September 17th, 2009, 12:29 PM | #41 |
ninjette.org guru
Name: Remy
Location: Moncton
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): '04 sv650s Posts: 438
|
Be sure to take the battery inside. It doesn't make much sense letter it freeze. I usually bring it inside the home and put on the charge for a couple hours every weeks or so. Make sure it's in a well ventilated place..not that it's any dangerous than inside a garage/baby barn...Charging a frozen battery sounds counter intuitive.
The reason the gas goes bad is because of evaporation, it's more prone to evaporate in the carbs than the fuel tank, so it's a good thing to drain the carbs so there's no gas to evaporate and leave gunky residues. As for oil, drain your oil before winter and just put in the cheapest oil you can get at walmart and let it sit in there for winter...Then put your favorite oil before starting it. I did all that and had zero problem starting the bikes after 5-6 months.
__________________________________________________
There's 2 types of people in this world, those who complain and those who act. |
|
September 17th, 2009, 12:31 PM | #42 |
ninjette.org sage
Name: Greg
Location: central new york
Join Date: Aug 2009 Motorcycle(s): 90 Suzuki gsx600f Katana, 03 Buell XB9R Posts: 868
|
Remove battery and bring inside where it is warm, install when needed.
|
|
September 17th, 2009, 01:04 PM | #43 | |
Cat herder
Name: Gort
Location: A secret lair which, being secret, has an undisclosed location
Join Date: May 2009 Motorcycle(s): Aprilia RS660 Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 6
MOTM - Jul '18, Nov '16, Aug '14, May '13
|
Quote:
They also say you should be able to "operate the fuel tap while riding without taking your eyes off the road." The fuel tap is located behind the left side cover and can't be operated with your hands anyway. Oh, and they say to have it turned ON to drain the tank, when IIRC you drain the tank by turning it to PRI. |
|
|
September 17th, 2009, 01:36 PM | #44 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
|
Quote:
|
|
|
September 17th, 2009, 09:47 PM | #45 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Arthur
Location: NoVA
Join Date: Jun 2009 Motorcycle(s): '03 EX250 Posts: 134
|
I just thought I'd mention that premium gas has the MOST ethanol in it. It's the ethanol that acts as the "octane booster."
It seems to me that regular gas with a bit more stabilizer would be the way to go. That, and perhaps having the bike in a nitrogen bubble to prevent oxidation (i.e. rust) lol |
|
September 17th, 2009, 10:13 PM | #46 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
|
|
|
September 18th, 2009, 09:23 AM | #48 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Sean
Location: Southern IL
Join Date: Feb 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 250r SE, 2015 FJ-09 Posts: 171
|
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
in ethanol fuels the ethanol acts as a octane booster. ethanol has a RON of 116 the gasoline component is lower with the two averaging out to 91 RON for 87 octane gas. |
|
September 18th, 2009, 09:43 AM | #49 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Tim
Location: NE Georgia
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2 2004 Ninja 250 and 2008 VTX 1300 Posts: 47
|
If you are really worried about using stabil or the effects of ethanol in the gas you can also drain the tank completely and coat the inside with fogging oil and it will be fine. A shot of fogging oil into each cylinder is a good idea also.
|
|
September 18th, 2009, 09:49 AM | #50 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
|
I'm missing it. Where in there does it say they use ethanol as an octane booster?
|
|
September 18th, 2009, 10:06 AM | #51 |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
Blog Entries: 7
|
Ethanol does in fact act as an octane booster. Federal regs require the major oil companies to include a certain portion of ethanol across their entire gasoline production. Varies by company, and has been going up each year, but a good guideline is somewhere around 6%. Many states cap ethanol usage at 10%, as many vehicles won't perform well if the percentage was any higher than that.
In areas where the refiners are using a good chunk of ethanol in their gasoline, close to or equal to that 10% rating, they end up having to use less of some of the other octane enhancers that would otherwise be necessary, as the ethanol content itself ups the effective octane rating. In other words, refiners don't go right to the ethanol as the primary octane enhancer, but if they have gone down the ethanol route for regulatory reasons, the ethanol does help the gasoline meet the expected octane ratings at the end product.
