Better to winterize or just start her up now and then?

Which is better? My bike will be in a garage that gets down to about 50 degrees in the dead of winter. No big deal to open the door and fire it up for a couple of minutes, or should I just winterize and leave her be till spring????

dave

 

I'm in the same situation, most the time my garage is around 50-60 degrees. We still get those freak 60 degree days all winter that I can ride on, so I don't want to winterize. I figure if I start it up and let it warm up every Saturday or something that will help it. Probably just take it for a circle in the cul-de-sac to keep everything good.

 

thats what i do, but sta-bil and a battery charge once in a while never hurts

 

"Starting her up" accomplishes one thing. It creates heated oil, which in turn forms condensation in the crankcase as it cools. the condensation (H2O) mixes with the sulfur combustion by-products suspended in the oil to form H2SO4, (sulfuric acid), which now resides in your crankcase until riding season.
It does accomplish one other thing, as well. It keeps your float bowls full of fuel, which evaporates off leaving gum and varnish residue on the bowls, floats, needles, jets, etc. This happens within 30 days or so of not running. Still sound like a good idea?
Better solution:
1) Pull the battery and place on a battery tender indoors.
2) Drain your float bowls after your last ride. Leave them empty.
3) Change your oil after last ride. Refill case with fresh oil (minus the H2SO4!)
4) Top off your tank (all the way up) to prevent bare metal from rusting. Treat with appropriate amount of STA-BIL
5) If you want to prevent rust forming on the internals, instead of starting the engine, pull the plugs and squirt in a few squirts of oil, then hook up the battery and MOTOR the engine over sans plugs for a few revolutions. Reinstall plugs, and repeat every 30 days.

 

At times, I have owned up to four bikes at a time. I always have at least one, usually two.

When it comes to winter, I do just that. I keep the batteries in the bikes hooked up to battery tenders, I throw some fuel stabilizer in the gas tank, and I crank them up every few days and let them run for about twenty minutes. Sometimes I just take them for a spin in the neighborhood.

I have been doing this for years on my lawn mowers also, and I have never had a problem.

 

I notice StaBil now sells an "alcohol" version. With alcohol in the gas, it might be a good idea to be able to pump out the bike's gas into the wife's car, and re-fill every 60 days with fresh, stabilized gas. That and using the tender should give you a running bike all winter.

Bundle up and ride !! Running for 5 minutes is bad. A quart of water is made in the exhaust for every quart of gas burned.

 

Captainkirk..chemical man..explaind good. Again in such colder weather its better to leave it alone with all due precautions taken. Its a personal choice.

 

Your crankcase gets moisture in it from just sitting there as temperature changes cause it to "breathe". It also gets moisture in it from running since a major byproduct of combustion is water vapor. If you choose to start her up occasionally, let it run at least 20 minutes to get the oil good and warm and evaporate any moisture which has condensed there while it was sitting. These XJ bikes run plenty warm enough to get the job done.

To shut it off pull the vacuum line from the petcock (or turn the fuel off if you have converted to the regular style) and let it run until it dies from fuel starvation.

A battery tender is a great idea but you can get the job done using a trickle charger occasionally ASSUMING you have a good battery.

I've always bought stuff used and typically run it a looooooong time. I've been doing it this way for over 40 years and have yet to have a problem with engines or batteries

 

Everything Captainkirk said, but I use fogging spray in the cylinders AND inside the mufflers; plus take the weight off both tires and cover it up with an old sheet.

Unless you get the motor hot enough to "burn off" ALL internal condensation, you're doing it (and your exhaust system) a favor if you just mothball it and leave it sit.

 

hay guys, don't forget to spray it down with Cosmoline and vacuum bag it

 

wow, a lot of good advice

 

D'oh! 8O

So right...should have mentioned the cover and the tire thing! Also, when covering, resist the temptation to use that old plastic tarp you had laying around....use a real motorcycle cover, or an old sheet; something that breathes, or you will find a rusty bike with spotty, pitted aluminum in the spring.
Also, running the engine until it quits leaves fuel in the bottom of the bowls, which will eventually evaporate, leaving a ring of gum and varnish in the bowl, and the vapors can still gum up internals during the process. Better to (with COLD engine!) turn the fuel petcock to "PRIME", open all four bowl drain screws and let 'er rip. (best done OUTSIDE, for obvious reasons) until you're satisfied you've flushed all the crap out of your bowls. Shut the petcock off and wait for the bowls to stop dripping, then close the drain screws. Now you've successfully flushed AND drained your bowls at the same time! I've done this every season for 10 years and have not needed a carb cleaning since. Of course, if you enjoy carb cleaning, have it your way...

 

I leave the carbs alone in the fall (after running long enough with Sta-Bil in the tank to get the whole system treated) then do the above flush-out procedure in the spring.

 

Move to Texas where you can ride off and on through winter. Problem solved!

 

I was gonna say something similar (about FL), but didn't want to hurt anyones feelings. Its just now getting to be good riding weather and the three days during winter where it gets "cold" won't harm her sitting.

 

still new to the whole xj Maxim 650 - does anyone have a picture of the "drain & flush" screws?

 

We're referring to the carburetor float bowl drain screws; they're located at the very bottom of each float bowl and angled toward the outside. When you open them, fuel should flow out the adjacent little hole (or "port" depending on which type of carbs you have.)

 

Thanks bigfitz! I now know exactly what you are talking about. I just wanted to be sure cuz my level of "expertize" does not cover the carbs :wink:

 

does all this wonderful advice work just as well for those of us in MN who have REAL winters that go below zero?

 

i don't think it's so much a temperature thing as a inactivity thing

 

ok thanks...I was just poking fun at the guys who say it gets all the way down to 50 and say thats cold for them. makes me chuckle, thats all...

good tips!

 

You can laugh at me all day long. I decided not to move back up north, mostly due to political and social reasons, but I'm glad to have gotten away from that weather too.

So who is laughing now.

 

you...:/

 

So after burning off all fuel in the system (run engine with pet cock off) n draining the fuel bowls of any left over gas is it OK on the diaphragms? do they get affected being dry all winter?