Winter Storage By ellpee (Read 550 times)

[ellpee]

This probably applies to ALL scoots, but since it's about my Magnum I'm posting it in the trike classroom.

I'll shortly be putting the Magnum to bed for the winter; we leave Ruidoso around October 15th and won't return until around May 15th. I expect to have close to 1000 miles on it by then, with about 700 since last oil change. I've not yet changed any other fluids.

So I'm soliciting opinions about what I should do in the way of winterizing. Scoot will be in the garage the entire time, but subject to mountain winter temperatures -- at or near freezing probably, though not much below barring some extraordinary weather event.

Do I CHANGE the oil, or just drain it and refill in the springtime?

What about coolant? I have no idea what level of freeze protection the factory coolant provides. Drain and replace so I know? Drain and refill next spring?

What about gear oil? Still running the factory stuff; a little bit of a pain in the neck to remove the plastic so I can get at the drain and fill plugs, but I'll do what I have to. Will it hurt anything to leave the old stuff in there through the winter and replace it next spring?

What about gas? Can I get away with just putting in some of that enzyme fuel stabilizer, or do I need to completely drain all the gas from tank, lines, and carb? If the latter, can I disconnect the fuel line from the carb, remove the spark plug, and blow out all the gas with compressed air? If not, is there a better way?

Anything else I should think about draining, or replacing, or otherwise prepping for storage?

[davec]

this may be a bit extreme, but I was taught to
1. Place cardboard under the tires (to absorb moisture)
2. Drain the engine oil and replace with reg oil. Change oil with the good stuff in the spring
3. Use Stabil, or Seafoam. Fill tank with gas and add the 2-3 whatever oz's of the additive. Take the scoot out for a little ride, to get the additive well circulated and in the carbs
5. rear gear oil should be fine, but replace in the spring.
6. Change the chinese coolant to good coolant, and don't forget to burp.
7. Remove battery, take in the house and put on a battery tender
8. Cover the bike with a real bike cover, or bedsheet, but cover it with something

[ellpee]

" ... reg oil ... " What's that? Do you just mean El Cheapo rather than the good synthetic stuff? And if you just discard it in the spring, why put in the "reg oil" at all? Why not just drain it and leave the crankcase empty until spring?

BTW, general question for anyone about draining coolant. I know you can open the drain plug and the radiator and apply compressed air to push out all the coolant, but if the thermostat is closed that'll keep some coolant from draining, will it not? Short of removing the thermostat, how do you beat that?