Winter Storage

[Burton]

All you guys putting your vintage toys away for a few months - PLEASE drain the gas tank and float bowl. Got some nasty surprises on a couple of vintage bike purchases this year. 'Modern' pump gas basically turns into a solid within months now. I also put some Marvel mystery oil in the spark plug hole to keep that cylinder slippery.

Other storage tips?

[ratsMC]

The forum is alive!!

Yah everyone store your bikes correctly so when Chris buys them he doesn’t have to clean the carbs!

Your absolutely right, sitting pump fuel is terrible. Sometimes with premix you get more stability out of it, put Stabil in and you get lucky...but honestly I have too many bikes to maintain to be pulling the carbs off every year and going through them.

I run race gas now in my vintage bikes, it doesn’t need it but it deserves good fuel. I also fire them up every now and then on a warm day. If you have a drain screw use it for long storage or tip the bike on its side with the petcock off to drain the bowl.

[wasteaway]

Mice can move in without warning. On a 2t especially plug the muffler so Mickey doesn't build a nest in the pipe or even in the cylinder. Maybe leave the airbox cover off to discourage a nest there also and check these areas in the spring before the first start up. Wiring harnesses and seat foam are favs for the rodents too. Take precautions

[450exc115]

I run race gas in just about anything with a small carburetor. At $10 a gallon it is cheap insurance for my trimmer, blower, chainsaw, kids 2 and 4 wheel toys, snowblower, or anything with low use. I do use startech in my big mower (24hp) and utility quad but they get used often enough that they don't seem to be bothered by the corn fuel.

I noticed more and more that the bikes that have run with any ethanol fuel in the last 15 years need all gaskets that touched liquid ethanol need to be changed as they leaked badly if they had dried out. MBTE wasn't great either at it would eat aluminium if it sat too long in carburetors, seem to be more of problem chewing through small gas engine carbs than anything (snowblowers, rototillers, chippers, etc) but the bikes ran in the 90s if they sat looked all pitted and chalky from that fuel.

If I know I'm not going to ride for more than 3 weeks I drain the tank and carb and put either a little 2 stroke or Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinder but that is about it.

As for dealing with Mice I have some bucket traps placed in the corners of the workshop that catch any rodent that find there way into the shop. If you use antifreeze in the bottom of the bucket the dead mice don't smell. If you are worried about other family pets finding the trap just put them under a overturned trash can that has a slight gap under the lip using a piece of wood or something.

[check1]

I switched from Stabil to StarTron stabilizer which seems to work better. I have chain saws that haven't run in a couple years and start right up after putting in some fresh fuel mix. I don't drain my riding mower in the fall, but run the StarTron in it for the last leaf pick up.

[ratsMC]

The buck trap is great. I always have one going too. Like you said with antifreeze they are preserved and don’t stink at all. RV antifreeze is fine too. It just keeps on collecting and never needs resetting. Dump and burry the mouse soup once a year. Another important thing for mouse control on your property is a healthy snake population. They kill more mice than any trap or cat or hawk/owl. They especially like the pinkies...though snakes are not active in winter.

[Burton]

ratsMC wrote:

Yah everyone store your bikes correctly so when Chris buys them he doesn’t have to clean the carbs!

Exactly right! Tired of cleaning up everybody's mess.

[MikeDi]

You put gas in your bikes last year?

Burton wrote:

ratsMC wrote:

Yah everyone store your bikes correctly so when Chris buys them he doesn’t have to clean the carbs!

Exactly right! Tired of cleaning up everybody's mess.

[oldschool]

MikeDi wrote:

You put gas in your bikes last year?

Yes!
We had two great vintage events

[Burton]

oldschool wrote:

MikeDi wrote:

You put gas in your bikes last year?

Yes!
We had two great vintage events

I went to some AHRMA events last year to fill in the gaps. I don't like them as much as NETRA (although Dan G tells me I just went to the wrong ones) but still fun.

[MikeDi]

Changed it up last year. More mountain bike riding since Rhode Island has plenty of trail for that anyway. The one event I did shattered my confidence.

Burton wrote:

oldschool wrote:

MikeDi wrote:

You put gas in your bikes last year?

Yes!
We had two great vintage events

I went to some AHRMA events last year to fill in the gaps. I don't like them as much as NETRA (although Dan G tells me I just went to the wrong ones) but still fun.

[sjsst41]

Next time you’re up our way Mike - bring your MTB and I’ll show you around Fort Rock in Exeter.

[MikeDi]

Will do Steve!

sjsst41 wrote:

Next time you’re up our way Mike - bring your MTB and I’ll show you around Fort Rock in Exeter.