Bike thoughts

[allonm]

I am thinking about getting a new street bike this year and I don’t think I will able to sell the SV with over 50K miles. (I don’t want to give it away either) It is going to be crowded with a 4th bike in the garage. (I have a dirt bike that’s sitting a lot too)  Although I haven’t been to the race track since 08, every year I plan on going at least once or twice.  My thought is to keep the SV for that purpose only and just let it sit most of the time.

What do you think and what maintenance should I do to it while not being used most of the year?




Allon
 

[Ray916MN]

Clean oil, full gas tank with Stabil run through the fuel system, put the bike up on stands so the tires are off the ground and don't develop flat spots and put it on a trickle charger and you should be good to go. In essence, winterize it.

[allonm]

That method would probably work if I ride it at least once a year.

When I did that with my 250 dirt bike, the carburetor gummed up and only cleaning the carb fixed the problem.  To this method defense, it was over a year in between rides.

Since this happened 2-3 years ago, it made me concern about my d/s and street bike. (Those I ride more than once a year)  I start them up in the garage about once a month during winter time for about 20 minutes. I am not sure it’s good for the bikes or me inside the house.   
I do drain the gas from the carb on the dirt bike now which seem to help.

 Although I don’t have plans riding either hard core dirt or track for more than 1-2 a year, selling either one for $1000 doesn’t seem right to me. (Especially the SV)

[DaleB]

I'll second Ray's suggestion with an addition. Store the bike with the tank as full as you can get it (i.e. the bike vertical on a center stand or a rear wheel stand) so that there's as close as you can get to no air in the tank. Do this with ethanol free gas. The Minnesota Street Rod Association has a list of gas stations in MN that sell ethanol free gas http://www.msra.com/NonOxygenatedFuel/NonOxyFeb2011.pdf. The MSRA keeps this list updated so if the link gets stale, go to the MSRA home page and look under "Features."

I've been looking into this a good bit and it seems that regular red Stabil does not work as well in E10 (10% ethanol gas) as it does is pure gas. In general, E10 degrades much faster than pure gas.  If you must store E10 gas, Stabil recommends using their Marine Stabil. Most of the people I've talked to recommend Marine Stabil or Yama-Lube fuel preservative for E10 gas. http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/products.aspx#marine_formula. MArine Stabil is easier to find.

I always store my bikes with non-oxy gas and red Stabil. I also add some Sea Foam. I don't know if the Sea Foam really helps but I doubt that it hurts and it makes me feel better. I use this same mixture in my small gas engines (lawn mower, snow blower, etc.). When I take the bike out of storage, I drain most of the storage gas out and put it in my car. I then fill the bike with fresh non-oxy gas before I fill up the carb float bowl and start the bike.

YMMV

Dale B

[vince]

If your bike isn't worth what you think it should be this year what will it be worth next year. Never start your bike in the winter. This is the worst thing you can do to it. To get all the water out of the engine that you just put in it for running it for 20 minutes. You would need to ride it for 15 to 20 miles after you did this.
+1 for what Dale said but if you can drain the carbs.

[allonm]

Thanks Dale and Vince. Very informative. I have heard about non oxygenated gas, but never looked for it specifically.   I did not think starting the bikes is a good idea, but I was concern leaving gas even with Stbil in the carb for several months isn’t a good thing either.
The bike is only worth something when I sell it. Something one of our mutual friends told me it’s going to be very hard to pull.

Allon

[bkra13]

Allon - list of non-oxy stations here.

http://www.drillnowhere.com/non-oxy-fuel-list/minnesota.html

bk