__________________________________________________
Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered) |
|
September 18th, 2009, 10:30 AM | #52 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
|
Quote:
my understanding is that ethanol fuel has the same amount of ethanol in all the grades across the board. octane additives are added proportionately to obtain the octane rating desired prior to the ethanol being added... at least that's the way it's done on island. |
|
|
September 18th, 2009, 10:33 AM | #53 |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
Blog Entries: 7
|
The bolded text is not necessarily true. It's not necessarily false either. The unhelpful but unfortunately more correct answer is "it depends".
__________________________________________________
Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered) |
|
September 18th, 2009, 10:36 AM | #54 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
|
Gee, Alex... do you have a part time job in Washington, D.C.?
|
|
September 18th, 2009, 11:32 AM | #55 |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
Blog Entries: 7
|
Nope. But perhaps it would suit me. Not trying to mislead or misdirect folks, it's just that gasoline production is more complex than can be described easily. The refineries futz with things day in and day out depending on the particular nature of the crude they are running that day, the current load on the different areas of the refinery, the product mix they are trying to end up with that day, and the different pricing available and even contractual requirements they are trying to fill that day. All of that boils down to a whole bunch of different ways they can refine the crude to get it to something at the end of the line that meets whatever applicable specs they need to to call it "gasoline".
__________________________________________________
Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered) |
|
October 2nd, 2009, 07:27 AM | #56 |
ninjette.org guru
Name: Jessica
Location: Calgary, Canada
Join Date: Jul 2009 Motorcycle(s): '09 Metallic Diablo Black Posts: 298
|
Is Seafoam a good stabilizer for over the winter? Also, is draining the float bowls still necessary if I use Seafoam, since it claims to "clean" the carbs and liquefy gum/varnish deposits?
|
|
October 2nd, 2009, 08:50 AM | #57 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Lil One
Location: NB Canada
Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): '09 Ninja 250 Black Posts: A lot.
|
should the petcock be turned to prime before draining the bowls or just leave be?
__________________________________________________
I'm not small, I'm fun sized |
|
October 2nd, 2009, 08:56 AM | #58 | |
Cat herder
Name: Gort
Location: A secret lair which, being secret, has an undisclosed location
Join Date: May 2009 Motorcycle(s): Aprilia RS660 Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 6
MOTM - Jul '18, Nov '16, Aug '14, May '13
|
Quote:
My understanding of how this works is that PRI lets gas flow out of the tank and into the bowls without the engine running. ON allows no fuel to flow until there's vacuum (caused by the engine turning). So if you switch to PRI when you drain the bowls, it'll take a very, very, long time before fuel stops flowing, because you'd actually be draining the whole tank through that tiny little hole.... |
|
|
October 2nd, 2009, 09:01 AM | #59 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Lil One
Location: NB Canada
Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): '09 Ninja 250 Black Posts: A lot.
|
I always thought if i put it in prime it would cut off the flow from the gas tank. Tells you what i know but i guess i'm new at this as well.
__________________________________________________
I'm not small, I'm fun sized |
|
October 2nd, 2009, 10:40 AM | #61 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Nathan
Location: West Georgia
Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): Yamaha R6 Posts: 145
|
Hey guys, I just read through this thread today, as Tennessee (at college) is going to cool down here pretty soon. There is a gas station here that has ethanol-free gas. It's more expensive, but I usually run in anyways. Does the winterizing process change at all w/ the ethanol free gas as opposed to the regular? I'm just having a tough time understanding what happens because of the components of the gas in the tank, and what happens because of the temp change.
