sorting bike in winter.

lydanial · Brolly Dolly Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Karma :

ok i am getting mixed opinions on this question so i will ask here.

i dont ride much in the winter months, never really liked the cold.. so anyway i leave my bike stored in a garage.
i have never done anything through previous winters except perhaps start it and give it a brief 5 mile run once every couple weeks. last year my mate suggested not bothering with it at all so i left it all winter just sat on trickle (auto cut out one) through the winter and then came to start it around the end of last february and it popped and farted and spluttered into life.. sounded rattly and i thought it was dead till it started to warm after about 3-4 minutes.
anyway this year it was suggested to just pop out once a week/fortnight , start it up on choke, leave it for a few minutes, knowck choke off and leave it for .. well however long i want..10,20 even 30 minutes.

what is the best thing to do in this situation?

start it and give it a short ride to warm it up and thats it.
do nothing
start it and leave it till its red hot and fans blowing etc.

please i dont need no answers abot being a girl and just ride it through winter.. just some advice would be nice.

mattjs895 · Spanner Monkey Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Karma :

leaving it to idle i think would not do the engine any good as this is when to much fuel getting into the cylinder and the carbon can become chocked up.

yes it is a good idea to take it out on the occasional runs and letting the engine warm up and work.

cheers
matt

lydanial · Brolly Dolly Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Karma :

i am actually asking as riding for the next few weeks (well im told at least 6) is a definate no no as i am having an operation on my hand (carpal tunnel syndrome).. and it needs to rest for a bit.

Ichy · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Karma :

I'm a believer in the leave it alone approach. The amount of time its sitting there before you restart it is probably much less than it sat around in the manufacturers / dealers warehouse when it was new.

The thing with starting and not going for a good run is that the engine will produce acids and water because its cold. A normal run would burn these off but just running for a few minutes means these will just build up over time. Now I've never heard of this causing problems but you never know.