Topic: Gas tank winterize. no gas in tank or full tank of gas.

[Black Hercules]

Hi! guys , What is the best way to winterrize a gas tank. I live in long island N.Y.C, so you know it gets cold out here.
Should I empty gas from tank or should I live gas filled up with STP gas treatment. Thanks

[Klark Kent]

seafoam is a good stabilizer, i think empty you would need to coat with wd-40 or something not just leave it 'bone-dry' 
come to think of it, submerge entire bike in seafoam.

couldnt hurt
-KK

[ofreen]

My preference is to leave the gas tanks full to the top.  You can add Stabil, if you like.  Drain the carbs.  I did this for years when living in Alaska when the bikes would be parked 5 months at a time.  Worked great no rust, no gummed up carbs.  Some will tell you to drain the gas in the spring and replace with new, but I always just used it.  Gas mileage would be noticeably less, but no problems otherwise.

[hymodyne]

parked the bike last winter in SW mass (mad cold) with a full tank, topped off with the appropriate amount of stabil. drained float bowls and deflated tires slightly before propping the bike up so that the frame supported bike weight; tires spun free. (some suggest overinflating tires, I might try that this winter since they are off the bike) bike started up fine this past spring.

hym

[Tim.]

Which 5 months of the year do you park your bike in Alaska?  Heck, it's a stretch to not park for 5 months in Toronto!

We're just about out of riding weather.  Looks like December through March I'll be parked minimum, which is 4 months.

Full tank of gas and stabilizer.  I'm thinking I'd run the bike with stabilizer in it just to make sure all gas anywhere in the bike is stabilized.  Then drain the carbs.

I'd also throw some oil in the cylinders.  Take the seat off and bring it inside too - why not.  Keep the vinyl from suffering and possible damage in the cold.

[78CB750F1]

I agree - full tank of gas with fuel stablizer, drain carbs, unplug battery and bring indoors if possible to trickle charge now and then.  Wiping chrome parts with WD40 helps to keep off surface rust.  Draining the carbs is IMHO the most important step.

[ofreen]

Which 5 months of the year do you park your bike in Alaska?  Heck, it's a stretch to not park for 5 months in Toronto!

Anchorage area for a time, then Kenai Peninsula later.  Cold doesn't stop me much, but I am not diehard enough to ride on icy roads, so would usually have to hang it up by the end of October or the first part of November, unless the weather was dry.  I could usually get back in the saddle the first part of April.

[ProTeal55]

Full tank of good gas and Sta-Bil and you will be fine...

[nickjtc]

Ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto and ditto.

Full tank/stabiliser/drain float bowls/teaspoon of oil down the spark plug holes/change the oil & filter/battery off the bike and hooked to a battery tender or somesuch/prop bike off it's tyres/chrome protection as necessary.

And most important: have a visit periodically, beverage in hand.

[Geeto67]

I would just add the main reason behind filling the tank up:  Provided the bike is in an unheated garage, like most of ours are, the bike will go through warming and cooling and changes in humidity and of course this means condensation from time to time.  If the tank is half full etc., you leave much of its interior exposed and this will alow condensation to form leading to rust.  So if its full of gas, it will be protected from this.

Somethings to consider - Pump gas contains trace amounts of water in it anyway, gas and water don't mix, and gas is less dense than water. This means that if you get condensation in the tank the fuel will keep it on the bottom of the tank trapping it and forming rust. One of the things stabil does (inaddition to slowing the evaporation of gasoline) is to make the gas more dense than water and therefore the water rises to the top and has a chance to evaporate and not sit on the bottom of your tank and form rust.

I store a lot of my SOHCs in my father's garage in nassau county long island. Admittedly my daily rider 750 gets put away with whatever is in the tank and started right back up as soon as the weather is good, basically she is idle from January to april. The rest of my bikes sit for longer periods and their either get drained of fuel or stabil in the tank. If you are going to drain the tank you have to drain the carb bowls too. The best thing is to try and park the bike the furthest away from the garage door to prevent the rapid hot and cold flashes that will cause condensation when you open and close the garage door.

[Nate]

Last winter, before i moved south, i parked the old girl with a full tank of gas with the label recommended amount of stabil. I did run it for a bit with the stabil mixed in the fuel to get it into the carb bowls, pulled the battery inside into the basement, and put it on the center stand (new tires were in order anyway so i wasn't worried about flat spots etc). It did take a few squirts of seafoam deep creep into the air box to get it to fire but after about 30min of running it smoothed out and runs fine. Also on the following tank i poured in a 16ounce can of SeaFoam to help clean any leftover crap from the carbs. By the end of that tank all is well.

[pete75]

You don't need to drain thje carbs. Just turn the tap off and run the engine until it stops.  Bikes best stored with the tank full of petrol or fully drained. Do whatever you feel happiest with - just don't leave it half full...

[Bob Wessner]

You don't need to drain thje carbs. Just turn the tap off and run the engine until it stops.  Bikes best stored with the tank full of petrol or fully drained. Do whatever you feel happiest with - just don't leave it half full...

If mine's going to be sitting for a long period (winter qualifies ), I drain the carbs manually. I think just running them dry leaves residual fuel in the bottoms of the bowls where it will slowly evaporate leaving residue and varnish.

[ofreen]

If mine's going to be sitting for a long period (winter qualifies ), I drain the carbs manually. I think just running them dry leaves residual fuel in the bottoms of the bowls where it will slowly evaporate leaving residue and varnish.

You are correct as usual.

[aptech77]

Full tank of top notch gas and half a can of seafoam!!!

[mick750F]

   I know this doesn't directly answer the question but unless you live in extreme northern climates why winterize at all? Their are plenty of days throughout the winter here that are above the mid 40's with dry roads. Good enough to get out for a half hour or so at the least, get a fix for your ridin' jones and avoid having your bike off the road for those freak mid to high 50's days when you can really ride in comfort. There have been some milder winters where I've ridden almost weekly and others where I was lucky to get in two rides in a month...but I rode, and avoided the whole winterize/de-winterize process.

Mike

[WJL75]

Riding in the winter can be rough...even on the nicest of days.  Most of the time there is a lot of salt on the roads and a half hour ride can mean an hour of cleaning.  I will start my bike up every once in a while, but I usually don't ride til the roads are free of salt.

[Tim.]

Well, for me 'winterizing' will simply mean adding stabilizer (is Seafoam really good for this?), draining the carbs and a bit of oil in the cylinders just to be overly cautious with my now 50 mile old pistons/rings/bore.  The battery is constantly on a tender anyhow, so no big deal for that.  Will probably pop the centre stand back on to keep it upright and off the rear wheel.

[aptech77]

Seafoam Is Great IMO!!!

[cleveland]

When you guys drain the carbs, do you take off the float bowls and dump them?

[aptech77]

No, I just let in flow out the tubes until it is done.

[cleveland]

  How does it "just flow out the tube"?  When I opened the bowls they had gas in them. 

[aptech77]

Open the bowl drain screw a turn and fuel will flow out the drain/ drain tube if installed.

[cleveland]

Will do, thanks!

[Bob Wessner]

I guess I'm confused. Won't fuel only flow out the tube if the carb bowl is overflowing? If you are manually draining the bowls via the drain screws, nothing comes out of a tube that I know of. I just put a small tin under the carb drain as I unscrew it and then dump the drained gas into the lawnmower.