Winterizing my 1985 Aspencade

[Granpah]

is there anything I need to do to winterize the bike? I probably should flush and fill the radiator, any brand that doesn't contain silicate? 50% mix with distilled water? Keep a breathable cover on it?

Here I go again.

My broken record suggestion is, drain your old fashioned water-based coolant, flush again with 10% vinegar-water solution, one more water flush, then drain completely, and fill the system with waterless, pure propylene glycol sold as Evans NPG+ at $40/gallon).



Question: Why bother?

Answer: Relative to ethylene glycol/water: 1) propylene glycol is non toxic; 2) has a much higher heat transfer coefficient than ethylene glycol/water (keeps engine cooler in hot weather)****; 3) runs your cooling system at zero extra pressure ... does not boil anywhere near water's boiling point [188 °C (370.8 °F) whereas water boils at 100 °C (273 °F) ... on average 100-degress higher ]; 4) will not degrade the fluid (aka "water") pump and hoses; 5) protects the engine down to -40 °F (- 40 C) ... and even lower (because there's no water to freeze and crack the engine block!). Some claim that once the cooling system is filled with propylene glycol the coolant need never be changed.

Somewhere else, I've already done the calculations showing that, yes the conventional antifreeze seems cheaper but not by much. Since nowadays each gallon of so-called "pre mixed" antifreeze is 50% water, you're paying about $28/gal for ethylene glycol (example Prestone) compared with about $40/gallon for propylene glycol -- a mere $12/gal difference.

If you live in Canada, Aircraft Spruce Canada can supply you with EVANS NPG+. Why do you suppose a pilot cruising at 25,000 ft (7,600 m) would rather have EVANS NPG+ cooling his engine than Prestone? :d
At the Aircraft Spruce Canada site (above link) it specifies Evans NPG+ for Rotax engines. All Buell 1125R bikes come with liquid cooled Rotax engines and so do several new BMW models.
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Now all my car and motorcycle engines are cooled with waterless propylene glycol.

**** For those curious as to exactly why this is so, see "Water-based vs Waterless Differentiators"
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ABOUT THE TIRES. Yes indeed, it is best not to have the bike resting on them. If the bike is parked on its center stand on flat level ground then at least the rear wheel is off the ground. However, it seems to me, by placing a 2x4 cross ways under the engine guards and then with a small bottle jack jacking the front wheel off the ground such that the bike is supported on the center stand and jack should keep both wheels suspended for the winter. The only question is, would this arrangement be bad for the shocks and front fork?

A piece of wood under the wheels would be an improvement. But still they'd be flattened at one spot in the front. I'm not 100% sure this would apply to bike tires, but this year I had to replace both fairly new front tires my '98 Volvo V70 wagon (most of the weight is on the front end from its front wheel drive transaxle) after keeping it parked outdoors for over 5 months through the winter (while I was overseas). This resulted in tremendous vibrations coming from the front end when driving over 45-50 mph. My mechanic diagnosed it as flat spots on both front tires. 'Had to buy a pair of new ones. He said, during the five months the car should have been suspended on blocks to spare the tires.