I don't think temperature matters. The term winterizing can be replaced with "short term storage". All the procedures are the same.
|
|
|
Winterizing in a heated garage
- Thread starter timtune
- Start date
I'm just curious for next year and to see if I'm doing any more or less than others. (turns out way less)
As for fuel Stablizer, I'm pretty lax there and have skipped that step many times and never found it caused me grief.
Oddly I've never had mice in my heated garage (no food source I think). I have had them in our unheated garden shed though and other than maybe some grass seed I don't know what's there for them to eat.
As for fuel Stablizer, I'm pretty lax there and have skipped that step many times and never found it caused me grief.
Oddly I've never had mice in my heated garage (no food source I think). I have had them in our unheated garden shed though and other than maybe some grass seed I don't know what's there for them to eat.
Leave them a box of warfarin. Open or not, they're going to tear right into it.
Warfarin is corn meal. Flagrant false advertising.
I live in a 1st floor apartment building. I don't trust my basement because it might get stolen down there, in the summer I park my bike in my balcony and cover it with a blanket, but in winter there's no option in either choice. I don't want my new bike exposed to -20C nights for months.
I found a place to store it. Cheap! For $300 it's kept in a safe, clean and heated place for 6 months, for an extra $150 they offered to put a trickle charger on it and do an oil change but I refused. $300 is peanuts for my peace of mind and sleeping well at night knowing I don't have to worry about basement thieves and that my baby is being cuddled in a warm place.
It's dumb to change the oil before mothballing your bike for 6 months. The oil loses viscosity, this is why at garages doing oil changes they tell you, either 5,000 km or 6 months, whatever comes 1st. Do it when you take it out of storage and will be using your bike constantly. Same with gasoline. I don't add any additives to my fuel tank for hibernation, I just fill my tank with the most expensive fuel because it takes more than a year to start breaking down, unlike the regular gasoline that starts to break down after 3 months.
sure i agree with this. i used to change the oil right before putting it away on my older bikes because it was just super cheap to do so. (they basically took a liter of 8$ oil). now on my ducati where i'm paying like 70-80$ for 4 litres of motul, im definitely not doing that! as for gas i always try to get shell v-power. too bad prices for gas are skyrocketing now..
The reason you change the oil BEFORE you store a bike is: One of the tasks of motor oil is to emulsify or carry away the by products of combustion. Some of those by-products are salts and water. When you mix salts and water you get acid. Acid eats metal, particularly it eats soft metals, like the babbit that lines shell bearings.
When the motor runs regularly these acids aren't much of a concern, as they flow around, mixed with the oil and don't "sit" on the bearings.
When you park your bike, and don't circulate the oil, these acids sit on the bearings causing erosion of the bearing surface, accelerating wear.
New oil doesn't contain these acids.
So that means it is SMART to change the oil before mothballing your bike.
Oil viscosity DOES NOT break down with time... you may notice there is no "best before" date on a litre of oil. Most viscosity loss is due to sheer.
You change your oil on a time table because oil is hygroscopic, meaning oil will absorb moisture from the atmosphere.
Oil will last virtually forever if you keep it in a sealed container. Your crankcase is NOT a sealed container.
Same with gasoline.
ANY AND ALL gasoline starts to break down the INSTANT it hits air. It doesn't matter what grade or brand, the moment it is exposed to air the aromatics start to evaporate.
The fuel tank on your bike is vented to atmosphere so it's NOT a good place to store gas.
One of the ingredients of Stabil (and the like) is soap, that floats to the top of the fuel, forming a barrier to the atmosphere, hopefully keeping the aromatics from evaporating.
Anything else you want to be wrong about Peggy?
You should stop giving “advice”.
@bitzz covered your silly ‘oil loses viscosity’ statement so I’ll leave that alone.
The reason a garage tells you to change your oil every 5,000kms or 6 months is so you will be a steady customer.
Listen to the engineers who built the cars/bikes. Most modern engines only need the oil changed every 8,000-12,000kms. Anything more than that for a street vehicle is a waste of time and money.
First of all, this is not my opinion, my mechanic told me this, also I have a question for you; how many catastrophic engine failures have taken place or how much percentage of motorcycles end up in the junkyard because of acid eating your rabbit and shell bearings? C'mon, nice fear-mongering there. I'm sure high-grade fuel is better to have in your tank than regular fuel if you are not going to use fuel stabilizer. I trust high-grade fuel more than regular fuel for 6-months storage.
I don't know man, I wouldn't trust -20 C temps on my new bike being parked outside. Won't hoses and rubber fittings turn hard and crack? I didn't even left my 12-year-old bike outside in winters, I'm sure as hell NOT leaving my new Kawasaki baby outside in freezing temps.
The problem is you have based your opinions on feelings not science (and the science doesn't support your feelings).
Over time, damage builds up in engines. New oil (that you need anyway to start the next year) is a cheap way to protect your investment.
Higher octane fuel is not necessarily higher quality fuel. It may be ethanol free which is important (or it may have ethanol in it).
Rubber doesn't turn hard and crack in the cold. Do your car tires shatter and fall off in the winter?
|
|
|
|
|