Anyone Have Problems De-Winterizing?

[TrueFaith]

I know a lot of you are already riding again, but this New England weather can be very fickle and I'm just now getting my '08 out of mothballs for the season. It survived storage, starting up on the first crank and it was nice to hear that Area-P clearing it's throat after so many months of silence.
There were a lot of threads about winterizing the bikes last fall and a lot of methods being discussed. Have any of you had problems with the method you used? How did your bike react to being started after so long? What are you going to do differently next winter?

[kkim]

I know there have been a lot of threads from people that did not winterize and have had a very difficult time getting it started back up... mainly due to fuel problems.

General consensus is that Stabil does not prevent the gas from gumming up. Perhaps they used it incorrectly... I don't know.

How was your experience and what did you do prior to winter?

[sometimesido]

I did not do anything the past winter...
It only took me a battery charger and a starting fluid to get going again, followed by an oil change.
I'm sure I'll have to look at the carb soon for cleaning.

[Small Ninja]

Im glad i live in AZ where its never cold here. the lowest it gets is like 50 and thats at night like 3am in the winter

[TrueFaith]

Originally Posted by kkim

I know there have been a lot of threads from people that did not winterize and have had a very difficult time getting it started back up... mainly due to fuel problems.

General consensus is that Stabil does not prevent the gas from gumming up. Perhaps they used it incorrectly... I don't know.

How was your experience and what did you do prior to winter?

I basically just filled the tank & added Sta-Bil, drained the bowls and hooked it up to a Battery Tender Jr. I also did all the little things like changing the oil, lubing the chain, covering it and putting it up on stands. It's been sitting there for months in temperatures that hovered in the single digits for days. After primimg the carbs it started right up and was idling at 1500 with just a touch of choke. Now I just need to transfer that stabilized gas into my car and fill it up with fresh gas and change the oil to Rotella T synthetic.
I know a lot of people didn't winterize and just started it occasionally. Others added Sta-Bil, but didn't drain the carbs. I was just curious as to what actually worked for people, what didn't and what they'll do differently next year.

[Snake]

Even after using Stabil per the instructions, my bike tends to run a little slugish for the first tank. After burning the first tank its back to normal and no further problems. Just gives me a good excuse to ride and burn that first tank of fuel off.

[Ninja007]

to throw in my two cents, I was one of those people who didn't winterize thier bike and just started it up for 5-6 min every 2-2.5 weeks or so to get the oil and fuel pumping. it was right in my garage so it was no problem. been riding it for about 3-4 weeks now and I had no problems whatsoever. I do need to change the oil soon tho. gotta baby the bike!

[ak_907_ak]

I just de-winterized my bike yesterday, and it started up on the first crank with no choke. I did everything truefaith did except i changed out the sta-bil fuel for fresh fuel before running. And i completely forgot how loud that yoshi exhaust is!

[smcbride11]

I expected the two and half month winter we had last year not the 5-ish months we had this year, so I didn't do as much as maybe I should have...

I rode her for 20 minutes or so back in early November to get her nice and warmed up, filled up completely and added Sta-Bil (with Shell gas, to boot). Rode another 5 or 6 miles to make sure the Sta-Bil got into the carbs and put her away in the garage with some wood under the tires. I pulled the battery and attached it to a Battery Tender Jr. for about a day and a half, then disconnected it and kept it stored in my basement (which is always between 60 and 65, so wine and beer work well down there ). Didn't bother doing anything with the carbs, but I probably will next year - she only had 480 miles on her when I put her away this year so I didn't figure the float bowls would be in awful shape.

De-winterizing basically consisted of tossing her up on the stands for a few minutes to get the battery back in (and theoretically to allow the fluids to get back to where they should be and not on the left side of the tanks), and she started right up.

Mine idles like a cranky beast under 50 degrees, so I had to let her sit for quite a while with the choke on before she'd warm up enough to tolerate throttle, but that's normal (considering it was 36 when I fired her up and left for work last Thursday). Some shims should fix that problem. I had planned on an oil change after work Thursday, but the office got the best of me and I didn't make it to the store in time for a filter. That'll happen whenever the next riding day is - possibly Monday.

No problems at all, though I'm only about 15 miles into the season. It was snowing again today

[NickH]

Originally Posted by smcbride11

I expected the two and half month winter we had last year not the 5-ish months we had this year, so I didn't do as much as maybe I should have...

