Oil and winterization

[pac00t]

Hi there,

Winter is approching and I have to decide what sort of winterizing is best for me. I bought my xs1100sf from a friend who had just gotten a sports bike. I got it about 6 weeks ago and have been working crazy to get it running (and running well) before it gets cold. I'm almost there but there might only be a couple weeks of decent weather left (although my friend says he's going to ride all winter, even below freezing so long as the road is dry).

I want to put in amsoil motorcycle stuff, cause it seems to best I guess. Thinking 10-40. And I got a K&N oil filter (btw, I am now a k&N customer for life! their filter was a bit more expensive but came with the big O ring and the rubber gaskets). So basically I don't want to pay for $25 of oil just for a few weeks. They say you're supposed to put fresh oil in before winterizing, then new oil again in spring... but if I have synthetic, could I store it even though I rode it a bit, and then would I have to replace it in the spring? What if I rode it about a couple times a week during the winter (except for a few weeks of snow). Would I have to worry about winterizing in that case?

Thanks

[Yamaniac]

IMO, if you ride it every couple of weeks during the winter, no, don't winterize it. If you are riding it regularly, change the oil at the recommended intervals.
If you don't plan to ride at all during the winter, you need to winterize it, put in some fresh dino oil, and save your amsoil till next spring when you get it ready for riding.

[skids]

If you ride it long enough to get the oil real hot and the pipes real hot, it is a good thing. As you are probably aware, combustion produces water and if it sits in the pipes, you could have some trouble.

Here in Colorado along the front range, the humidity is drier than a popcorn fart. Morning dew is a rare thing. Frost in the garage is nil. I run the bikes with the headlights off to circulate the oil. On the two bikes with centerstands, I also stick them in gear. With the bike in gear, feathering the clutch back and forth help coat the plates with oil to prevent stickion. The main concern is to keep the battery water up, use a trickle charger, and to keep the tank full to the top with stablized gasoline. Running the bikes in the garage probably makes my neighbors gringe, so I ride them as aften as I can.