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Winter Storage thoughts


Dave P

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After about November 1st or so I usually take my RT off the road for the season. This year I plan to take the battery out and keep it in my basement, hooking up my charger once a month or so.

 

I've kept the bike in a friend's (attached, but not heated) garage the last couple of winters, which is a hassle cause I can't get to it really if I need / want to. At my house I have a just-barely-big-enough 2 car detached uninsulated, unheated garage. If I took the battery out for the season, am I risking other kinds of damage by keeping the bike at home (covered, inside the garage) for the winter? We can get into the negative digits up here with lots of snow.

 

Just wondering as I look out at a 90 degree day... Dave

 

Edited by Dave P
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I store a lot of bikes and also buy and sell many as well. Moisture is actually a bigger issue than temperature. If you have power in your "less heated/insulated" detached garage, I would use a battery tender on it and call it good. Also spray any chrome (muffler) and fittings with something like WD40 or other moisture displacing lube and cover it with a soft covering like a sheet with a bike cover over it. Tires off the ground (center stand) to minimize dry rot and flat spots. Use ethanol stabilizer and run plenty of it through the system before putting it away. I store my fuel systems "wet" and feel that with stabilizer in it it helps to keep things from drying out.

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To add what Eburr said, If you really want to avoid ethanol sludge over the Winter, visit the website http://www.pure-gas.org/ and find you some ethanol-free gas. I checked in Skaneateles and it looks like they sell ethanol-free super unleaded at Byrne Dairy on E Genesee St. You're lucky, because that is an oilhead's favorite drink :D

 

Anyway, run a couple of tanks fulks of that through your bike and storage should be no problem fuel-wise. But if you don't want to go to the trouble, the stabilizer works well too.

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I'm paranoid of fuel system contamination after buying so many scummed up bikes. I would use both non-ethanol fuel if I could find it and stabilizer. Belt and suspenders!

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eburr- that's good advice. a nice soft bedsheet under the cover.

 

Christo- yeah that ethanol free, it will be in there, it is the RT's steady diet. I'm in Marcellus, 6 miles down the road, our Sunoco has it. And I put the Sta-bil in it before every winter. Sometimes I don't get it really run through the system properly. Think I'll do an oil change before the winter storage time.

 

Having the bike "on site" over the winter would really help- as long as both cars still fit in the garage! D

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I was in a similar situation in Concord Massachusetts. I would pay rent to the neighbor to use her small uninsulated 1 car garage. I used it for other projects, and when I did, I used a space heater to knock off the chill. That works pretty well, but of course as soon as you turn the heater off, it gets freezing cold again. I found I could work outside even when it's cold enough for snow to be on the ground if I just wore a fleece jacket. I get pretty warm when I'm working on stuff anyway. My wife has a picture of me laying in the snow changing a ball joint on my car, and I don't remember being cold at all. But when it gets into the single digits or teens, that's a whole 'nother story as you've already mentioned.

 

As for cold storage, I don't know of any damage you can cause with very low temperatures. The only possible way I can think of cold causing damage to a vehicle is if liquids freeze, but it's oilcooled so that's not a problem. I second the center stand idea. And be careful you don't stress the plastics when it's very cold or they will crack.

 

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Christo- yeah if I have a good knit hat (or two) I can work on vehicles in pretty cold temps! We're in Syracuse, where every house has a snowblower.

 

I'm thinking of taking the mirrors and bags off and goosing the RT right up within a half inch of the garage wall. I'll make a little support so the front tire doesn't touch. Should fit in front of my wife's 03 New Beetle. Maybe find something to attach to the floor to stop the car so she won't bump the bike! Dave

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I use a bike dolly from harbor freight to roll mine tight and forward to the front of my garage cross ways in front of my truck,and a ball from the ceiling to stop me before hitting it. works perfect. much easier to position the bike in tight. i use the dolly daily as i have a three car garage with three cars and a bike in it.

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I found I could work outside even when it's cold enough for snow to be on the ground if I just wore a fleece jacket. I get pretty warm when I'm working on stuff anyway. My wife has a picture of me laying in the snow changing a ball joint on my car, and I don't remember being cold at all. But when it gets into the single digits or teens, that's a whole 'nother story as you've already mentioned.

 

 

When we lived out on the tundra in AK, where no one had a garage, my main problem working on the snowgos in the winter was my tendency to hold small things- driver bits, bolts, etc. in my mouth...it's pretty amazing how much skin a bolt can pull off your lips when it's -20 or so.

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Joe Frickin' Friday
At my house I have a just-barely-big-enough 2 car detached uninsulated, unheated garage. If I took the battery out for the season, am I risking other kinds of damage by keeping the bike at home (covered, inside the garage) for the winter? We can get into the negative digits up here with lots of snow.

 

I used to store my RT in a detached unheated garage, no issues. Below-zero temps are uncommon here in SE Michigan, but not unheard of.

 

Unlike others here, I've never used fuel stabilizer and never suffered from fuel-related problems at spring start-up. I always buy premium gas, but never worry about whether it's got ethanol in it. My R1100RT went through ten seasons like this with no issues, and my little POS lawn mower (which I also feed premium gas) is in its 14th season with no fuel-related issues.

 

I never had any problems with flat-spotting of the front tire on my R1100RT, so I don't think bracing/weighting of the bike to unload the front tire is necessary. My R1200RT sits even more firmly on the front tire, and I haven't had any issues with that bike either, so there's plenty of margin.

