ian
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Isle of Man
Posts: 5,400 
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Post by ian on Nov 2, 2017 20:35:46 GMT
Ok, we've got a thread on winter riding, so how about winter lay up? Lovely day today, so we managed a final ride on these 2 today  I bought the 500S last October & with today's 40 mile ride, I've done just over 100 on it in a year  Gill's Virago hasn't done much better; just over 300 miles. If we haven't used them much in the summer, there's no way we'll use them over winter, so once we got home it was time for oil changes and a good coating of ACF50  Hopefully it'll stay dry tomorrow and I can do the same with the 400NA. Then I can drain the fuel and that's where my first question comes. What's the best treatment for the petrol tanks? The Virago's a pain to drain, so I usually just fill it up with Super & use a winter additive. I did the same with the 500S tank last year, but the SD tank was drained & removed and I put a bit of 2 stroke oil in it & gave it a swill about every few weeks. I've also got an SD tank in long term storage, and I give that a squirt of AC50 inside from time to time. That's what I was thinking of doing with the tanks on all the laid up bikes this year. What do you do? |
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Post by BritPete on Nov 2, 2017 21:17:10 GMT
I do nothing to the tanks - don't leave a lot of petrol in the bikes so when I refill them I have fresh petrol
To be honest never though of this before
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ian
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Isle of Man
Posts: 5,400
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Post by ian on Nov 2, 2017 21:57:55 GMT
The original tank on my 500R focused my attention. A couple of my SD tanks leaked in the usual place - lower rear corner. Rubbed down, there were a couple of pin holes visible which I soldered up. The 500 had been stood for a few years in a neighbour's garage, on the side stand. Like the SD tanks, it was very rusty inside & once I treated the rust it started leaking. But it wasn't just a couple of pinholes at the bottom this time, they stretched half way up the tank on the opposite side to the stand and a bit less on the stand side  Only explanation I could see was the water absorption properties of ethanol in the fuel caused rusting right up to the fuel level rather than the water from condensation sinking to the bottom as usual. Anyway, it's made me a bit more cautious with tanks now. |
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Post by Somersetdreamer on Nov 2, 2017 22:50:04 GMT
I read somewhere if your going to lay them up for winter to brim the tanks with fuel & then at the start of next season drain it all out & put fresh in, but I won't be doing that I always make sure I have a run ever few weeks at least & fill up each time, I never just run them on tickover though I'm not sure that does the engine any good being air cooled, so I will be having as many dry rides as I can through winter.
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ian
Member Of The Year 2019
Isle of Man
Posts: 5,400
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Post by ian on Nov 2, 2017 23:18:07 GMT
I've done that for many years with boats, the theory being with the tank full there's litle air space for condensation to form. I'm not sure whether that still holds with ethenol fuel. I don't know why it wouldn't, if there's no condensation, there's no moisture for the ethanol to absorb.
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Post by davefirestorm on Nov 3, 2017 7:34:57 GMT
I’ve never bothered draining fuel tanks through winter and I’ve never had a problem with “stale” fuel I do use ACF50 on shiny bits as a precaution when stored in garage.I will ride my Burgman through winter and will hose it down every day when salt on roads,I have in past used bikes smothered in ACF50 through winter and it stays on doing the job all through just hosing it off in spring.
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Post by bikermike on Nov 3, 2017 11:22:12 GMT
AIUI the problem with ethanol is the water already in it that sinks to the bottom. The reason for filling the tank is to limit the amount of air that gets it to minimize rust risk
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Post by JonnyHonda on Nov 3, 2017 13:04:49 GMT
AIUI the problem with ethanol is the water already in it that sinks to the bottom. The reason for filling the tank is to limit the amount of air that gets it to minimize rust risk I'm not sure how much difference it makes, I have several K100 tanks that have rotted from the inside out and they are aluminium, the problem exists because undissolved water sits in the tank and oxidises the tank walls, this water can enter the tank in a variety ways over the years. If I was worried about a rusting tank I think I would drain it and dry store it, a full tank of petrol is unlikely to stop oxidisation at the bottom of the tank. IMHO. |
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ian
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Isle of Man
Posts: 5,400
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Post by ian on Nov 3, 2017 21:21:24 GMT
The rusty tanks I've ended up with were probably left standing outside for years; kept in the dry for a few months over winter it probably doesn't matter too much whether the tank is full or not. The Virago had 3,000 miles on it when we got it about 4 years ago. It had spent most of the previous 16 years standing unused in an ordinary concrete garage & the top tank certainly wasn't full when we looked at it, but from what I can see of the inside it's rust free. The problem is the under seat tank, which has no filler cap so I can't see the inside at all. The other factor is these 2 bikes probably won't get used next summer either. We're hanging on to the Virago as it's so easy to ride - it'll come in handy when arthritis makes the other bikes too uncomfortable! The CB500S might replace the R if I last long enough to wear it out. Anyway, I sucked the petrol out of them today. The CB500 took about 2 minutes with the suction thingy  The shape of the 500 tank enables you to see inside pretty well & there's not a trace of rust, so I think I'll give it a squirt of ACF50 and leave it empty. The Virago was a bit trickier. We'd done enough miles to empty the top tank, so I disconnected it from the lower tank & poked a tube down the inlet pipe & sucked out what I could. Don't know how much is still in, but I'll see if I can get at the fuel pump connection tomorrow & see get the rest out that way  Next question. Anybody got any thoughts on these vacuum bags you can get for bikes? They're not expensive, so I thought a might get some for these 2 bikes & maybe one for the 400N which won't be used over the winter. |
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Post by bikermike on Nov 6, 2017 14:04:57 GMT
they've always seemed a bit excessive to me, unless you have a damp garage and/or a mint Black Shadow. (I wonder if you could ride a bagged-up bike if you made holes for the tyres?  |
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Post by davefirestorm on Nov 6, 2017 21:21:26 GMT
Keep air flowing through your garage,get rid of the fridge and tumble dryer etc. and everything will be fine,sheds are usually damp no matter what you do in my opinion
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Post by davefirestorm on Nov 6, 2017 21:24:11 GMT
Possible to carry riding on salty but obviously wash thoroughly with just water as detergents can react with salt,I find this too risky though and will only ride my Burgman through winter
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