Quote:
Originally Posted by cookiebug79
In Southern California, gas goes bad in about 3 weeks. Definitely use Stabil or else the carbs will clog.
On the other hand, I can't imagine why someone would tell you to disconnect the battery on a well running reasonably new bike, but not use fuel stabilizer. Or why you wouldn't want some one to start it an idle it once a month. Soooo, I pretty much disagree with everything that is quoted.
Since I live in Torrance, I'll keep the bike at my house in perfect running condition free of charge, if you let me race it :-D
Otherwise I'd consider getting some stands for it so it's not on it's tires creating flat spots. A very nice to have.
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I've used gas that's three years old. It's a bit down in power, but nothing else. I don't believe that your gas is that much worse. From the forums it seems that you have problems at five or six months, but I'm unsure how much of the problems are real. Certainly not three weeks. More likely, given your post, it's your ignorance.
Gas going bad isn't what clogs the carbs. That's evaporation of the more volatile elements, leaving a deposit. The best answer to that is to run the carbs and lines dry by running the motor with the fuel off until it stops. A 4-stroke should be OK for a couple of months if you don't do that, but it's a quick and easy thing to do. On a 2-stroke it's more important because the oil from the fuel/oil mix leaves nasty deposits. The 250 isn't a 2 stroke. The lines and carbs will be dry anyway after a couple of months, so best to dry them before evaporation leaves crud behind. I drain the carbs that way because it's less hassle than draining the floats, and more comprehensive.
Disconnect the battery because there's always a possibility of some drain. Motorcyclists seem to suffer battery issues. I don't, but why not play safe? A couple of months is enough for some discharge across the battery's own internal resistance. Standard advice is a trickle charge once a month for an unused battery. A flat battery, if it's left flat, builds up a layer of sulphate on the plates. That buggers that battery. As Sev said, jump starting off a car battery is fine, but you still want to avoid draining the bike battery if you want it to have a long life.
You don't start the motor and let it idle because cold starts produce acids and because the rings haven't fully expanded the acids get into the oil. When the oil is up to temperature, which takes about ten miles, much of the crud burns off. That's why more frequent oil changes are neeeded if you do a lot of short trips. Idling the engine then switching off turns your sump into an acid bath. How much damage that does depends on a number of factors, but it's why an oil change is recommended before Winter storage. Over a couple of months the acids tend to stay in suspension and don't do much harm, but you can see that regular cold start/idle runs that generate a lot of new acids are not a good idea.
Your tyres won't develop flat spots in a couple of months. Using stands is good if you have them, but otherwise just keep the tyres out of contact with a concrete surface - a couple of pieces of old carpet is fine.
Rob
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