IT IS TIME TO WINTERIZE YOUR STREET, DIRT OR ATV BIKE

(no matter what time it is)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW...... from Professor White:

Fellow motorcyclists, we get bikes in here at the shop all year long that have been sitting for only a couple of months and need the carbs or injectors cleaned. The gas you get at the pumps is rotten! And, pump gas is only going to get worse.

You can save real money by doing a few simple things when you put your bike or ATV away or let it sit for a couple of months. If you don't feel competent, have your shop (or us) do it for you. In addition, we can set your bike up so you can do it yourself in the future. It is that old saying--"pay us now or pay us later" but with a few simple steps you don't have to keep on paying us every spring or every few months.

Anyway, here is what you can do yourself:

FUEL SYSTEM

1. Fill your gas tank up to the top. Use premium grade gas (it will last a little longer than the regular), better yet--go to a marina and get straight gas with no ethanol in it.(Our shop is close to a marina). We do not recommend race gas at all for any bike or ATV as it can attack the rubber parts in your fuel system. The reason for filling the tank is to keep condensation (water) down--ethanol only makes this problem worse because it absorbs water.

2. Stabil the gas. (Stabil is a brand name). Use marine grade stabil--the blue stuff) as it is formulated to remove water from the ethanol. Make sure it is marine grade--some of the blues are not marine grade. Follow directions to the letter. do not over stabilize as this is worse than too little stabil. We do not recommend "Sea Foam" brand for storage.

3. Run the bike for a little while to get stabil into the carbs and injectors.

4. Stabil can go bad if it sits in the carbs or injectors for too long. We recommend draining the carbs or injector system once you have run stabil through them. Here's the deal--on most modern bikes, you cannot shut off the gas at the petcock because it is a vacuum operated petcock AND ALWAYS FLOWS GAS. So, whereas on old bikes with regular petcocks, you could turn the petcock off and start the bike and run the remaining gas out of the carb and injector system--you can not do this on modern bikes. You must drain the carbs or injector system manually.

Our shop can install a external vacuum shut-off or gas shut-off to make this job easier in the future. With one of these in place, you can drain the carbs yourself without having to manually remove the tank and drain each carb separately. More importantly, you can drain the carbs each time you park the motorcycle by simply running the gas out of the carbs or the injectors system.

And while we are at it, we can install an inline gas filter to trap any crap that might come from the gas station's tank.

Battery

1. How many of you have bought cheap batteries at Wal-Mart or Battery Barn, only to have them go bad in six months or a year. Folks, they all sell "cheap" because you think that is what you want. If they sold premium batteries they would never sell the first one. It is the old deal, "you get what you pay for".

2. Buy a decent battery and put it in a "Battery Tender". (Do not use a regular charger as it can fry the battery, if left on too long). Good batteries will last 3 years or more if maintained properly. You pay for the battery tender and the battery itself the first year!

3. We can set up the Battery Tender so it can be hooked up from outside your bike. No need to take the seat on or off. This makes it easy to simply plug the tender in each time you ride the bike. And you can leave the tender on all winter.

4. And, while I'm on the subject of batteries, NEVER, EVER JUMP YOUR BATTERY FROM A RUNNING CAR. You can jump it if the car is not running, but when a car is running, the alternator is putting out 120 amps or more and it can fry your stator, rectifier, etc etc.

OTHER

1. If you have stands, store the bike with the wheels off the ground or concrete.

2. It is also a good idea to fill the tires with the correct amount of air pressure--don't forget to do this in the spring and often during riding season.

3. Oil change. Change the oil and filter and get the moisture out of it. You don't want the bike sitting with water in it.

4. Brake or clutch system flush. Manufacturers recommend doing this one a year. Why? Because brake fluid attracts moisture. (Clutch systems do the same). We get bikes in here all the time that need caliper rebuilds or master cylinder rebuilds when a few flushes over the years would have prevented a big repair bill.

OK, that's it for this session of Professor White's Basic Motorcycling Maintenance 101