Winterize your Ride

[davidl]

I'm not trying to dig anyone or rub it in but I hear & read all the post about winterizing you your bike for the winter and here in Tx our riding season is going strong. Went out Sunday with the wife for a little ride. Little cool but sunny and a great day to ride. Our worst time here is Jul/Aug. High temps & high humidity doesn't make riding any fun. We usually ride year round except Jul/Aug. Those two months are maintiance months for me. Close the garage door, turn on the AC and go to work. Sorry guys maybe someone needs to think about relocating.

[broksonic]

Sorry guys maybe someone needs to think about relocating.

What and miss all the snow and cold winds in the wonderful state of Illinois?.. NEVER..

[Mr Jensee]

Like you David we get the same temps here in Louisiana. December and January are the coldest months that restrict riding and mostly that is due to rain rather than temps. We just ended a wonderful dry spell of several weeks with temps in the 80's. I think in the next couple of months I will be doing some long put off maintenance items myself.

[kawman12]

Here in Minnesota we had 60 degrees yesterday and I rode the Voyager 1700 to work. Upper 50's today before a short cool down and then upper 50's by Sunday. My snowmobile is collecting dust, but as long as I can ride the bike, I do not mind.
Mike

[FBT]

What is this "winterizing" people are referring to?

We dread the week of winter we must endure here where temps dip below freezing in February. It's November 10th, and the temps are still in the 80s.

[krasmu]

Im in northern Illinois where the temps can reach 103 during the summer and - 10 during the winter months. As they say if you don't like the weather, just wait a day or so. In the past, I've never winterized my bikes. I ride it as long as the roads are clear. I don't care what the temps are. I bundle up and ride. People look at me strange until I tell them, that they wouldn't think twice if I were on a snowmobile. why shouldn't I ride if the roads or safely clean? My coldest ride to date is 50 miles in +9 degrees. No heated suit. Now that I have my new to me Voyager, I might put it down for a maintenance period just because I don't' want to ride this bike in the salt.

[SgtSlag]

Ethanol gasoline can go stale/bad in a couple of months... I use SeaFoam, year-round: it dissolves minor varnish deposits; absorbs water; stabilizes gasoline for up to two years. I also plug my bike's battery into a smart trickle charger, after each ride, and for the Winter months (SE Minnesota, plenty of snow and ice...). The smart trickle charger tops off the battery's charge, so it is at its fullest: extends the life of the battery; gives it better start-up amperage/voltage, for the initial start-up (spins noticeably faster). Just some info., perhaps useful, perhaps not... Cheers!

[cushman eagle]

I don't winterize either.I just run Seafoam starting now, and hook up the battery tender.When I see it will be a couple weeks that I cannot ride, is when I do my winter maintainence.

[mayhem8]

Was checking out the suggestions and one I didn't see mentioned is changing the oil/filter at the end of the season to coat the engine parts with fresh clean oil. Not sure how much this really matters, but need to change it at some point anyway and it seems to make sense storing the bike with fresh versus dirty oil.

[VoyKimmer]

I change oil and filter at end of riding season for winterizing and change again in spring after a couple hundred miles to put fresh clean oil in engine for riding seoason. . May seem like over kill but that’s what I do and douset hurt.

[GrandpaDenny]

I just changed Gertrude's oil and filter, and checked all her other fluids (they were all changed last winter and spring). Also did a general lube. Need to change the spark plugs, it's been about 12,000 miles since I put these in - can just imaging what they look like. Have a fresh set of Iridiums ready to go it (but packed up for the move). I ride all winter as long as there isn't snow, ice, and salt on the roads (I ran into some salt and slush the other day on a ride, turned around and headed inland and south where the roads were clear). No battery tender. AGM battery. No indoor storage, just a good cover. Last winter I had a parking lot to keep her in, and there was no snow. I am moving and will no longer have a parking lot, she will be parked on the street. I do have a friend willing to let me keep her on his patio when the snow starts. I don't think I'm going to be lucky like last year. Methinks we will be getting snow this year.

[cushman eagle]

My winterizing consists of using Seafoam from November till March,in case there is weather that prohibits riding for 1 month or more.
I also use it once or twice during the 'riding season'
I usually go through a couple tanks of fuel during the winter season,as I will ride if it is sunny and above 35 with no salt
I will do my 'winter service' if I see a week plus of no' riding weather'

[mayhem8]

One of the things that I have not yet done is change the final drive gear lube. That and the rear shocks are the last of the fluid changes so that I know the status of all the fluids in my new (to me) bike.

In reading about this, it's something where I'll want to ride the bike to warm that fluid up. If I get a decent day, I may try to do that soon and I topped the tank off of so much that I don't have room for any additive. I will likely go with the Stabil enzyme and Techron versus the Seafoam.

