[GWTony]

Hello all!

I have a couple of questions for some of you out there.
I live in northern Ohio and do not have a heated garage to keep my bike in anymore, it got down to about minus 12° the other day. I have the wing in a non heated shed in the back yard as I do not have a garage where I live. so far I have not had the chance to go out there and investigate because the snow is blocking the door. I am going to get out there and start her up some time this week for sure, I will report back and let everyone know if anything happened.
It was out there last year and everything was fine once the weather got better but it did not get below zero F last year, and prior to 2007 I had a heated garage.

1. what is the coldest your GW has been in not running?

2. What was the coldest temp when you started the engine?

3. Did anything go wrong as a result of the extreme cold?

4. Did you have the factory filled anti-freeze in there?

Thanks everyone in advance for the input.

 

[OrangeCrush]

All of my bikes are in an unheated garage, and always have been. I think the coldest that the OrangeCrush endured was in the -20 range ... as that's the coldest I remember it being in the 11 years I've been in Michigan. My Oldwing, an '82 Aspencade survived some -40 days without a problem.
As long as you have the factory coolant still installed, it should be no problem ... the battery is the only real sensitive (to cold) thing you have. If it's on a Battery Tender, you have no worries at all.
I tend NOT to go out and start the bikes unless I plan to ride them, because not warming up sufficiently can lead to early failure of your exhaust system (from rust).

 

[071800]

My 86 1200 lived in an unheated garage for the six years I owned it. My 07 has been in the same unheated garage for the last two. Both kept on a battery tender through the winter and were never started until it was time to ride in the spring.
Never any problems.

 

[bjcarter2]

I have to agree with OrangeCrush; just let it be. Unless you allow it to run up to full operating temp and then some, you really haven't done anything except ease your mind.

The condensation that will be created internally during cool down is your enemy.

As long as the coolant was good you should be fine. If you don't have a battery tender, at least disconnect the battery and bring it inside.

We leave cars out all the time. I have never had a car damaged by a hard freeze and we see -30F during the winter. Hard to start; yes...damaged; no. Residents of Interior Alaska on the other hand likely can't say that.

 

[sammisgrammy]

We're probably in the same cold snap as you are, and we were below -10 for a couple of days. I haven't fired the wing, and I have no plans to do so until I'm ready to ride. I have mine hooked to a Battery Tender, moth balls surrounding it, and some Decon in the corner, just in case some rat tries to be defiant. Today I did shovel a path to the shed and the bike is still where I left it, so life is good. Mine is not winterized in any way, ie no Stabil or Seafoam, but I have no doubt that it will fire to life when called upon

 

[PeterGB]

My 1800 is new this year but its already been in -35, My previous VTX spent last winter on a battery tender during temps as low as -44 for days at a time. Come spring it fired up like a dream first turn of the key

 

[GWTony]

Thanks everyone!
I did start it last night and let it warm up, from what I am reading here I should have just left it alone, and I can verify that the exhaust even with proper ventilation will produce a lot of moisture. I put the space heater on for a short time after it ran, not sure if that did anything good or bad. I do not have a tender on the battery, but I will put it on tonight.

Thanks again.
The reason I asked some of these questions was more about the fork seals and rear shock, I had a V65 Magna that was stored in the cold only one year and the fork seals started leaking after that, also a co worker with a 2006 GSXR 1000 had his for seals leaking a tiny bit after last winter (2nd year he had the bike) the fork seals leaked just a tiny bit for about 3 weeks and then stopped.

this was not a concern as last year I installed the gold valve kit along with all new bushing and seals. That was done in early Feb.
Huge improvement BTW

 

[tourman]

Be sure you have anti mouse measures in the shed & on the bike

Those nasty little critters love nesting in bikes & chewing on bike wires

 

[GWTony]

So what do you guys suggest to prevent rodents?
I guess what I am asking is: What works well in the cold?

 

[sammisgrammy]

So what do you guys suggest to prevent rodents?
I guess what I am asking is: What works well in the cold?

Tony......I scatter moth balls in the shed and put a container of Decon out just in case they defy the moth balls. I've never seen any sign of a rodent near the bike

 

[Rackets]

1800

Hello all!

I have a couple of questions for some of you out there.
I live in northern Ohio and do not have a heated garage to keep my bike in anymore, it got down to about minus 12° the other day. I have the wing in a non heated shed in the back yard as I do not have a garage where I live. so far I have not had the chance to go out there and investigate because the snow is blocking the door. I am going to get out there and start her up some time this week for sure, I will report back and let everyone know if anything happened.
It was out there last year and everything was fine once the weather got better but it did not get below zero F last year, and prior to 2007 I had a heated garage.

1. what is the coldest your GW has been in not running? -35

2. What was the coldest temp when you started the engine? 20

3. Did anything go wrong as a result of the extreme cold? No

4. Did you have the factory filled anti-freeze in there? Yes

Thanks everyone in advance for the input.
__________________

 

[IBTrike]

Hello all!

