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Winterizing my 1985 Aspencade
I store my '85 Aspy in an uninsulated, unheated garage (connected to the house). The garage door faces the west, and during a big blow, it's only slightly better than standing outside. This is the first winter I've owned the steel pony... is there anything I need to do to winterize the bike? I probably should flush and fill the radiator, any brand that dosen't contain silicate? 50% mix with distilled water? Keep a breathable cover on it?

I actually plan on riding it as long as there's no snow/ice on the road. Used to ride my snowmobiles in crazy cold weather.

Anything I'm missing or not aware of?

Thanks!
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#1 10-30-2011, 11:09 PM,
the only thing I can think of is putting plywood under your tires, I heard that tires don't do well sitting on cold concrete for extended amount of time..
My uncle that lives in northern Alberta told me this trick to save your tires.
Johan
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#2 10-30-2011, 11:18 PM,
Juggler Wrote: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).

[Image: evans.jpg]

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.
_________________________________________
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"
_______________________________________________

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.
[Image: Akriti2450x338.jpg]

" ... If you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." ~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
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#3 10-31-2011, 02:13 AM,
If I were to leave the bike in storage for the winter.

Fill tank with gas adding stabil, or seafoam. run the engine till warm. Change oil and filter, run to circulate the fresh oil.

make sure coolant is at correct ratio, if you havnt changed it for a few years, do it now.

remove spark plugs pour about a table spoon of oil in each cylinder place plugs in cable and ground them, turn engine stop switch to off and crank engine several times, replace plugs

remove negative lead from battery and attach a battery tender, if you have an Odyssey battery providing it is fully charged just remove negative lead, it will keep it's charge for up to two years, the colder the better.

place a couple of drier sheets around the air intake to discourage mice, been told it works.

place on center stand and block up the engine enough to keep the tires from ground contact.

A light spray of wd40 on the chrome parts and possibly a nice coat of polish on the paintwork.

Cover bike with a breathable cover like a bed sheet

Kiss it goodnight. and turn off the lights Smile
The only stupid questions are the one's that are not asked.

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#4 10-31-2011, 05:50 PM,
Juggler - GL1200's are robust machines made from generally excellent materials "ow" I fell off my soapbox! I am not a bike owner who "enshrines" my bike -I maintain them well but if given a choice between riding and washing/polishing/farting around the shop I will be riding -
Here in eastern Alberta I run Stab-il in my last tank(s) of fuel until the snow flies. You may also be running an anti-ethanol additive if you are in an area with political gasoline. We have it now too... Oil - I run Amsoil 10-40 motorcycle synthetic in my bikes - it has a very high anti-corrosion performance (see their website for a "white paper" report) which I like for engine/trans units that sit in storage. I don't necessarily drain low hour synthetic oil to refill for storage. If I am within 1000km of an oil change I will drain as contamination of the oil is higher by now. I store the battery on a wood shelf in a heated space, and charge it once a month or so with a tender. I cooked most of the water out of a standard type battery 2 winters ago leaving the tender on it 24/7. Not sure why.
I park on the center stand, with full tanks of premium fuel with Stab-il and deflate the suspensions. I run the engines with the fuel off until they start to lean out and try to stall. Interesting tip about wood under the tires - it has to be friendlier to rubber than damp concrete...
Our Aspy has always lived in Alberta. The previous owner and us have stored it in unheated storage, under cover. That means it has endured temps down to -40C/F at least 25 times with no ill effect. Intense sunlight, rain followed by sun, and excessive damp humidity are the killers of parked machinery... cold dry hibernation doesn't seem to bother stuff. If we get a thaw I will go for a spin but only if everthing warms up completely. I never start a stored engine then shut down before any condensation present can't get cooked off.


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#5 11-01-2011, 05:56 AM,
tricky Wrote:• • • place a couple of drier sheets around the air intake to discourage mice, been told it works.

Mice can do a LOT of damage to bikes. Three years ago when my 1985 'Wing (having been stored in a garage or barn) was "new," an entire mouse hotel was discovered inside the fairing ... responsible for shorting out (mouse urine) and nearly frying Confusedhock: the ignition switch.

I had the switch repaired and cleaned out a couple of kilos (no exaggeration) of mouse nesting material + droppings from inside the fairing. Then I placed a "protective fence" of 6-7 packs of d-CON [Image: N4w2wJMdTaM1cysX6] around my bike where it lives in my unheated garage. That's the last I saw of any signs of mice in the garage or house (on top of the garage).
[Image: Akriti2450x338.jpg]

" ... If you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." ~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
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#6 11-01-2011, 10:40 AM,
And never, ever leave Worthers (or any other) candies and foodstuff in the false tank storage compartment as mice really seem to love those things and make a horrible mess with them.
Ed (Vic) Belanger - 1954-2015
Founder of gl1200goldwings.com

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#7 11-02-2011, 03:01 AM,
I have been doing more fuel "research" since we now have 5% ethanol-blend gasohol being sold as gasoline in our region. I hereby retract my statement above about filling fuel tanks prior to storage. There is evidence that gasohol fuel absorbs water to a certain point, at which the ethanol-water mixture seperates from the gasoline and settles to the bottom of the container (fuel bowl, fuel tank, fuel pump housing). It appears to be a better practice to store machines with a small amount of additive protected fuel on board or drained. Proper additives can help prevent this separation.

