Storage Query - fuel tanks
 

Hi all,

Just at the end of my trip here - need to leave the bike for 3 months in dry but unheated garage. I should;

Remove wheels put on block
Drain carb
Put teaspoon of oil in piston and crank it
Disconnect battery
Drain oil (and change?)

As for tank, what's better? To drain it completely or leave it full? Honda say spray anti-rust inside but what would be best and easily available in every hardware store - wd40?

Cheers!
RTW

Well, as it's a Honda - just walk away and leave it. :rofl:

In reality, three months isn't too long and mine get left for longer than that over the winter without doing much at all. Draining the carb might make a difference - it depends on the bike. My XR600 would really needs the carb draining before it would restart but you could do that after the three months were up. Some of my other bikes don't need it. I frequently leave bikes for three months without disconnecting the battery and don't have any problem but undoing one of the cables probably won't hurt.

Unless you've got water in the tank I wouldn't bother with draining it. Just leave enough in there (a gallon(ish)) so that it doesn't evaporate and clog up the tap. Unless there's something wrong it won't rust the interior in that time. Just try not to buy fuel with ethanol in it for your last fill up. I'd be more worried about spraying the interior of the tank with anti rust (ACF50 for example) than I would be about doing nothing. All that anti rust has to go somewhere. Consider spraying the exterior of the bike if your storage conditions are likely to cause condensation - a sub zero night followed by a warm, wet day for example. Covering the bike helps with that.

Re oil - I've never oiled the bore and never had a problem and only changed the oil if it was due a change anyway. Similarly, flatspotting the tyres - don't bother with putting the bike on blocks, three months won't do anything.

I have been told to fill the tank completely to avoid rust so that is what I always do if I can not ride one of my bikes for more then a few weeks.

It will be fine
 

when I picked up an old bike, the previous owners father had died and it sat in a damp garage for 10 years. It was just parked up. All I did was drain all the old fuel, put in fresh fuel and battery - it started. I rode it for a week to find any problems. There were none. Then I serviced it and have been riding it for 4 years.

I wouldn't worry about a few months :thumbup1:

Great advice! So basically just fill up with 97, drain the carb, and disconnect battery, and that's it? Can you recommend something to spray the exterior with (presumably your talking about the block, head, etc etc?)

Thanks!
RTW

For anti rusting the exterior over the winter I've tried numerous concoctions over the years - grease and Waxoil for example on out of sight areas (like under mudguards and where spot welded parts meet), brushing (new) oil over the whole thing (what a mess :thumb down:), WD40 (doesn't seem to last or even do much), FS365 - some stuff my local bike dealer convinced me would stop anything rusting (but it didn't) and what I use these days, ACF50.

Google it if you've not heard of it before but basically it's a liquid sold on the basis it's what the (US?) military use to stop aircraft rusting at sea. Whether they actually do use it or whether that was just ACF's marketing dept on a good day I've no idea but it does work. You can buy a spray can of the stuff (about £15 in the UK) which will do about half a dozen bikes as a thin coating is all you need. You'll then spend at least half a day cleaning the stuff off three months later and if there's any rust it'll be on the bits you missed. Cover the bike up afterwards as it remains slightly sticky. For dry storage though the cover on its own will be almost as good.

If you are storing the tank full of fuel, I like to mix some 2 stroke oil with fuel stabiliser.
It helps stop any corrosion if the metal is anyway exposed and being two stroke won't hurt the engine when burned.
I think with modern fuels I would still drain the carb bowls, not sure if any fuel is ethanol free these days and if you see what it does to the brass parts inside the carb you wouldn't want it either.

Is it likely to freeze where it is stored. Battery needs to be protected against discharging due to alarms or other phantom loads or it will freeze. If flat for three months it would be wrecked anyway.

Probably not worth the bother but for large vehicles it is suggested to pump tyres up to max sidewall pressure if they are loaded, or 20% of sidewall pressure if off the ground.

I'm going back in two weeks - I put the battery in a closet inside the families house where my moto is. It'll have been sat for all that time - should I replace it with a new one, charge it and put it in back in the bike or can it just go straight in?

Great thread. We're about to store two bikes (KTM 640, DR650) in Libreville, Gabon for about a year. The problem here is crazy humidity, temperature is constantly 30+ celsius and humidity 90% every day. Someone had the piston rings rust in when keeping idle for 4 months.

We are building a little covered box at the local mechanic's back yard so it should be safe from direct rain. The mechanic has offered to start the bikes every couple of months, but it's a hassle for him and can't be guaranteed that he actually does it.

So the current thinking is based my readings:

- take out the spark plug, fill the cylinder with oil and screw plug back in;
- grease all metal parts on the outside with something - I hear WD40 was no good, but we have no chance of getting the magical ACF50. What would be alternatives? could chain-spray or air filter spray achieve the same? Or just normal engine oil then?
- apply rat poison near the wirings

We're likely to have the brake cylinders rust in, but hoping these can be worked loose when we return. Cant think of anything against that.

Any other advice much appreciated.

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Storage Query - fuel tanks
 

By the way- about 15,000k later I'm still running the same battery and didn't even charge it.

The bike started eventually after running the battery flat, I had to run it down the street a few times. It ran super choppy while i idled it in the garden. The best thing for it seemed to be just riding it again.

Storing in humidity would be another problem altogether. I didn't treat mine with anything nor even deflate the tires. Everything was fine, but I I stored it in relatively dry conditions.