|
|
October 2nd, 2009, 10:53 AM | #62 |
Pedal Power
Name: Rob
Location: Winterpeg (Winnipeg)
Join Date: Jun 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja EX250R Posts: 401
|
Gonna be doing this this weekend. I always used Seafoam in my other toys (boats ect..) with no issue in the carb so maybe, but I'm going to drain the bowls anyways
__________________________________________________
Using Pedal Power |
|
October 2nd, 2009, 11:12 AM | #63 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Steve
Location: Kekaha, Kauai HI
Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 05 GSX-R 600 2003 EX250: Woodcraft Bars, Levers, Mirrors, Shim'd Mixture, Synthetic, '08 Rear Shock Posts: A lot.
|
aloha,
friend of mine rides an 883 and she's deploying to the middle east for a year. information here helped her with storage issues and she wanted me to pass along her appreciation for the knowledge we shared here. so...THANX EH! i love it here! uh-huh!
__________________________________________________
Remember when sex was safe and motorcycles were dangerous? |
|
October 2nd, 2009, 01:26 PM | #64 | |
ninjette.org guru
Name: Jessica
Location: Calgary, Canada
Join Date: Jul 2009 Motorcycle(s): '09 Metallic Diablo Black Posts: 298
|
Quote:
I will be doing this soon as well... We're getting our first snow flurries of the season tomorrow. |
|
|
October 6th, 2009, 03:24 AM | #65 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Bob
Location: CA
Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): '08 Ninja 250r, '14 CBR500r Posts: A lot.
|
The way we winterize here in CA is:
1) Start engine 2) Ride 3) Rinse and Repeat |
|
October 7th, 2009, 06:39 PM | #66 | |
Some weird Canuck!
Name: Greg
Location: Ontario - Canada
Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): '92 CBR250RR "Babyblade", 2008 Ninja 250R, 2001 CBR600F4i Posts: 209
|
Quote:
The bike fired up within seconds when I dug it out after a 5 and a half month sleep and I've been storing bikes like this for 5 years now without issues. If a bike has a fuel petcock (my old CBR600, or my CBR250RR) then I will drain the carbs by running the bike but some people say this allows the seals in the carb to dry out. Just do it like I mention above and you will be perfectly fine.
__________________________________________________
I still like CBR's more Just kidding. |
|
|
October 11th, 2009, 12:59 PM | #67 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Dave
Location: Michigan
Join Date: May 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 650RTE & 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R (SOLD) Posts: A lot.
|
|
|
October 16th, 2009, 11:55 AM | #68 | |
ninjette.org member
Name: anomolli
Location: Rockville, MD
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250R (red) Posts: 39
|
Quote:
I'm looking at the battery tender on motorcycle-superstore, but seems like there's two flavors, a 6 or a 12 volt one. Which one should be used? Thanks! |
|
|
October 16th, 2009, 11:56 AM | #69 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Ryan
Location: Augusta Me
Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): 09 250R - 08 250R - 03 250EX - 86 KLR 250 Posts: 60
|
12volt should be used
|
|
October 16th, 2009, 11:58 AM | #70 |
FORMER MOTORCYCLE RIDER
Name: Steve
Location: On a Trek SU200 or in my CRX
Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): Rode an 08 250r then rode an 08 ZX-6R until i totaled it on 7/10/10 Posts: 758
|
I'm not Kelly.... but it's a 12 volt.
|
|
October 16th, 2009, 12:03 PM | #71 |
ninjette.org member
Name: anomolli
Location: Rockville, MD
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250R (red) Posts: 39
|
thanks very much. :-)
|
|
October 16th, 2009, 12:12 PM | #72 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
|
I see you got an answer. sorry, for some reason I don't get an auto notification to this thread when there was a reply until now.
good luck with your winter storage. |
|
October 17th, 2009, 01:01 PM | #73 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Allen
Location: North GA Mt's
Join Date: Oct 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 250 Ninja Posts: 16
|
|
|
October 17th, 2009, 05:47 PM | #74 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Dave
Location: Michigan
Join Date: May 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 650RTE & 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250R (SOLD) Posts: A lot.
|
|
|
October 17th, 2009, 05:54 PM | #75 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Whodat
Location: Ware Is.,MA
Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): I pass the wind! Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Mar '13, Jun '14
|
Is covering the entire bike with vasoline still used to winterize it?
