WINTER JOBS – STORING THE BIKES ADVICE

So as I sit here looking across my garden and seeing the wind and rain lashing down, The realisation set in that my short race season is over and the workshops only going to get colder. So time to plan next year and to put the bikes into hibernation.  so here’s what I do.

The big subject seems to be fuel nowadays and how bad it is to our classics. ethanol is being added to our fuel in bigger percentages and its not really that bad for our engines as long as its getting used to run the engine,  its not so good for rubber parts. but changing out the rubber  for upgraded materials is do-able.

I run the engine up to normal temp on either avgas, or 99 octane pump gas with added fuel conditioner (listed in webshop) and even get out for a final thrash if i can.   I then drain fuel from carbs and tank completely.

 

My alloy tanks and wheels get a coating of alloy polish and the polish is not buffed off but left on the metal. then the rest of the bike is cleaned up and then all parts that are likely to attract condensation and corrode are wiped with an acf50 soaked cloth (listed in webshop)

 

I pump the tyres up a bit harder, and if possible i raise the bike off the tyres,  the race tyres ideally need to be kept out of any U.V light so I usually cover them. and then a breathable cover, like a blanket or something to cover the bike. 

I plug exhaust and carbs are also capped off, as they dont have filters etc.  the idea really is just to try and prevent condensation.

Batterys are removed and kept charged at home,  I no longer leave bikes on charge unattended as I had a bad fire way back started by a battery charger.

I dont have a de-humidifier,  and my workshop is not ideal, It gets very cold and with concrete floors and old fashioned non cavity walls condensation is very often present.

But I keep most of the bikes away from the walls where possible and keep an eye on them. the protective film from the acf50 and the non buffed polish seems to work well for me.

The only other things I do with bikes like my ducati for instance, are i spray a coating of thin oil around the bottom of steel fuel tank internally, and down the end of the conti exhausts. i also rotate the engine so that the front cylinder has its piston at top of combustion stroke. This is because the cylinder sits at 10 degrees off horizontal and the cast iron liner corrodes very easily, and in the past I have had little half moon shaped corrosion where condensation gets into cylinder runs down liner up to piston crown and then a small pool of water forms against piston corroding the liner, worse case the corrosion breaks the piston ring on first start after winter etc.

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