What oil should I put in my bike before winter storage?

[caboose56]

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Am I the only one that just puts their bike on a tender then starts it in the spring? Or the occasional nice winter days? Just talking battery here. I change oil in the fall. Also put Shell 91 and CT stabilizer in the tank.

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You're not the only one but some people really over think it.

- full tank of fuel with stabilizer
- oil change
- bike on stands if you have stands
- connect battery tender

Done.

Anything beyond that is a waste of time and/or money.

 

[LoneRonin]

I dont do anything to any of my bikes, I store them in a heated garage but even when I didn't, I have never done anything to them for winter. No stabilizer, no oil change, not battery tender, nothing......Never had a problem in spring

I think this is the secret...

I do the same, almost at 100k and still on the original battery too.

 

[Iceman]

I think this is the secret...

I do the same, almost at 100k and still on the original battery too.

I love it! Are you the original owner?

 

[Drennan57]

You're not the only one but some people really over think it.

- full tank of fuel with stabilizer
- oil change
- bike on stands if you have stands
- connect battery tender

Done.

Anything beyond that is a waste of time and/or money.

This is pretty much what I've setup for my first winter with the bike. I don't see a need to over complicate things.

Gonna do an oil change (Spectro 10w40 syn), new filter. Stab-il and a full tank of 91. Put her on the stand with Styrofoam under the front tire. Cover it up and put the battery inside on a tender.

Anything I'm missing?

 

[JoeyB]

That's all you need. However; this thread is like most others on the forum. I runs the spectrum from doing more than recommended to doing nothing. Do what you're comfortable with doing.

 

[FLSTC]

 

[RockerGuy]

I don't do much to my bike either. If the oil is overdue, I change the oil & remove the battery

 

[Drennan57]

Good thing I never claimed that. Although a friend of mine only has a motorcycle and pretty much rides it after the plow comes by lol. He says 20 minutes of circles in a parking lot is good enough to warm the tires up and go ha-ha. The main issue I have with that is salt "I HATE SALT!". Don't want that **** anywhere near my bike.

 

[JoeyB]

I love how this thread has gone into the realm of what constitutes a true biker. Welcome to GTAM I suppose

 

[Ducati Dude]

I am a little worried about torque specs on stuff tho, don't have a torque wrench so I don't know how to go about that.

No need for a torque wrench on the oil drain plug... Finger tight, then 'snug it up' with the ratchet. Make sure you use a fresh crush washer every oil change.

 

[Kri$han]

I dont do anything to any of my bikes, I store them in a heated garage but even when I didn't, I have never done anything to them for winter. No stabilizer, no oil change, not battery tender, nothing......Never had a problem in spring

I think this is the secret...

I do the same, almost at 100k and still on the original battery too.

sonfoa- A friend of mine said the same thing last year when I asked him how he stores his bike.... my battery had crapped out on me after only 3 seasons As it turns out, I was putting my battery on a "trickle charger" every winter and NOT a "battery tender", and it overcharged the battery by pumping too many electrons into the dielectric, even though the battery had a full charge.

Warning to you all: if you're gonna take the battery out, make sure you get a tender, not just a trickle charger.

This being said; I use the fall "winterization" to perform my yearly maintenance as I tend to do less than 10k in any given year as-of-late; oil, filter and any other fluids as required get changed, fuel & stabilizer, battery is pulled, bike is washed and it sleeps covered in a semi-heated garage until most of the salt is gone in spring. Aside from chain maintenance I don't do anything else to it all year.

Also, because the oil is in there for so long, it helps to justify the cost of a full synthetic for a bike that doesn't specify it.

 

[LoneRonin]

I love it! Are you the original owner?

yea, bought it in 09.

 

[Iceman]

yea, bought it in 09.

Nice to see some people can ride a 250 longer than 2 weeks without NEEDING more power.
From some of the threads on here you and that ninja have "been there, done that".

 

[dricked]

No need for a torque wrench on the oil drain plug... Finger tight, then 'snug it up' with the ratchet. Make sure you use a fresh crush washer every oil change.

The problem is that not everyone has the feel to "snug" a bolt properly and it doesn't take much effort to strip an oil pan.

Until you get a proper feel for torquing a bolt it's a good idea to use a torque wrench to prevent damaging your equipment or having things come loose.

 

[Jimsun]

The problem is that not everyone has the feel to "snug" a bolt properly and it doesn't take much effort to strip an oil pan.

Until you get a proper feel for torquing a bolt it's a good idea to use a torque wrench to prevent damaging your equipment or having things come loose.

pretty much.. use a lower range torque wrench. normally i would do an oil change prior to storage but now it's just me emptying my carbs and parking the bike over the winter.

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