Forecast says petcocks ON :-)

[fabricgator]

You may get differing opinions on this, but starting the bike once a week is doing more harm than good. Starting a cold engine causes the most wear and not allowing the engine to come up to the operating temperature that occurs when you actually ride the bike doesn't allow for condensation to be removed from the oil, etc.[/I]

mybikeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19301

They say that running an aircraft on the ground, varying RPM and creating thrust for a half hour is not sufficient to evaporate the moisture out of the oil. May even add more hydrocarbons, which gives us the hydrochloric acid component to the oil.

It has been dreadfully cold here last week..... only had to run the air conditioning once or twice

[79XS11F]

They say that running an aircraft on the ground, varying RPM and creating thrust for a half hour is not sufficient to evaporate the moisture out of the oil. May even add more hydrocarbons, which gives us the hydrochloric acid component to the oil.

It has been dreadfully cold here last week..... only had to run the air conditioning once or twice

It is true that old oil becomes acid and this is why some manufacturer's recommend that engines be stored with the oil drained out of the engine before storage and some suggest that an oil change be carried out before storage. This is however, what is typically suggested for what they call "long term" storage. I don't thing seasonal storage falls into that category. I have in the past read manuals that have instructions for both seasonal and long term storage with long term storage involving a lot more prep. Unless someone is forcing the engine to start and run while it's stored outside at our areas current temperatures, I don't think there will be a problem. How many times will any bike in the spring or fall be used for a short run to the corner store or to and from work that is a short run when temperatures are not ideal? If the engine was that sensitive to temperature once it's fired up, the bike would be pretty useless to most users. One thing is for sure, to protect the exhaust system from moisture damage, The drain holes at the bottom lowest points of the system must be clear to allow moisture to drain off and it is best to get the exhaust system HOT enough to dry it out.
Rob

[Rasputin]

Weather man lies

Our weather man has lied..at least to this point. It is -20C here right now. To heck with starting the bike let alone riding. They are predicting it may climb to 0C today with a slight chance of +1C. I think I will wait for a better day to shake out the cobwebs. Maybe spend some time on paint prep instead.

[MaximPhil]

Fresh oil/fuel through the system: Check!
Engine at operating temperature: Check!
Charging system within Specs: Check!
Tire pressure, brakes, lights: Check!

Five minutes of ride time for ya out of much, much more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiOp0_0wWMA

(They just might pull this one for the obvious reasons...)

Hi Larry,
Thanks for the video. I enjoyed your ride I liked the music but it lead me too expect a ride to the summit of some hill or mountain not down to the sea The front wheel shot was great at first but would rather have seen scenery and signboards later in the run.
Phil ( Video challenged)

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Fresh oil/fuel through the system: Check!
Engine at operating temperature: Check!
Charging system within Specs: Check!
Tire pressure, brakes, lights: Check!

Five minutes of ride time for ya out of much, much more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiOp0_0wWMA

(They just might pull this one for the obvious reasons...)

That looks a lot like were I lived for a while up by Clallum Bay.

[Larrym]

XSive Restraint

Phil,

Yeah...That was just a quick and dirty hack I put together from my ride that day. Been over 6 weeks since the bike hit the pavement under it's own power. I've got three cameras and three mounts on the bike now so the upcoming season is gonna have all those "money shots" for ya.

For a look back/forward take a look at the you tube link in this post:

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226024&postcount=1

That was when I had just one crappy/shaky mount on the handlebars...

The AC/DC "Long Way To The Top" is my way of viewing owning and riding a functional XS1100. There's so many folks with bikes in various stages of repairs, rebuilds, and remorse right now: "Deep in the Brown" . The payoff for owning these rides seem way off and more than fuzzy at that distance. The vid is my way of showing that it's worth it to solve the immediate problems then to get ahead and stay ahead of things. You know, stay on TOP of things?

BTW, in the Feb ride video you can see a black cage pass me up at the beginning and then disappear. At the end of the video you can see that I've caught up to it....FINALLY. It took Xtreme willpower for me to not pounce on that car at the very beginning and get into the free/clear. Knowing that the bike could easily/safely do 3 times the posted speed limit of 35 Mph and yet still comply with the signage?? AAARGH!!!! Not so easy at times.

(At the very end of the video the bike is behind two slow cages with a double yellow line to my left. Uh...ahem ...that last cut/edit was there for a reason: What would you have done in that driving situation??)

Here's what the ride would look like if I had caved in to the compulsion and ridden like most people Xpect a superbike should:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id7v-mI13ZM

Disclamer: No laws were broken in the making of this video.

[79XS11F]

Well I never did get a chance to fire up the bike that day but did get to her today. Full chock and she fired right with a weak battery but died in about 10 seconds Pushed the started again and she again jumped to life and went to about a 4 K fast idle. I let her run at that speed for about a minute then reduced the chock to 1/2 and she dropped to a fast idle where she was left for about 5 minutes. Then chock off and she went to a loopy 950 until I gave her a blip. She went to 1050 and responded to throttle input rather nicely. Better then I expected that's for sure.
So I'm ready to go I cover her with cloth sheets so I don't even need to wash her. I saw them sweeping the main streets the other day and the weather is shaping up nicely.
I guess I will take my chances and prep and put the snow blower into storage this coming week to make the space needed to do the loose ends on the hop up bike.
Rob