conflicting advice for winter storage

ok who do i listen too? i have a brand new motorcycle with 100 miles kawasaki vul900 putting it away next week for the winter in a heated garage wont take it out until probably march do i leave the gas tank full or not? do i add the stabalizer to it or not? i have the tires up on some indoor outdoor carpet is that good enough or should i use something else? i know to remove the battery but isnt a charger and a tender the same thing? i already have the recemmonded charger thats in the owners manuel is  this ok    

Yes, fill the tank after adding Sta-Bil. The full tank doesn't give moisture anywhere to build-up inside the tank. Shut the gas off, start the engine and let it stall out. Putting carpet or other cushion under the tires is fine but I've never heard of anyone getting permanent flat spots. Pull the battery and keep a battery tender on it. I've never used a regular charger for a winter but would be cautious of over-charging. Tenders are pretty cheap and have worked for me for years. Good luck.

Bob  

Good questions.. Is it really necessary to remove the battery from the bike? And do you really need to leave the tender on all the time?  

Remove the battery? No.

Disconnecting one of the terminals and tying the wires back out of the way is all you need to do.

Removing the battery means finding something to set it on that won't contribute to thermal layering. If you leave it on the bike, that's not a problem.

regards,
Joe  

rfrankish said...
I've never heard of anyone getting permanent flat spots.

I had to replace a tire because of that once. I came back from overseas after almost a year and found less than 10 pounds in the tire, along with enough flattening to cause a bounce at highway speeds.

My new Sabre had to have the front tire replaced after setting on the showroom floor with low pressure in it for a year, too. Of course, that may have been a bad tire from the start, who knows.

regards,
Joe  

I posted a thread to the Vulcan owners site, looking for answers to a winterizing post.  The post said do this and that, but, didn't include the types/brands of chemicals to use.

There was a reference to Gadget's site.  But, again, not all was answered.  So if we got a veteran wrencher that can give us "spray ____ on the cables" etc please add it to this thread.

As to the gas stabilizer issue, I can only add what I have done to things besides MC's, as this is my first year with the same bike as the original poster, a Vulcan Classic 900.

The problem with the gas has become magnified by the e10 gas.   What used to be just a turning to gum and varnish issue, has now become a water, erosiion / emulsify issue.  

For boats, the "Star" company that copies much of what everyone else produces, along with a few propritary products, came out with "Star Tron".  It was a fuel conditioner for the E10.  Noted to also be a stabilizer.  Well, I had good luck with it in my snowblower, and was adding it to the gas in the outboard.

Then I heard about "Seafoam", which was proported to be much better.

Well, I have now been hearing reports that boaters that used Star Tron as a stabilizer that had metal gas tanks had problems.

I have not heard that about Seafoam.

My personal pwc, outboard, and snowblower all have plastic gas tanks.  So, I have no input on the metal tank problems.

As to me, I put Seafoam in the outboard before I heard about the problems.  But, am now back using the brand name "Stabil" for this winter.   PWC has it already.  MC will get it as soon as I stop riding for two weeks.  My understanding is that the gas will start to turn after 3-4 weeks.  Moreover, you can't go backwards.

Just as the way of comment.  There is another product made for water in the fuel, that does go backwards.  
If you know that's the problem, it allows you to burn it thru, rather than drain it all out. West Marine stores have it.  

Like storing lawn equipment and snowblowers, you have a choice of adding fuel stabilizer or draining the tank.  Draining the tank isn't as hard as it sounds.  Use a cheap siphon pump to get as much gas out of the tank as you can.  Then start the engine and let it run out of gas.  Fuel stabilizer is easier, but just make sure you treat the gas and then run it for a while to circulate the stabilized gas.  Then shut off the fuel valve and take care of the battery.

A battery tender is better than a normal charger.  It can adjust itself to prevent overcharging.  Keeping the battery at full charge will allow it to last longer than if it drains and gets recharged.

The best way to get the tires off the ground is a motorcycle jack.  You can get one at Pep Boys for a reasonable price, but keep in mind it isn't very stable.  

While the OP didn't say where this "heated garage" is located, it's likely to be far enough north that the humidity is extremely low in winter, so the e10 tendency to absorb moisture from the air and phase seperate, isn't likely to be the problem that we see down here in Florida. That said, it isn't all that hard to simply drain some of the fuel from the bottom of the tank in the spring and check it.

regards,
Joe  

cambren,

The reason you get conflicting advice is, different storage conditions and periods require different precautions. All you've said is it is a "heated garage." If the temperature is regulated to stay within a 5(f) degree range, then checking over the bike monthly is likely to be adequate. If the garage is merely prevented from falling below freezing, but still subject to large temperature fluctuations, then you'll be dealing with humidity changes and condensation, which will require other preparations.

regards,
Joe  

Hi, I am in the same situation, first time owner of a bike and not sure what applies to my condition, any pointers appreciated.

I moved the bike into my guest room and the house is @70-72 degrees fahrennit all through the winter. I drove it a couple of days ago and have half tank full(90+ octane gas)...
Do I need to remove battery?
Do I need to empty the gas tank?

I can even try to start the bike once a month...to ensure  if everything is ok?

Do i need to take any precautions or play it cool?  

Here's my 1 cent on the issue (market has knocked everything down by half.

If you fill the tank full, and add a stabilizer, you're good.
If you drain the tank and spray the tank with fogging oil, you're good.

2 entirely different recommendations, same result.

Following up, if you are draining, it also follows that you fill the oil to the brim. That minimizes the chance of rust or corrosion. Also means you NEED to drain the excess oil before riding.

Depends on whether you want to take the bike out in the winter.  

Here's the other 1 cent I have left:  it's great that you want to take good care of your bike, and there's a lot of good advice in this forum, but don't lose sleep over conflicting information you might get.  I've tried all the combinations over the years: ran the gas tank dry versus adding Sta-bil, leaving the battery in the bike vs. putting it on a tender, and blocking the tires off the ground or not.  Bottom line:  my 1977 Suzuki 750 survived them all and still runs like a bunny.  Pick storage methods that make sense to you, and if the bike is hard to get going in spring, try something else next year.  

I'm a first time member, here is my delema. I have a 2002 shadow spirit 1100 that has been in the garage for about 1 1/2 years and will be coming out next year some time. I have done nothing to store it properly, hopefully it isn't too late to save myself from alot of money fixing what may have happened. I have started it a few times but the battery is now dead. I procrastinate about taking care of it. I have friends that gave me some advice. I would like to drain the tank and fill it with new gas and stabilizer. the tires are getting replaced so no concern there. My question is would there be rust in the cylinders and possibly the gas tank by now? if so what now?  

Rust in the gas tank means you need a new gas tank. There are lots of ways to remove the rust, but it will come back.

Rust in the cylinders means you need to rebuild the engine.

Will there be rust in them? Maybe. Look and see. It's not that difficult to drain the tank and remove the petcock so you can stick a cloth covered finger up into the lowest point to see what is there. It's also not that hard to remove the spark plugs and look into the cylinders.

Conversly, you could just replace the old gas, then go ahead and replace the battery and ride it. If it still runs okay after the first tank of gas, then the gas tank was fine. If it runs bad, by the time you get done cleaning the carbs, you'll know whether it was just old gas or if there was rust in the tank. If it soon starts burning oil, you'll know you have ring problems and when you pull the cylinders to hone them and replace the rings, you'll see if the cylinder walls were gouged by rust chunks breaking loose when the engine was started.

regards,
Joe  

Man, I sure am glad I live in Dallas. I have been able to ride at least once a week so far this winter and dont think it will get much worse before spring.