Jump to content

How to Winterize a Liquid Cooled Bike?


Jcarlson

Recommended Posts

Some of you mention starting the bike now and then throughout the winter, where I've been told otherwise - if you store the bike in an unheated garage and warm it up occasionally, that would surely encourage condensation within the engin......Afterall, your bringing the engine up to temp (you'll see sweat on the cases while its heating up) and then again after shutdown and it reaches that same temp when cooling - thats not a good idea imo, inviting moisture in isnt what storage is about.......if the engine stays below dewpoint, there's far less water to burn off at initial startup in the Spring - not condemning anyone's routine, just what I've heard and read.....and my logic seems to concur:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Hellmutt's got a point. You have to either RIDE your bike, or leave it alone. Starting it occasionally, especially if it never gets up to full operating temp, is inviting more problems than it does any good.

Sta-bil is a huge debate. Some people swear by it, and some people think it's snake oil. I don't know anyone who doesn't acknowledge that gas can "go bad," but like Brian, I fill my tank (less air allows less room for condensation to form inside the tank), and then siphon it out in the spring.

My lawn mower gets the old gas, and my bike gets a fresh 5 gallons. Anything old that's left in the bike is sufficiently diluted to the point where it's not an issue.

I flush coolant twice a year (in the spring to run water wetter, and in the fall to run antifreeze), but if people are dealing with street-only bikes, it's certainly a good idea to do it once a season, just to be sure your antifreeze mix is right, and your coolant system is clear.

I don't pull the battery anymore. Just leave it on the battery tender. My bike is also in a garage though, so it's rarely below 30 for any extended periods of time. It's not a heated garage, but when you park a car in the garage, the car engine heats the space more than you'd think afterward. Enough that the snow on my car melts, so I assume it's above freezing... The exception woudl be when/if I spend 45 minutes snow-blowing, and leaev the garage door open.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...