How to maintain in winter???

[mgosset1]

RDK...we do have some mild winter here...but dew point levels are very high so close to the coast...I like coasters idea on the steel wool.....hell you can buy car and motorcycle bags that zip up nowdays....I have a Masarati that i have thought about buying a bag for....it sits in the garage and hardly ever gets driven...i keep one side of the battery disconnected for it....

[GlideWide]

I have seen first hand the effects of starting the engine in winter and not riding it. Just do am oil change and you can see it for yourself after the winter months and just going out and letting the bike idle for a few min. Yes you are right about the engine warming up, but if the fluids just sit there and dont circulate along with the warming process, the end product when you change the oil will be a big slug of white messy crap inside every compartment the fluids get in. Search "oil and water do mix" in the forums. There are some great pics of what its like, the pics are from a guy that rode 10 or so miles to work and back daily, not allowing proper warming to happen...... But like it was said.... To everyman his own. It's ur bike in the end, do whatever makes you happy....


Jared
2012 FXDWG

[mgosset1]

Your right is a mans own bike; but me myself have only owned about 25 bikes since 1968 and I have never ever seen what your talking about....and i have stored a many of them and bought them out of barns where they had not been run in years....hell i have even bought them sitting outside for no telling how long.....have never seen water in the oil on a air cooled bike....have seen a lot of air causing foaming oil.....you can throw a bike in the garage heated or non heated, put it on a battery tender and let the bike sit for years, change the oil and filter and your good to go.....worse thing you will find is moisture in tank or carb or break down in gas.....possible corroded connection, cracked hoses, tire crack, etc....all easy fixes....

[jsvt184]

How many of you change all 3 oils every time it's time for hibernation? I believe the manual calls for tranny oil to be changed every 20k, the primary every 10k and the engine oil every 5k. If you ride 5000 miles/year it seems a waste to change all fluids yet I bet most do.

[secoleman57]

Well I change the oil in my truck every 3K or six months which ever comes first. Generally it's the six months. I just bought this bike in September so only have the break in where I changed to SYN3 so far.

I'm at 4680 +/- now so will change it soon only a couple good days to 5K. At that time I've already got a container from Blackstone to get an oil analysis done. That will tell me if there is anything in it that shouldn't be like "water", and if it's really necessary to change synthetic oil that often.

Oil analysis is not that expensive (under 20 bucks per sample) and will answer any questions you may have. Truth be known the only reason I went to synthetic oil was to increase the time between changes.

If it turns out I still have to change it at 4-5K intervals, I'd have stayed with a high quality petroleum based lubricant.