The bike has likely not seen a lot of use over the years prior to me buying it and, although it ran well this past season, once it got colder it took a long time to warm up, which from reading in here makes it sound like the carbs may need to be pulled/cleaned. I would like to run the bike enough so that the additive gets into the carbs.

[cushman eagle]

One of the things that I have not yet done is change the final drive gear lube. That and the rear shocks are the last of the fluid changes so that I know the status of all the fluids in my new (to me) bike.

In reading about this, it's something where I'll want to ride the bike to warm that fluid up. If I get a decent day, I may try to do that soon and I topped the tank off of so much that I don't have room for any additive. I will likely go with the Stabil enzyme and Techron versus the Seafoam.

The bike has likely not seen a lot of use over the years prior to me buying it and, although it ran well this past season, once it got colder it took a long time to warm up, which from reading in here makes it sound like the carbs may need to be pulled/cleaned. I would like to run the bike enough so that the additive gets into the carbs.

You may be able to avoid pulling the carbs with regular use of Seafoam.
I have owned my '99 for 11 years and almost 70,000 miles and have never pulled the carbs.
The former owner history on the bike indicates he never had them off either,and that was at 22,000 miles.
My winter service does include draining the carbs.
I did balance the carbs once.

[ekap1200]

I have to agree with Cushman eagle, I have seem my fare share of people pulling the carbs for no good reason. I have 108,754 and never had them off either. As long as extreme care has been taken when changing the air filter , they will be clean... Aside from lack of maintenance of the fuel sys the bowls should be fairly clean also. But regular draining of the bowls will do well. Along with timely fuel/flt. change. Along with Cushman, I prefer Seafoam over anything.

If your budget will allow, a change over to non-air shocks on the rear will give you a much better ride. Ask around about how it feels with progressive rear shocks. Most will say , " I should have done that sooner " .
Gene K.

[mayhem8]

re:draining the carbs

Does this bike have a fuel shut-off? It looked like it had a solenoid that opened when you turned the bike on, and since it has a gas gauge, there is no reason for a reserve. Seemed to make sense at the time.

Anyway, on prior bikes with a shut-off I'd turn off the petcock and run the carbs dry, then drain them via a screw at the bottom of the carbs, but it doesn't appear that I can "turn off the petcock" with this bike. Is there just a screw at the bottom of the carb to open and drain them and then you just don't turn the bike on till the beginning of the next riding season (for those of us that have a riding season)?

[cushman eagle]

mayham8,In answer to your question:
There is no shut off valve,the electric fuel pump provides fuel to the carbs,so there is no valve to turn on or off.
Yes, the carbs have a drain plug in the bottom of he bowls.DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN the valves when you close them.
I do not drain the carbs at the end of the season,I let the seafoam in the gas prevent the gumming up that could otherwise happen.

[mayhem8]

Thanks Cushman Eagle. Was Googling around and (supposedly) the best known cleaning additive is something called PEA. Seafoam (as far as I can tell) doesn't have this. I wound up going with an additive called Gumout Multi-System Tune-up. It has similar claims as Seafoam, is about the same price, and is listed as containing PEA.

[cushman eagle]

Thanks Cushman Eagle. Was Googling around and (supposedly) the best known cleaning additive is something called PEA. Seafoam (as far as I can tell) doesn't have this. I wound up going with an additive called Gumout Multi-System Tune-up. It has similar claims as Seafoam, is about the same price, and is listed as containing PEA.

mayhem8 ,
Let us know the results of your test!
We would like to find out how it works for you.

[mayhem8]

FWIW - Also in Googling around I found that Red Line Fuel System cleaner is supposed to have the highest % of PEA. None of these products actually tell you how much PEA is in their product and apparently PEA is expensive. The Red Line stuff is about twice the price of Seafoam and the stuff I used. I did just put the Gumout stuff in my tank the other day and ran it for a bit.

I also want to change out my final drive gear lube soon and am replacing that with a synthetic. The manual recommends running the bike for a while to warm the fluid up. The warmest we're going to see soon is 38F on Sun. I noticed that if I put the bike up on the center-stand I can run it in gear and warm up the rear lube. I'll probably try to do that Sun, or perhaps take a ride if it's not too bad.

Either way, it should ensure the fuel with the additive is completely through the fuel system. I may not know until the next riding season if this stuff works or not, but since pulling/cleaning the carbs looks like a PITA, it's worth it to add the additive. My mechanic said I should be using something anyway just because you can't get gas around here that doesn't contain some amount of ethanol, and he said it tends too wreak havoc in fuel systems over time. Like Seafoam, the Gumout claims to also be a fuel stabilizer and soon the bike will sit for a while. Sometimes we get a January thaw, but otherwise it will be sitting till probably April.

Where it will be sitting, I keep it on the center-stand which at least put the back tire off the ground, not that it should matter much for a few months, but definitely won't hurt.