Randakk has an article on gasohol here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.randakks.com/TechTip56.htm">http://www.randakks.com/TechTip56.htm</a><!-- m -->


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#8 11-02-2011, 05:13 AM,
I have been filling my tank for 25 years..... remove all air and oxygen. add Stabil run this through to the carbs.

250,000 k and the carbs are untouched.

Oxygen out= rust out.

Keep the tank full over the winter.
The only stupid questions are the one's that are not asked.

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#9 11-02-2011, 05:53 AM,
SACRIFICIAL [ZINC] ANODES?

For years (decades?), I've been thinking of integrating zinc bars in my car and motorcycles to inhibit rust. For example, that's what galvanized sheet metals is: steel sheets dipped in molten zinc.

Zinc bars are welded onto the hulls of ships to prevent salt water corrosion. That's been done ever since steel hulls were invented!

Now, at least, someone makes a car radiator plug of zinc to prevent corrosion
[Image: 400-32060.jpg] only costing $20.

Wouldn't it be cool to have a zinc anode plug in our gas tanks to prevent rust?

See the article on this in MOTORSPORT.

JC Whitney sells zinc rods  at about $12 per for protecting water heaters (go figure).

Who wants to be first? :YMBRINGITON:
[Image: Akriti2450x338.jpg]

" ... If you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." ~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Reply
#10 11-02-2011, 07:56 AM,
tricky Wrote:I have been filling my tank for 25 years..... remove all air and oxygen. add Stabil run this through to the carbs.

250,000 k and the carbs are untouched.

Oxygen out= rust out.

Keep the tank full over the winter.

You know what, I am going to retract my retraction... anyway - after thinking it over for oh, 10 seconds, I am going to side with Tricky and side with full tanks in storage - Tricky your 25 yrs continous ownership experience trumps interweb opinion... however I treat with a good "storage" dose of stabilizer to offset the effects of gasohol - which is a relatively recent attack on our old Wings' fuel systems...


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#11 11-05-2011, 05:13 AM,
'Sounds perfect!

But how do you:
wing&aprayer Wrote:remove all air and oxygen.
?

Is that done by just over filling the gas tank to the very top brim with fuel (+Stabil)? ****

We can't argue with what works. :d

__________________________________
**** I ask because in our research chemistry lab we used to drive out oxygen from liquids by bubbling pure dry nitrogen gas through it for a couple of hours, and then sealing it against outside air. If that's what it takes to prevent my gas tank from getting rusty, I'll get myself a cylinder of N2.
[Image: Akriti2450x338.jpg]

" ... If you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." ~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Reply
#12 11-05-2011, 06:01 AM,
My winterizing issues are resolved by keeping my bike ready to ride at all times then bundling up on clear days during the winter and going for very enjoyable rides to fight off bike storage withdrawal symptoms. Just delivered a GL1200 to London which is a 2 1/2 hour ride from my place and thanks to 5 layers of clothing I was perfectly comfortable and enjoyed myself despite the bitter cold and damp air. I guess what I'm trying to say is unless you have a solid 3 feet of snow on the ground all winter long then don't incapacitate your bike totally, just keep the battery charged, the tires off the ground and the gas tank full because a GL1200 will carry you comfortably and safely despite the cold so don't limit your riding season because you think that you cannot ride when it's cold out. Also, check with Tricky regarding some homemade electrically heated riding outfits and then you can wave at the snowmobiles as you roll past them down the highway with your stereo blasting away.
Ed (Vic) Belanger - 1954-2015
Founder of gl1200goldwings.com

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#13 11-05-2011, 07:04 AM,
You guys have given some excellent winterizing tips, come to think of it those are very good tips for storing anything for an extended period, thanks. Later.
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#14 11-06-2011, 09:56 AM,
admin Wrote:unless you have a solid 3 feet of snow on the ground all winter long then don't incapacitate your bike totally, just keep the battery charged, the tires of the ground and the gas tank full because a GL1200 will carry you comfortably and safely despite the cold so don't limit your riding season because you think that you cannot ride when it's cold out.

I'm with you Vic. 'Just bought a heated vest, only need to wire in the new leads to the battery (via fuse), and I'm ready for anything. Of course, only caution is to beware of the odd patch of ice on the road. :-SS :-SS Otherwise, it's fair sailing! :YMHUG:
[Image: Akriti2450x338.jpg]

" ... If you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." ~ George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
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#15 11-06-2011, 10:06 AM,


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