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from the land of stupid questions

4K views 26 replies 16 participants last post by  mrpoizun 
#1 ·
so, i just grabbed a bike off of a guy. good deal. super pleased. got a couple of quick but stoopid questions. yes, i did in fact search but didn't see anything on point in the first few pages. please forgive me if i am an idiot. so here it goes:

i am in boston, it is cold as all fuk and will be for the next few weeks. bike is in the barn (sorry garage) that isn't insulated (yet).

if i choose to slap on a trickle charger, can i do so w/o moving the battery? is it better to remove the battery? should i use a full charger?

tank is full and the seller told me (with no reason to not believe) that he started the bike up and let it run a little once a week, every week during the off season. is this advised? is it better to prep the bike for the snow (drain tanks, pull batt, etc) or run it for 15-20 once a week?

heard stories about putting bikes on blocks, plywood, etc. sitting in the barn, on some wood and cardboard. question is whether this is a real, proper practice and should i do it. growing up in maine i stored bikes in a (real) barn and wouldn't do a single thing. ride it, leave it, pull it and run it. and yes, i know that this aint the best (but i don't have show bikes by far)

updated thoughts on stabil, full tanks, drain tanks/carbs is appreciated.

thanks in advance. I'm trying to be a bit more informed when it comes to this stuff.
 
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#6 ·
Yeah, starting it and not riding is useless!

Fill tank with fresh fuel, add red stabil, run for a few minutes, turn off petcock, when the bike stops running, remove the battery and give it a full charge. Wait for spring.

And yeah, plywood or some barrier from the concrete. I use those industrial mats, carpet on top side, rubber on bottom. An indoor cover isn't a bad idea either.
 
#7 ·
You can hook up the trickle charger with the battery still in the bike. I'd just let it sit. A few more months won't hurt it. I've got about 11 or 12 bikes that I register every year and am lucky to ride half of them. But the point is, I don't do nothing with them. I park them in the fall, and start them up in the spring. Sometimes, I don't start a particular bike for a year or two. Never used stable in the gas. But keeping the tank full is a good idea so condensation won't rust the inside of your tank.
 
#8 ·
I said start and run 10-15 min for a layup for a month not once a week. Running until carb is dry will allow gaskets and any sediment to dry out. Stabil or marvel mystery oil both coat fuel parts to prevent dryout or moisture issues. I have several bikes and musclecars that i do this to. I regularly ride the softtail to work 30 miles each way in colder weather...12°F and 60mph winds monday nite at 11pm and a 60 mile ride today at 18°F. Stabil or MMO won't hurt anything but using nothing might. Up to individual to decide. My 2cents
 
#9 ·
Plywood or carpet under the bike is a good thing like folks said . Use stabil or this is what I use out here on Nantucket isle Seafoam fuel additive like it way better than stabil. you can always pull your battery and bring it inside to keep it some what warm and put it on a maintainer inside.I store some bike for folks and that is exactly what I do except I have a 20ft shipping container I keep them in been doing it for yrs,.
 
#15 ·
guys, thanks for all of the intel. truly appreciated. sounds like red stabile, plywood, pulling the batt and an outdoor cover for inside are all in order.

one last question: you can run the fuel with the stabil in it or not?
Yes, red stabil is intended for storage. And you can run the fuel with it after the winter is over.

I wouldn't use an outdoor cover inside though. Many of those are not breathable and you will actually make things worse. If you are going to cover, use an indoor cover or something breathable.
 
#12 ·
I used to leave my 71T120r at my sisters house for up to 3 years at a time
I would drain carbs, fill tank full. Then empty a whole can of WD40 or similar over whole bike ,cover with cheap mc cover from kmart or wherever then fly back to UK
On arriving back new battery,put fuel from bike in her car, fresh fuel in bike, change oil(probably didn't need it but is cheap and oil is your engine) and away she went after a couple of kicks did this over 15 years .
 
#19 ·
I've always heard there are no stupid questions. But man, I've heard a fewbad ones but this one was a good one dude. cuz even an old dog like me learned something. I always use Stabil and a trickle charger but didn't know about the concrete / tire thing. LOL, wtf? Luckily my bikes have been parked on plywood out of necessity and I realized now out of - SHIT LUCK!! Made my night.
 
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#23 ·
My wife used to keep area rugs in our living room to hide the juice stains and stuff from when our kids were little. When ever she would get new ones I would take them to the garage and spread them on the floor. My dumb ass let her get new carpet so my supply has dried up.
Btw I started a thread a couple of months ago called "winterize your ride" had some good info for cold weather storage in it. I think this is the link
http://www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129537&highlight=Winterized+ride
 
#27 ·
Millions of people have stored cars for millions of years on concrete garage floors without damage to tires. For God's sake, if concrete hurt tires wouldn't everyone have wood garage floors? Think! I myself have stored an old Camaro on various cement floors for periods of seven, eight and ten years without moving it, without any damage to the tires. When I kept it in a dirt floor garage, THAT'S when I got rust!
It doesn't matter if you charge the battery on or off the bike. It's best to use a float charger with a one amp setting that will not overcharge the battery. You don't have to leave it hooked up all winter. Once a month, charging for 12-24 hours is enough. Obviously, you never want to start up an engine unless you are going to run it and warm it up thoroughly.
Keep the tank full of fuel- NO ETHANOL- so condensation has no place to form inside the tank. I personally prefer SeaFoam for treating gasoline. It contains nothing but petroleum products and does more than stabilize fuel. It cleans the fuel system and eliminates carbon buildup. When I think it's the last ride of the year, I turn off the petcock and let the carb run out of fuel so the carb is dry through the winter.
I cover my bike with bedsheets to keep the dust off and stuff rags in the mufflers to keep critters out. I also spray WD40 or fogging oil in the mufflers before plugging them. Spraying a rust inhibitor like WD40 in other rust-prone areas is a good idea as well.
 
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