Motorcycle Riders?

[indyartisan]

Just finished reading Buzz Walneck’s book on Wild Bill Gelbke and his Roadog.

 

[KokomoDave]

You know that is an old pic by the Blatz beer sign in the background.

 

[Indyhd]

I know you'll laugh but I think the single best beer I ever drank was a Blatz.

I had just finished the first moto in the 125 class at Red Bud TnT in Buchanan Michigan and pulled back in to where my buddy and I were pitting. It was like 90 degrees out and as I shut off my bike I hear the guys pitting next to us call out, "hey how about a cold one?"

The guys from Buck's Cycle in Valpo (where I bought several bikes) had a cooler full of Blatz long necks.
My buddy Steve who I was pitting with pulled in a little while later and threw up cottage cheese from the Oat Flakes he had for breakfast.

That was the singlemost best beer I have ever had.

 

[KokomoDave]

In Wisconsin the beer to drink on tap is Old Style or Leinnie if you can find it. PBR on tap ain't too bad but like I said, it HAS to be in Wisconsin. Been to the Dells for years and that was when I was allowed to drink alcohol.

 

[OurDee]

Drunks and motorcycles. I was 22/23 in England. Picked up a hottie from France named V. She wanted to go pub crawling. I drug her around on the back of my Kawasaky 750 Ltd. She was hanging half off the rear of the bike at one point and I was holding her off the ground with one hand. Wound up bungy cording her to me to get her back to my place. I handed her off to the first bloke I saw after I untied her.

 

[semperfi211]

Do you start your bike and let it run for a while every so often during the winter? I do not. After I cover it up for the winter with stabil in the fuel and battery tender plugged in, I do not start it until spring. I had a friend tell me he starts his bike every couple weeks. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[JCSR]

Do you start your bike and let it run for a while every so often during the winter? I do not. After I cover it up for the winter with stabil in the fuel and battery tender plugged in, I do not start it until spring. I had a friend tell me he starts his bike every couple weeks. What are your thoughts on this?

I try to start mine once every 10 days or so. Stabil and battery tender also.

 

[cbhausen]

I’ve started mine every couple of weeks throughout the winter. Fuel injection sure is nice compared to the carbureted bikes I’ve had in the past.

 

[t-squared]

Do you start your bike and let it run for a while every so often during the winter? I do not. After I cover it up for the winter with stabil in the fuel and battery tender plugged in, I do not start it until spring. I had a friend tell me he starts his bike every couple weeks. What are your thoughts on this?

Unless you just need to hear it run, there's zero need to do this to a properly winterized bike.

 

[JCSR]

Unless you just need to hear it run, there's zero need to do this to a properly winterized bike.

My experience tells me something different.

 

[bwframe]

Do you start your bike and let it run for a while every so often during the winter? I do not. After I cover it up for the winter with stabil in the fuel and battery tender plugged in, I do not start it until spring. I had a friend tell me he starts his bike every couple weeks. What are your thoughts on this?

You gotta do the battery tender. Couple three weeks sitting idle, fools around and turns into 5 or 6 and you could start to be at risk for dead battery. Motorcycle batteries do not recover from dead well at all. Once or twice dead and it's new battery time.

I don't worry so much about stabil anymore. Modern gas seems to be just fine in full sealed metal containers for way longer than the months I'll have it there.

If it looks like we are weeks out from the next ride, I'll put cardboard under the tires, so they aren't resting on one tire patch continually on concrete.

I've had many years in the past that I have been able to ride every month. I like the bike ready to go, if the day hits. Check tire pressure, key in, hit starter button and go.

I really cheated this winter so far. Left the Kawasaki dirty after the wet road Christmas day ride. Might have rode New Year's day also? Won't be shy about getting dirty going out the mushy gravel drive.

 

[paddling_man]

Taking the bike out to ride is a great idea. If you are not going to take it out for a minimum 15-20 minute ride to get everything up to fully warmed and lubricated, then you do more harm than good. To just take care of the battery, a battery tender while on the bike in the garage is good. Keeping the battery inside a climate controlled house - and on a tender - is even better.

Just idling in a garage has the bike running rich which strips protective oil from cylinder walls. It is also a great way to introduce condensation into your exhaust system and cause rust.

One of my bikes is an oil cooled BMW boxer motor - you can ruin the engine in short order from idling alone.

This guy does a nice summary regarding just starting once a week for an idling session rather than riding or winterizing and leaving it alone:

“1. It doesn't actually charge the battery!

The electrical system of your average motorcycle is pretty modest. Usually, simply idling the bike will not do anything to charge the battery, at all. If you have a voltmeter, you can see this for yourself by checking voltage at the battery terminals with your bike idling, and then seeing the difference when you give it just a little gas. Some bikes will not even idle without a battery. On the other hand, starting the bike is the hardest thing the battery has to do. If you've ever had a problem with your bike that made it impossible to start (e.g. bad coil) then you may have noticed the battery runs flat pretty quick, after only a handful of start attempts. For a bike to actually charge its own battery, it usually has to be ridden for 10-15 minutes (made up number) after a start.