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eburr- if that Harbor Freight bike dolly would work with a center stand I'd probably buy one- Looks like it's just for side stand bikes. As you know, everyone out there rides a Harley. D

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Good point. I don't think the dolly will work on a center stand, but agree that unloading tires for the winter is probably over-rated with modern tire compounds anyhow. Maybe just put a little card board under them if you care that much and use it on the side stand.

 

As far as not using stabilizer as Joe said-I believe that is a very bad idea. Ethanol has been getting introduced to our fuels at progressively higher rates over the last several years, and trust me when I say I buy a lot of bikes with expensive fuel contamination problems with both injectors and carbs (and pass on even more of them). Most premium has ethanol just like regular, so that really isn't a good argument. What worked for years no longer does, as our fuel simply isn't the same. Talk to any power sports or boat dealer service department and they will tell you the #1 issue today that they are fixing is clogged jets and injectors from lack of stabilizing. Today's fuel is the worst it has ever been in terms of shelf life, phase separation, moisture attraction and component oxidation. Not to sound arrogant, but I won't debate this as my experience exceeds most on the subject.

 

 

 

 

Edited by eburr
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My thoughts are........ I have none!!!!?!! I refill the tank and keep on riding...... Oh and a heaver coat and turn on the heated grips. As long as there is dry pavement I'm on two wheels.... :wave: From the GREAT STATE of TEXAS.

I could not resist.

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Absolutely right. Years ago, we used to measure the timeframe of our gas going bad and causing clogged and gunked up carbs in months. Now, that gas starts to turn bad in WEEKS. I said "starts to" so don't tell me "I left my gas in for two months and my bike started" It varies. But I choose not to gamble and use stabilizer in whatever I'm storing. Years ago I left old gas in a boat tank and motor over the winter, and paid dearly for that when I had to have the carbs pulled and cleaned.

Gasoline quality and water content varies by station. That's why I don't mind waiting a couple of minutes at a busy station. If it's busy, they have fresher gas.

 

Good point. I don't think the dolly will work on a center stand, but agree that unloading tires for the winter is probably over-rated with modern tire compounds anyhow. Maybe just put a little card board under them if you care that much and use it on the side stand.

 

As far as not using stabilizer as Joe said-I believe that is a very bad idea. Ethanol has been getting introduced to our fuels at progressively higher rates over the last several years, and trust me when I say I buy a lot of bikes with expensive fuel contamination problems with both injectors and carbs (and pass on even more of them). Most premium has ethanol just like regular, so that really isn't a good argument. What worked for years no longer does, as our fuel simply isn't the same. Talk to any power sports or boat dealer service department and they will tell you the #1 issue today that they are fixing is clogged jets and injectors from lack of stabilizing. Today's fuel is the worst it has ever been in terms of shelf life, phase separation, moisture attraction and component oxidation. Not to sound arrogant, but I won't debate this as my experience exceeds most on the subject.

 

 

 

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Right on Christo-and like belt and suspenders, I still stabilize even if I can find pure gas, which I can a few blocks away from my bike shop. I also store over 30 vehicles for customers over the winter and often treat their gas for free to save myself the hassle of dicking with their non-running bikes, cars and boats in the spring.

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Mitch, I wonder if you have a different amount of ethanol in your gas, because I've had ethanol sludge form in carburetors within 3 weeks of storage that caused rough running and stalling (generators). But I too have not had much if any problems with ethanol in my injected vehicles.

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Give it time.....it will happen. Injected is less prone than carbed, but all ethanol is bad in vehicles and power products. I prefer to make and drink it though!

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Joe Frickin' Friday
Give it time.....it will happen. Injected is less prone than carbed, but all ethanol is bad in vehicles and power products. I prefer to make and drink it though!

 

Had my R1100RT for ten years before I sold it in fine running shape. not sure how long it should have taken.

 

Lawn mower is still running great after 14 seasons (though the wheels are close to falling off). That's carbureted, so if it were going to have a fuel-related problem, I would definitely have expected something to happen by now.

 

Mitch, I wonder if you have a different amount of ethanol in your gas, because I've had ethanol sludge form in carburetors within 3 weeks of storage that caused rough running and stalling (generators). But I too have not had much if any problems with ethanol in my injected vehicles.

 

There are two gas stations near my house that I fill up my lawn mower's gas can with, a BP and a Speedway. No idea of their ethanol content. The mower typically sits from November through March.

 

My R1200RT (and my R1100RT before it) get filled up from whatever station I happen to stop at before parking it for the winter.

 

I do make it a point to fill the bike's tank full before parking it, so there's not much air space at the top of the tank. The lawn mower OTOH, generally gets filled before I use it, rather than after - which means it sits the entire winter with a tank that's maybe 1/3 full.

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My personal experience with ethanol has been that in my yard equipment that is older than 10 years or so ethanol isn't a big deal, anything newer than 10 it becomes a problem if i don't drain it or treat it with ethanol treatment of some sort. I bought a generator last fall, the shop told me to fill the tank, use a specific product to deal with the ethanol, run it under load 4 times a year, and then drain the fuel into my car and put in fresh every fall.

 

I use the same ethanol treatment in my bike when i store it in my unheated garage, on the center stand, with a full tank, on a tender, under a quilt, protected from accidental ramming by a car behind a lolly column

Edited by Oldironken
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