Winter storage

[bigmikecar]

Hi Guys , Getting ready to put my bikes into storage and wanted to know should i drain the oil drain the gas ? They will be in a semi heated building covered and hi and dry . Was just wondering after seeing some puddles from some of the brits wet sumping . M.C.

[KNUCK]

I bought an old Harley years ago that had been in storage for about 12 yrs. It had about a half tank of gas in it. It was bad so I drained it out. Then looking in the tank after draining I saw that the metal below the gas line looked great! The exposed area above had some small surface rust. I now store everything with a full tank, even my motor home in off season. The gas won't go bad enough to toss out, or drain it out in spring and run in the mower.

[20scout]

I too keep my tanks full for the same reason. Be sure to put some StarTron in the tank and run it a few minutes to get it to the carb, should be good for quite a while.

[sirhrmechanic]

Do NOT drain oil. Change it. Refill. Last thing you want is a dry crankcase. On earlier bikes with total loss system, drain the sump. Top up the oil tank.

Put StaBil or similar in gas. Start bike, and turn off petcock. Run until it dies. Done.

Keep in mind that today's fuel blends are designed to go from refinery to 'out the tailpipe' in about a week. They are NOT stabilized to go long term in a tank. They go skanky in a matter of weeks. Stabil or similar fuel stabilizers get you through a winter.

If you are going to keep the bike 'empty' for a long time, use a fogging system that you can get from a boatyard. Run, spray fogger in carb until bike dies. Empty all tanks and you are good for years. Turn over every couple of months to keep rings from bonding.

Cheers,

Sirhr