2. Starting a motor is the worst thing you can do to it

Of course these machines are made to be used, but you have to keep in mind that the lubrication system is not working 100% until the motor is fully warmed up. When you start a cold motor, first it has to build up oil pressure, which may take a few seconds (watch the oil pressure light if your bike is equipped with one). Until then, moving parts that have not been reach by pressurized oil are skating by on oil residue. Pretty much all bearing wear in a modern motor occurs while starting it. Then, even after the oil pump has built up maximum pressure, the farther reaches of the system are not seeing their maximum pressure - cold oil does not flow well, and "warm" oil will quickly get cooled down by parts of the motor that haven't heated up yet. Also, keep in mind that you're starting it in winter - the bike is gonna take a lot longer to heat up than when it would just be idling in your driveway in warm weather... and cranking a motor in the freezing cold is a lot more stressful on the starter, due to the oil thickening, and your cold battery being able to deliver less power.

3. Condensation

You know how cars in winter have visible water vapour coming out their tailpipes? Of course your bike does that too, but if you start the bike up and it never fully warms up, then you've just covered the interior of your exhaust system with condensation. This is a bigger deal for some exhaust systems than others - maybe you have a VFR with an expensive, plain steel collector that you have now just accelerated the process of it rotting out. If your run your motor briefly enough, you can get condensation inside the cylinders too! Ever heard of stuck piston rings?

4. Don't do it

Repeatedly starting your bike is probably better at killing your battery than charging it. Actually, one good thing about the cold weather is that it decreases the self-discharge rate of lead acid batteries. That means a better idea (if you don't want to buy a float charger/"battery tender") is to just yank the battery out of the bike and put it beside it (in case of key-off power draw from electrical faults, accessories, ECUs)... or barring that, just leaving it in the bike and not touching after a good ride.”

 

[JCSR]

Having owned motorcycles for over 50 years and working in a bike shop for 10 I agree with this guy. Every spring our shop was full of bikes that sat all winter.

"So, should you start your motorcycle in the winter? All motorcycle owners should start and run their motorcycles for at least 15 minutes once a week during the winter. Letting it run will keep all the engine components and gaskets lubricated, eliminates condensation buildup, ensures the carburetor will not gum up, and recharges the battery."

Should You Start Your Motorcycle In The Winter? | Motorcycle Habit

In many parts of the world, the motorcycle riding season is cut short by low temperatures and bad weather. That means the majority of riders…

motorcyclehabit.com

 

[paddling_man]

Horses for courses. You do you. Whatever keeps you on the road. I average about 10k-14k per year, always done my own maintenance and want to continue that average.

Revzilla-
Don’t start your bike up every week Make no mistake, regular exercise is good for your bike — but like putting on workout clothes to sit on the couch, idling in the garage doesn’t count. Not only is a cold start hard on the motor, but if you aren’t running it under load up to full operating temperature, moisture condenses out of the air into places water doesn’t belong. If you don’t plan to actually take the bike for a rip to cook off moisture and recharge your battery from that cold crank it took to get her going, don’t even fire it up. Plan to ride once a week? More power to you — consider investing in some heated gear and a can of stabilized fuel to top it off after the ride.

Revzilla-
Do not start your bike periodically I hear "You gotta run it once a week!" from time to time. Do not start up your bike unless you plan to ride it. Cold starts are hard on engines, even when it's not freezing cold out. Worse, you deplete some of the battery's charge by starting the bike, and if you don’t go ride at normal rpms, the bike charging system won't necessarily restore the battery to a full charge. Many bikes don’t actually charge at idle. If you don’t get the bike up to full operating temp, too, you are inviting condensation in places that you likely don’t want it. Start it and go ride, or don't bother waking it up.

 

[JCSR]

Horses for courses. You do you. Whatever keeps you on the road. I average about 10k-14k per year, always done my own maintenance and want to continue that average.

Revzilla-
Don’t start your bike up every week Make no mistake, regular exercise is good for your bike — but like putting on workout clothes to sit on the couch, idling in the garage doesn’t count. Not only is a cold start hard on the motor, but if you aren’t running it under load up to full operating temperature, moisture condenses out of the air into places water doesn’t belong. If you don’t plan to actually take the bike for a rip to cook off moisture and recharge your battery from that cold crank it took to get her going, don’t even fire it up. Plan to ride once a week? More power to you — consider investing in some heated gear and a can of stabilized fuel to top it off after the ride.

Revzilla-
Do not start your bike periodically I hear "You gotta run it once a week!" from time to time. Do not start up your bike unless you plan to ride it. Cold starts are hard on engines, even when it's not freezing cold out. Worse, you deplete some of the battery's charge by starting the bike, and if you don’t go ride at normal rpms, the bike charging system won't necessarily restore the battery to a full charge. Many bikes don’t actually charge at idle. If you don’t get the bike up to full operating temp, too, you are inviting condensation in places that you likely don’t want it. Start it and go ride, or don't bother waking it up.

You do own a BMW so there's that to consider.

 

[paddling_man]

You're not wrong, however that is coming from the guy with a Honda Fury chopper.. We should ride together

 

[JCSR]

You're not wrong, however that is coming from the guy with a Honda Fury chopper.. We should ride together

I would ride with you no problem. All bikes are good to me. I would have a BMW if I wasn't poor.

 

[paddling_man]

Oh, the poor is strong in me. If I had to pay someone to do maintenance on my bikes, I couldn't afford to keep them!

 

[melensdad]

 

[paddling_man]