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Old February 14th, 2011, 02:05 PM   #1
DBentley415
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Tell me why this is a bad idea

It's a beautiful afternoon in Madison, WI. All the snow is melting, sun is shining. We can finally wear our spring jackets I'm tempted to take the ninja out. I know it's been sitting since October/November, but what is it really going to hurt? I let my car sit for months at a time while I'm at college, then come back and drive it around without it doing any apparent damage. Are bikes that much different and need special treatment? I hear opposing opinions on this every time I ask someone new. I really just want the facts.
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Old February 14th, 2011, 02:13 PM   #2
PsychoNinja
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As long as you winterized your Ninja properly, why would it do any harm to ride it?

I put my bike away in early December and put in some SeaFoam in the gas tank to act as a stabilizer and fuel system cleaner and I connected my battery tender in January after going for a ride. Everything worked fine. It took a few tries to get it started, but after that it started right up.

Only bad thing was 34* F weather tends to be a little cold and waiting for the bike to warm up enough to actually drive it. But it was worth it!
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Old February 14th, 2011, 02:15 PM   #3
petiteninja
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i would go out for a ride in a second...except i'm fighting off a cold.

your bike should be okay, take it out. it'll be good for your battery. just remember, these are carb'd, not fuel injected so it will take some TLC. and check your tire pressure, brake fluid, etc...

the last time i took out my bike was on Nov 22, 2010 and it was 55 degrees. my fingers were numb from the cold. it's 55 degrees right now and i can't wait to get on the saddle. i'm a chump when it comes to cold weather.
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Old February 14th, 2011, 02:16 PM   #4
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The only reason I don't ride before all of the snow is gone is because I don't want to wash all of the frigin salt off my bike. I let it rain a few times to get the roads nice and clear...then I go out and terrorize.
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Old February 14th, 2011, 02:46 PM   #5
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One hour of riding saturday = one hour of washing bike. Garden hose is frozen so i had to fill a bucket in the kitchen. But it was fun to ride!
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Old February 14th, 2011, 03:01 PM   #6
DBentley415
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Thanks guys I'm glad i'm not the only one with riding on my mind!

Quote:
Originally Posted by PsychoNinja View Post
Only bad thing was 34* F weather tends to be a little cold and waiting for the bike to warm up enough to actually drive it.
luckily my bike is in underground heated parking so once I flip on the choke my lil ninj starts right up of course she still needed a little warm up time tho

I only went out for about 15 minutes, but that was enuf to quench my thirst
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Old February 14th, 2011, 03:05 PM   #7
coondog
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Putting your bike and car in one sentence, where you live, would scare me. If your fuel wasn't topped off and with stabil or some such additive, if you don't have a smart trickle charger attached to your battery, if the bike isn't even inside and covered, nothing done to tires or plugs. Good Luck getting that ride in on the same day. I hope I'm wrong and making assumptions, happy trails from florida where I took both my 250 and 500 streetfighters out for highway runs today.
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Old February 16th, 2011, 05:32 AM   #8
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I have two Ninjettes. An '08 and 09' that are garage kept. It gets fairly cold in my garage during the winter. I put Sta-bil in them with a full tank, and ran it for a minute to get it in the jets. I fire them up long nough to get to operating temperature a couple of times a month and thump the throttle a few times through the RPM range to see if the jets are working correctly. I move them around periodically to rotate the tires, to avoid flat spots. That's about it. I haven't had ANY problems yet, but I do have my own shop at home and the bikes are maintained emaculately. That probably makes a huge difference over those who have to store them in weather.

I was driving home from class a while back during a snowstorm, and I saw a '06 636 parked out in front of someone's house covered in snow. I thought I was tripping but I turned around and came back to see, and it looked as though it was parked out there all winter.. I felt sad, like when you see someone's pet out in sub-arctic temperatures shivering. It was pitiful!
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Old February 16th, 2011, 07:30 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flashmonkey View Post
The only reason I don't ride before all of the snow is gone is because I don't want to wash all of the frigin salt off my bike. I let it rain a few times to get the roads nice and clear...then I go out and terrorize.
Same here. The salt gets everywhere. I learned this when I had my SuperHawk. Pulled it apart for spring cleaning and the backside of the starter was corroding badly.
Never again. I'll wait til spring.

They make toys for this weather, they're called snowmobiles.
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Old February 16th, 2011, 07:41 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kchesney415 View Post
It's a beautiful afternoon in Madison, WI. All the snow is melting, sun is shining. We can finally wear our spring jackets I'm tempted to take the ninja out. I know it's been sitting since October/November, but what is it really going to hurt? I let my car sit for months at a time while I'm at college, then come back and drive it around without it doing any apparent damage. Are bikes that much different and need special treatment? I hear opposing opinions on this every time I ask someone new. I really just want the facts.

Appropriate word apparent. Just because you can't see or feel the damage, doesn't mean there isn't an injector fouling, and battery cell decaying or a freeze plug being pushed further and further out of the engine block. Doesn't matter if it is car or bike. Long periods of unuse without proper storing can lead to major damage. You don't want to know what condensation that has frozen in the oil galley of a crank bearing can do.
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Old February 16th, 2011, 08:55 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kchesney415 View Post
Thanks guys luckily my bike is in underground heated parking so once I flip on the choke my lil ninj starts right up of course she still needed a little warm up time tho
Guess you missed that post.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wyckedflesh View Post
Appropriate word apparent. Just because you can't see or feel the damage, doesn't mean there isn't an injector fouling, and battery cell decaying or a freeze plug being pushed further and further out of the engine block. Doesn't matter if it is car or bike. Long periods of unuse without proper storing can lead to major damage. You don't want to know what condensation that has frozen in the oil galley of a crank bearing can do.

It takes quite a bit to push out frost plugs, and as long as the bike/car/whatever has the proper mix of antifreeze and water, it's fine. The most common problem I see is racers that run water wetter and forget to flush it out in the fall and add antifreeze. Oooops.
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Old February 16th, 2011, 12:00 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KawiRider View Post
I put Sta-bil in them with a full tank, and ran it for a minute to get it in the jets. I fire them up long nough to get to operating temperature a couple of times a month and thump the throttle a few times through the RPM range to see if the jets are working correctly. I move them around periodically to rotate the tires, to avoid flat spots. That's about it. I haven't had ANY problems yet...
I do the same thing, no problems. As far as salt from the road just be sure to clean bike after.
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Old February 18th, 2011, 08:37 AM   #13
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I'm with Flash from Toronto. I wait till we get a couple of good rains to wash the crud off the streets. The big problem is the salt and sand residue--especially in curves. That can cause traction issues. When spring comes around, I take my sweet time de-winterizing--nice wax job and detailing, oil change, and all the rest.

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Old February 19th, 2011, 09:00 PM   #14
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We had some days in the 50's. The only reason I didn't take my battery off the tender and go for a ride was the large snowbank I created in front of that particular door of the house (yes, I park it in the house). And I probably would have biffed it with all the sand that was still on the roads. Wait, is that a good excuse to buy a KLX250SF?
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