I've heard that if you keep the bike in the living room it will stay warm but it is hard to start and run the engine once a week to keep the gas, oil, and battery stabile. If you live in Florida do you still have to winterize, even if you ride all winter?
__________________________________________________
If everything seems under control; you're just not going fast enough! |
|
October 17th, 2009, 08:23 PM | #76 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Allen
Location: North GA Mt's
Join Date: Oct 2009 Motorcycle(s): 08 250 Ninja Posts: 16
|
Let me qualify that statement........Today it was 45 deg. and drizzle. Not a great day for riding. Anyway I have the gear for it and pick my days to ride, especially during Dec. and Jan. About 1/2 the locals winterize the other half rides. But the idea of rubbing Vaseline all over a baby Ninja is new to me. But I'm open to new ideas..........Maybe I'll try it while the wife is at work. |
|
October 18th, 2009, 06:40 AM | #77 | |
ninjette.org member
Name: Craig
Location: Asheville, NC
Join Date: Aug 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250R Posts: 98
|
Quote:
Pretty much what I have done for the last 40 years...Stabil instead of Seafoam. My experience with an empty gas tank and dry carbs has been rust and hung up float valves and dry seals even when I fogged the tank. A fully fogged gas tank will wash off some of the interior residue/scum and end up in the petcock/filter area where it evaporates leaving a gummy residue which buggers up this area and will enter the carbs when you regas up and start. |
|
|
October 18th, 2009, 07:17 AM | #78 |
Pedal Power
Name: Rob
Location: Winterpeg (Winnipeg)
Join Date: Jun 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja EX250R Posts: 401
|
Keep saying that I'm going to winterize the bike, maybe this weekend, it will be 13 degrees c around 10 for the rest of the week...after that who knows, it has snowed off and on though
__________________________________________________
Using Pedal Power |
|
October 18th, 2009, 10:30 AM | #79 |
ninjette.org member
Name: anomolli
Location: Rockville, MD
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250R (red) Posts: 39
|
Does everyone here pretty much change their own oil and filter? I've been reading through this forum as well as the service manual and it seems like the initial task takes a bit of investment on my part. Meaning, i have to buy the rear stand, tools, etc. to get the job done. So i'm just wondering if people take it to the mechanic to get the oil changed and then drain the carbs and add stabilizer themselves? Or is it the culture to kind of get your hands dirty yourself?
|
|
October 18th, 2009, 10:51 AM | #80 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Craig
Location: Asheville, NC
Join Date: Aug 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250R Posts: 98
|
You can change the oil on a NewGen just with the side stand down as long as you ziptie the front brake handle down to make sure she doesn't roll when you put a little oomph to the drain plug and filter bolt. Your stock tool kit even has the wrench sizes you'll need. Don't even need to remove the lower fairings if you don't want the extra room.
Anything I can do to keep the Dealer's apprentices away from my bikes is a plus as far as I'm concerned. Check out the plier serrated marks on your fill plastic plug when you get her back cause they didn't feel like putting a piece of protector on it ! |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Winterizing for one day | Ninja Rob | General Motorcycling Discussion | 50 | January 10th, 2015 08:01 AM |
Winterizing Question | Apex123 | 2008 - 2012 Ninja 250R Tech Talk | 2 | November 12th, 2014 09:53 PM |
winterizing 250's | scorch | General Motorcycling Discussion | 10 | May 13th, 2014 11:34 AM |
Winterizing... | emilyLOVESlime | 1986 - 2007 Ninja 250R Tech Talk | 18 | November 2nd, 2009 10:57 PM |
Winterizing your Ninjette | Sailariel | 2008 - 2012 Ninja 250R Tech Talk | 37 | December 20th, 2008 08:05 PM |
|
|