I rode her for 20 minutes or so back in early November to get her nice and warmed up, filled up completely and added Sta-Bil (with Shell gas, to boot). Rode another 5 or 6 miles to make sure the Sta-Bil got into the carbs and put her away in the garage with some wood under the tires. I pulled the battery and attached it to a Battery Tender Jr. for about a day and a half, then disconnected it and kept it stored in my basement (which is always between 60 and 65, so wine and beer work well down there ). Didn't bother doing anything with the carbs, but I probably will next year - she only had 480 miles on her when I put her away this year so I didn't figure the float bowls would be in awful shape.

De-winterizing basically consisted of tossing her up on the stands for a few minutes to get the battery back in (and theoretically to allow the fluids to get back to where they should be and not on the left side of the tanks), and she started right up.

Mine idles like a cranky beast under 50 degrees, so I had to let her sit for quite a while with the choke on before she'd warm up enough to tolerate throttle, but that's normal (considering it was 36 when I fired her up and left for work last Thursday). Some shims should fix that problem. I had planned on an oil change after work Thursday, but the office got the best of me and I didn't make it to the store in time for a filter. That'll happen whenever the next riding day is - possibly Monday.

No problems at all, though I'm only about 15 miles into the season. It was snowing again today

When I store my bike for the winter I always make sure to have Stabil, full tank of gas, battery tender always connected, the bike up on both stands to prevent dead spots forming on the tires, and I cover my exhaust to prevent moisture from entering.

-Nick-
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[almost40]

I store my bike in my heated Garage. I start it every couple weeks, let it run for 10 min and then use a little seafoam when going out for my first ride of the year. I only burn no alcohol gas. Ive had no problems at all.

[kazam58]

I'll admit I didn't do anything really. i threw it up on a rear stand in the garage and fired her up every 3 weeks for like 5 minutes. But halfway through the winter I was getting a little tired of it so I put sta-bil in the tank and didn't touch the bike for the next two or so months. She started up just fine and didn't take any dewinterizing. I even checked the battery before I went out but it was reading as fully charged.

[Sailariel]

I did pretty much what Wayne did. Draining the carbs was the key. The bike was up on stands all winter in a heated garage. Battery was hooked up to a battery tender. Before starting her this Spring, I drained the tank using a transfer pump (a manual one) and transferred the fuel into my cage. I then went to the gas station and filled a four gal. can with fresh fuel. The bike fired up fine. Rode around town for a while to warm things up and changed the oil and filter---also cleaned and lubed the chain. Installed a ZG Sport Touring Windscreen. Love it. It is a whole different bike. Getting beat up by the wind is a thing of the past. Am very impressed with ZG quality and design.

[g21-30]

Originally Posted by Sailariel

Installed a ZG Sport Touring Windscreen. Love it. It is a whole different bike. Getting beat up by the wind is a thing of the past. Am very impressed with ZG quality and design.

Excellent choice on the windscreen. Just a slight lean and all is calm behind it!

[CC Cowboy]

Wayne, it's always a good feeling to get the bike out of mothballs. Ever smell mothballs?



How do you get their legs apart?

[TrueFaith]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

Wayne, it's always a good feeling to get the bike out of mothballs. Ever smell mothballs?



How do you get their legs apart?

Ha! That's not what I expected from you. I figured we'd get the standard "I don't winterize my bikes because it's 80-degrees out right now and I'm too busy riding them" answer.
It's funny how I went for months with the bike stored and didn't give it a second thought. Now that the temperatures are poking into the low 60s here from time to time, I'm overcome with a sense of real urgency to get it back on the road ASAP! Spring biker fever strikes!

[CC Cowboy]

Make it a better spring than last year. Don't go riding with any idiots and watch out for sand in the road.

[TrueFaith]

Yeah, I plan on being hyper-vigilant of road conditions this year. Used to be that sand & gravel were only a big problem until they cleared the roads of winter sand up here, but with the climate going all wacky lately washouts seem to be everywhere all season now. We've had 3 flash floods in this area already and it's barely spring. Kid from up the street had his old Honda slide out from under him right in front of my house the other day and he couldn't have been doing more than 10mph, but the street has been covered in sand until just recently. I'll be acting my age for a change and riding very sedately this year to be sure, with my new-found respect for road debris. Funny how I never had a problem with sand & gravel all the years I commuted in Boston on a bike, but out here in the boonies you never know what will be laying in the road around the next corner. Sand, gravel, deer, possum, Harley parts, UFOs....