get on the thing at least every few weeks and ride but at least it gives me a good reason!

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Fill the tank to the top and let it sit. Starting it every so often only drains the battery. If it makes you feel better, pull the batt and bring it inside but thats it. Stabilizer if it makes you feel better. Just make sure you have antifreeze in or nothing at all.

+1 The battery only gets charged once you hit 4k RPM's so you're not doing anything good for your battery. Mines sits in a climate controlled garage. No stabil this winter but I have used it in the past.

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dont start it unless you are gonna ride it IMO. or at least let it get to full operating temp. when you start it and let it run for 5 minutes, you are creating condensation in the crank case.

personally i fill the tank to the top, plug the battery tender in and park it. i was riding until like the last week of november. i rode a bit a week or so ago when it was 50, so it was only parked for like a month. we will probably get another warm day in another month... no biggie.

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should be alright starting them every so often. Or if that gets annoying stabilzer and battery tender.

I fill up the tank, put some stabilizer in and run it about 10minutes ever weekend. At least I did until it wouldn't start during the really really cold snap we had a couple weeks ago. I ended up running the battery down trying to get her running. Gotta buy a battery tender now I guess.

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Put fuel stabil in it please ! esp if it's carbed , and every week or so throw the battery tender on it for a day !!!! I'm tired of bench cleaning everyones carbs in the spring !!!

I'm not argueing........I'm just tryin to save myself alot of hastle !!

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Awesome!! thanks guys. I don't think my body is going to allow me to ride until we hit the mid 60s or maye the 70s, but I am going to keep the ZX ready to run, the rest of the bikes I will take some advice run some Stabil through them and top off the fluids, take out the batteries, and I will put some kind of heat in the garage at night to protect the dirt bikes. Thanks again

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LoL, us old dudes didn't have fuel stabilizers back-in-the-day. We just drained the carbs and tanks to store them or cleaned them later if we forgot. Crazy. I used to drain, hose it out, and store my tanks indoors. (Still see some tanks sitting around here....) And yeah, what Catman said, I've cleaned a lot of carbs, it gets old.

And the battery "trinkle" chargers were not automatic, you had to tend them yourself. It wasn't uncommon to screw up and nearly boil a battery dry. Some of us made our own chargers, including the circuits to auto charge the battery without damage. (Yeah, we bought a lot of batteries, but they were cheap back then, and didn't last long in the first place)

Btw, fuel is now nasty toxic. It didn't used to be that way. But unleaded fuel has some terrible dangerous additives that will absorb right through your skin. Handle with care.

Progress, ain't it wonderful?

And Speedfrk39; the most important part is checking the tire pressures in the Spring, before riding.

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what about flat spots on the tires ? someone told me that you should raise it, or roll it to different spots on the tires once every 2 weeks to avoid flat spots ?

i live in Tucson right now, so my bike only sits for about 2 months, and i just put it on a battery tender plus.

However i was wondering about this flat spot thing ?

That and i guess i need to know what to do when i get to the winter wonderland (besides freeze my ass off :o )

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what about flat spots on the tires ? someone told me that you should raise it, or roll it to different spots on the tires once every 2 weeks to avoid flat spots ?

i live in Tucson right now, so my bike only sits for about 2 months, and i just put it on a battery tender plus.

However i was wondering about this flat spot thing ?

That and i guess i need to know what to do when i get to the winter wonderland (besides freeze my ass off :o )

Get a set of bike stands. I've been using the same stands since 2004 and they're still going strong. http://www.handyindustries.com/shop/product_view.asp?idProduct=167&D=1&S=4 $99 for front and back!

I take the psi to about 10 pounds and keep it up on the stands until I fill them back up when it hits 45-50degrees to ride.;)

Edited by NinjaNick
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Get a set of bike stands. I've been using the same stands since 2004 and they're still going strong. http://www.handyindustries.com/shop/product_view.asp?idProduct=167&D=1&S=4 $99 for front and back!

I take the psi to about 10 pounds and keep it up on the stands until I feel them back up when it hits 45-50degrees to ride.;)

45-50 degrees ? :eek:

im used to 70 :( most of the time its 85-110 :cool:

good thing i have a heated vest, and just got my heated grips :D

thanks to everyone for all of the advice.

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45-50 degrees ? :eek:

im used to 70 :( most of the time its 85-110 :cool:

good thing i have a heated vest, and just got my heated grips :D

thanks to everyone for all of the advice.

I don't like those temps..haha. That's just the temp I will suit up for 1st ride of the year because I've been itching to ride all winter long. I normally get to ride March thru November here in Dayton, Oh. Put over 5k on my bike last year in that frame.

Also, little advice on riding up here after the winter. Becareful on the cold days, the tires don't have a lot of traction. Also becareful in any turns until we've had a few hard rains after the winter to wash the SALT and SAND away in the turns. Other than that, enjoy riding up here. :cheers:

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I don't like those temps..haha. That's just the temp I will suit up for 1st ride of the year because I've been itching to ride all winter long. I normally get to ride March thru November here in Dayton, Oh. Put over 5k on my bike last year in that frame.

Also, little advice on riding up here after the winter. Becareful on the cold days, the tires don't have a lot of traction. Also becareful in any turns until we've had a few hard rains after the winter to wash the SALT and SAND away in the turns. Other than that, enjoy riding up here. :cheers:

layed the bike down in sand and pebbles my second time out on the bike :mad:

so i usually am really cautious about whats in the road now.

Im still very new at riding.

My borfriend and i have been wondering what they use on the roads in the winter. When i lived in Flagstaff they used cinders, but he was prtty sure it would be salt.

Thanks for the tips, they will come in handy.

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overstated IMO. with modern tires, you shouldnt have any problems. maybe if it sat for a couple of years... but a few months wont hurt it.

With our scoots they have center stands which takes the back wheel off the ground, then I stick a small piece of wood under each front tire just to keep 'em off the cement.

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With our scoots they have center stands which takes the back wheel off the ground' date=' then I stick a small piece of wood under each front tire just to keep 'em off the cement.[/quote']

yes. centerstand FTW. my bike has one, and its come in handy :)

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