I have a couple of questions for some of you out there.
I live in northern Ohio and do not have a heated garage to keep my bike in anymore, it got down to about minus 12° the other day. I have the wing in a non heated shed in the back yard as I do not have a garage where I live. so far I have not had the chance to go out there and investigate because the snow is blocking the door. I am going to get out there and start her up some time this week for sure, I will report back and let everyone know if anything happened.
It was out there last year and everything was fine once the weather got better but it did not get below zero F last year, and prior to 2007 I had a heated garage.

1. what is the coldest your GW has been in not running?

2. What was the coldest temp when you started the engine?

3. Did anything go wrong as a result of the extreme cold?

4. Did you have the factory filled anti-freeze in there?

Thanks everyone in advance for the input.

Pretty simple....

1. Fill gas tank about 3/4 full. Add appropriate amount of StaBil.
2. Run engine for a few minutes to distribute Stabil through fuel system.
3. Store bike on center stand.
4. Connect a battery MAINTAINER directly to the battery
5. If you have mice around, scatter mothballs around wheels and a couple boxes of DCon close by.
6. Optional ....Loosely cover bike with breathable cover.
7. Walk away.

Factory coolant 50-50 mix should be good to well below zero...same as your car.

DO NOT START BIKE until you are ready to ride come spring.

Come spring....

1. Disconnect charger.
2. Hold throttle WIDE OPEN and crank engine for about 5 seconds. This will prevent engine from starting but will build oil pressure and distribute some oil to dry bearings before it fires.
3. Release throttle back to idle. Fire it up.
4. Ride

By the way...you did change the oil and filter before storing so it doesn't sit all winter with dirty oil in it didn't you?

 

[Alan]

My 02 is always outside.I started it the other day at about 1 degree.It started fine.I forgot to cover it so it is now coverd with snow.I will clean off the snow in the morning.

 

[OrangeCrush]

GWTony, I rather doubt that you'll resolve anything by putting a space heater out there made any difference at all. The problem is the same as with a car ... if you do not run it sufficiently to have heated veerything up properly (I think they still say that you need to drive your car a minimum of 5 miles), then condensation is a problem. ALL fuel has some trapped water, and this condenses in your exhaust system unless everything is hot enough to evaporate AND expell it. Running a bike to "warm it up" without actually putting on some miles is unlikely to do the trick. So, most of us do not run the engine until we're ready to ride.

The only time I have had mouse problems is on my OldWing which had a custom seat - velour top. While winterizing, I had been dipping into a bag of black jellybeans ... and left them on the doggone seat when I covered the bike up. Mice ate the jellybeans and a hole in the seat. Other than that ... I've had Goldwings (and other bikes) parked in outside unheated garages for over 30 years and never had a problem with the mice eating the bikes ... or even nesting in them (unless you have a warm engine, LOL)

 

[1947rider]

My single experience concerning starting up a bike in winter left a lasting impression I'll never forget. In the 70's I worked in a Honda shop (in Illinois). One of our salesmen who was not at all mechanically inclined and rarely ever changed the oil in his CB750 started up his bike in the middle of January just to see if it would start(no real reason). About two weeks later, during a nice warm spell, he went out to take a little spin on it. It would not turn over. He brought the bike to the shop and we tried to turn it over with a wrench on the end of the crankshaft....locked solid. To shorten the story, when he started it earlier, he had pumped all the nasty chemicals and crud throughout the engine and shut it off before adequate heat would boil out the residue. When we took the engine apart, the pistons were chemically welded into the cylinders and three of us had to take a 5 pound sledge hammer and a block of wood to move the pistons. It took over an hour to get all four pistons out (normally a few minutes). Fortunately we were able to hone the cylinders smooth, but new pistons were required. In just two weeks time the nasty crud in the dirty oil had welded the pistons to the cylinders.I have seen a similar thing with a Yamaha RD 350 two stroke. The owner wrapped the bike up tightly with plastic for the winter. The atmospheric warming and cooling effects caused condensation in the crank cases and caused the piston rings to rust to the cylinder walls. There needs to be adequate ventilation or the inside of the crankcases creates its own atmosphere and moisture gets trapped internally causing rust and corrosion, etc. I hope these true incidences help someone remember how devastating midwinter startups and plastic covers can be and prevents the heartbreak of a stuck engine.

 

[GWTony]

I recall back when I was a kid my dad got a 2 stroke dirtbike for free that was locked up, the piston was stuck in the cylinder. (no sure how he knew)
Anyhow he removed the head and filled the cylinder with liquid wrench and after some time he would whack the piston and eventually it did move.

So that is what caused that problem???

Alright I will leave it alone, but I do have to admit the oil in her is not new, I have about 3000 miles on that oil, it's Mobil one motorcycle oil, not real dirty looking on the stick (I know that does not mean anything)
Do you think I should change it and then do the wide open throttle crank with no start to just coat everything?

Actually that brings another question to everyone....
If you store you bike with the new oil, do you change it after winter?

 

[1947rider]

Tony...I'm pretty cheap, but I don't want a bad decision on my part to cause an equipment malfunction. Opinions are like noses...everyone's got one. Myself, I would never dump out oil I had just put in fresh right before winter storage. Just make sure when you fire it up the first time you take it out for a nice ride....personally I'd probably go 30 miles at highway speeds anyway. If the bike had set for all 4 seasons or more, then yes by all means change it.