Should I winterize or keep the bike running?

Dayao12

Dayao12

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Hey everyone, It's about the time most of you have started your winterizing prep.

Although, I'm curious... Is there any harm to just start the bike and warm it up every few days(3-4) during winter? I did it last year with my cbr125 and everything seemed fine come spring. Now I have a carbed GS500...will it make a difference? What damages might come out of this? I store it in a garage, that should help, right?

Thanks for your input!
 
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Dayao12 said:
Hey everyone, It's about the time most of you start your winterizing prep.

Although, I'm curious... Is there any harm to just start the bike and warm it up every few days(3-4)? I did it last year with my cbr125 and everything seemed fine come spring. Now I have a carbed GS500...will it make a difference? What damages might come out of this? I store it in a garage, that should help, right?

Thanks for your input!
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Regularly starting the bike but not riding it at full operating temperature will result in a lot of moisture accumulating in the exhaust and motor which can lead to corrosion, oil contamination.... Highly not recommended.
 
are you on crack, it's not snowing yet, keep riding.
 
油井緋色;1669185 said:
are you on crack, it's not snowing yet, keep riding.
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Bahah! No, my friend...but people think I AM on crack when they see me riding in the snow XD
 
Dayao12 said:
Bahah! No, my friend...but people think I AM on crack when they see me riding in the snow XD
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By the way I have the same bike and asked the dude's on Ted's what to do.

Put on center stand, crack open some screws underneath the carbs to let all the gas or whatever in the carbs out, take out battery, and tender it.
Apparently that is all lol
 
carb bikes are different then fi bikes, you need to drain the float bowl on your carb bike, fill the tank with shell v power gas ( no ethinal ) no air space for condensation, and dont run the engine until spring. i like to open the float bowl drain screw, remove the gas line from the tap and purge the carb with compressed air then seal the fuel system ready for spring.
 
Too early to winterize but here is what i do for my Ninja 250 (Carb'd

1. Change oil + filter
2. Take battery out and put it on a battery tender.
3. Done.

There is no need to drain anything as its not going to be sitting for that long.
 
I never winterized bikes before. Just go for 20 min ride every two weeks during winter when roads are dry. Been riding since 07, always done it this way.
 
if you dont love your bike you will ride it in the winters salt and slush, even on dry days.
 
Stewart said:
if you dont love your bike you will ride it in the winters salt and slush, even on dry days.
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When it's dry out road salt are mostly on the side of roads, they're just dry dust and do nothing. It's no worse than riding in the rain. But I also periodically lube practically every nut/bolt/electrical connections reachable with silicone lube so I never had corrosion issues.
 
Sushii said:
Too early to winterize but here is what i do for my Ninja 250 (Carb'd

1. Change oil + filter
2. Take battery out and put it on a battery tender.
3. Done.

There is no need to drain anything as its not going to be sitting for that long.
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no fuel stabilizer or chain lube? or is that overkill
 
SkyRider said:
When it's dry out road salt are mostly on the side of roads, they're just dry dust and do nothing. It's no worse than riding in the rain. But I also periodically lube practically every nut/bolt/electrical connections reachable with silicone lube so I never had corrosion issues.
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I disagree. It's just like dust from dirt...even if it's dry, that crap will stick to your bike. Rain or water activates it, so over time, parts of your bike will rust. Many people rinse their bike after each ride in the winter, but unless you get the nooks and crannies, it'll still eventually rust over time. How long it'll take depends on a lot of factors - but I'm just pointing out that the "dry dust" doesn't "do nothing".

With all that said, good on you for riding during the winter. If it weren't for the brine and risk of black ice, I'd be rolling, too. I call it quits at a consistent dew point (I think it's around 3 degrees in Toronto) 'cause that's when black ice will start to form.

& OP, I didn't winterize properly the first year and it took me 4 hours (with battery charging included) to get my bike started. If you're gonna do a lazy-*** winterization, at least run some stabilizer, fresh oil, and change the filter.

I'm also wondering how the start up method is any different from us starting our bike to ride to somewhere close by (like the gym or a friend's house) without it warming up to full temperature. The only different factor that I can come up with is that it's cold?l
 
Sushii said:
Too early to winterize but here is what i do for my Ninja 250 (Carb'd

1. Change oil + filter
2. Take battery out and put it on a battery tender.
3. Done.

There is no need to drain anything as its not going to be sitting for that long.
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No need to disconnect or take the battery out if you're on a battery tender.
 
Sp!nZ said:
no fuel stabilizer or chain lube? or is that overkill
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You want to lube your chain before you store so as to better deter rust from forming on the chain over the winter. A generous doese of fuel stabilizer is also something you should do to keep the fuel in the tank in decent shape for the months in storage.

And leave the battery in the bike if you're on a battery tender. The tender will easily deal with any minor parasitic power loss that the bike might pull from the battery over time.
 
Far to many nice riding days left to winterize right now.

As for winterizing, I plug my bike (bmw battery tender) and thats it. I normally ride to mid Nov, or sometimes into Dec, weather depending. And then out again mid March.

Done this with every bike I have owned and never had issues. But again, its to early for a winterizing thread. The sun is shining, the leaves are turning, its perfect riding weather.
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