From: car377@cbnewsj.att.com (charles.a.rogers)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Bike storage advice
Summary: corrosion control
Date: 1 Mar 91 16:27:12 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories

In article <STEVE.91Mar1152639@chook.adelaide.edu.au>, steve@cs.adelaide.edu.au (Steve Nairn) writes:
> Greetings fellow Denizens,
> 
> I cannot bring
> myself to sell my trusty steed so it will have to sit at home for at least a
> year waiting for my return. Does the collected wisdom of the net have any
> advice for preparing the beast for storage? It will be at my parent's place,
> under a tarpaulin. I've thought of letting the tires down, draining the fuel,
> and removing the battery. Is there anything else I should do?

1. Don't put it under a waterproof tarpaulin.  Moisture condenses on 
   everything under the tarp and promotes rust.  Store it *inside* with
   a moisture-permeable (i.e., cotton sheet, cloth cover, etc.) cover
   on it to keep off dust, UV, whatever.  If you have to store it outside
   without protection for a year, you need to do a *lot* of corrosion
   control on various pieces of the bike.  The military would coat everything
   in "cosmoline".  You can use wax, Kalgard 30-30, WD40, etc., but you
   have to be careful about where you put the WD40, since its solvent eats 
   some organic compounds. 

2. Clean the bike thoroughly and wax or lubricate everything that might 
   rust.  Some folks spray 30-30 or WD40 on engine parts, exposed 
   bolts/threads, etc.  Put the appropriate preservative on leather
   or vinyl stuff to prevent drying and cracking (I use Lexol for leather,
   Armorall for vinyl).  Don't forget to lube things like the kickstand
   and sidestand pivots.
   
3. If it's a chain-drive bike, Lube the chain.  Lube all cables.

4. Don't drain the gas out of the tank.  Instead, fill it up with the
   best quality gas you can find and add the appropriate dosage of a 
   gasoline stabilizer (like Stabil).  It's unlikely you could get
   all of the gas out of the tank, and if there's any water in the
   gas, it will be at the bottom of the tank and the last thing to
   come out.  When you're sure you won't be running the engine any more,
   Put a baggie across the filler hole and install the gas cap through
   the baggie.  Set the petcock to "off" if you have a petcock.

5. Replace hydraulic fluid and bleed the lines.  This is probably
   optional if you've recently done it, but if you haven't, the
   fluid will absorb 7 percent more water after your year has 
   elapsed, and the water that's already in there will have had
   12 months to work on the system components.

6. Warm up the engine, then drain the old oil (it contains acids that
   work on the engine metal) and put in fresh oil.  Run the engine to
   circulate the fresh oil and heat up the cylinders and pipes.  Turn
   off the engine, pull the spark plugs, and squirt in fogging oil or
   30-30, then turn the engine over a couple of times to distribute
   it around in the cylinders. Replace the plugs.

7. While the engine and pipes are still warm, seal the pipes and air 
   cleaner intakes with baggies/rubberbands.

8. Drain the carb float bowls.

9. Inflate the tires to normal pressure.  If possible, prop the bike
   up on centerstand so that the tires do not touch the ground, or
   touch it only lightly.  Be sure that the bike is not stored near
   ozone-producing devices like electric motors.  Ozone attacks rubber.

10.Remove the battery, trickle charge it to a full charge, and make
   sure the electrolyte is at the "full" mark.  Try to get someone 
   to charge it every month or so, and keep the electrolyte level
   up.  If you let it sit unattended for a year, it will self-discharge
   and may sulfate.  You might set it up to charge for 30 minutes or
   so each day with a trickle charger attached to one of those 24-hour 
   appliance timers.  I'd be nervous to leave something like that
   unattended for a whole year, though.  In any case, you shouldn't
   charge a battery in a place that doesn't have adequate ventilation.
   If the battery is already several years old and/or is using a lot
   of water, it probably won't be worth using in a year anyway, and
   you should consider buying a new one when you resurrect the bike
   next year.

11.Lock the bike the way you would if you were going to leave it
   unattended for a long time, since you are.  Find out if your
   insurance covers theft or fire damage.  Most homeowner policies
   don't cover motorcycles, and you have to buy special coverage
   for your bike.

Chuck Rogers
att!druhi!car377


From ron@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ron Miller)
Date: Wed, 20 May 1992 16:53:44 GMT
Subject: Re: FAQ BEGINNING
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA