| Author | Message | ||
     Nevco1 |
Dana...Glad to hear there is at least one other dedicated biker in WI. The pic I saw of your bride on the new Blast was fantastic. Have seen her smile before, but never like that!!! Pray for Global Warming.  | ||
| Lake_bueller |
Make that 2 dedicated WI riders  I got a short ride in myself. Then went home and gave the baby a good washing. | ||
| Dynarider |
3. I had to jump start mine as the battery was completely dead. But still got in about an hrs ride. | ||
| Nevco1 |
Yep, sure was a good day riding but it looks like two of the enthusiastic types must have had a wee bit of Holiday Cheer last night and can't count. Bill + Dana + Dennis + Gregg = 4 Enthusiastic riders on the road today!  | ||
| Bads1 |
Damn windy as HELL outside right now.Wonder what the weather brings us tomorrow,anybody know would love to ride one more time. | ||
| Bomber |
5 . . . . .I touched Wisconsin (although not for long) . . . .. . good ride (no such thing as a bad one, I'm thinking, specially this time of year | ||
| Nevco1 |
Interesting, glad to hear not everyone puts their bike to bed for the winter. Nice thing about my X1 is with the exception of the PM Wheels, there isn't much to be concerned about damage from the road salts. Still wish I had my old KLR650 for tooling around in the winter. Nothing like a Dirty Street Bike to play in all sorts of crud. Plus, they are virtually bullet proof even if they end up in the horizontal. | ||
| Doughnut |
How often should I go to the garage a start up the bike in winter, how long should I let it run? Some many new things I need to learn. | ||
| Mikej |
Doughguy, Rule of thumb: if you're not going to run the bike long enough for the engine and tranny/primary oil/lube to warm up enough to burn off or evaporate any moisture then don't bother to start it in the first place. Warming it up just a little will tend to suck in condensation from the outside colder air and come springtime your lubricants could potentially look something like Hershey's milk chocolate. If you're not going to ride it then don't start it. If you do start it then ride it long enough to get all the fluids up to operating temps. For example, a few years ago, in January, the outside temp was somewhere between 0°-10°F. It was sunny so I decided to go for a ride. Rode from Hartland to downtown Milwaukee, dethawed in front of a grocery store restroom hot air hand dryer, rode home via the lakefront and a meandering route back to Hartland. Probably never did get all the fluids up to full operating temps, but did get many of my personal fluids well below operating temps. But hey, it was fun. IMHO, YMMV, other disclaimers apply as applicable or needed to keep me out of trouble. | ||
| Nevco1 |
I subscribe to Mike's theory of don't start it unless you plan on riding it. Then a good rule of thumb is to let it warm up until you can't put your hand on the rocker box before you take off. Has to do with expanding the metals and gaskets in order to prevent creating a leak in the rocker box gasket, a well documented HD/Buell malady. | ||
| Bomber |
Dougnut Agree w/Mike . . . the reason is, primarily, to heat up the oils (crank and gearbox) up to the point where the condensation/H20 that forms gets burned off . . . . . short stints of running tend to leave lots of moisture throughout the lube system, with combines with the nasty combustion by-products (acids, in large part) to really accelerate the bad things that happen in your motor . . . . . .. . of course, if you have a block heater installed, never mind! | ||
| Lake_bueller |
Doughnut....Things to do for the winter: Get bike up to good temp. Change fluids (oil & primary) Wash and dry (I prefer using compressed air to get water out of the nooks and crannies) Remove the battery Kiss her goodnight Cover Wait 'til spring If you plan on riding at all over the winer, heed the good advise of the above posts. | ||
| Nevco1 |
And if you do ride it...don't forget to wash and dry it thoroughly. The road salt has a way of ruining anything shiny, including aluminum and non-coated steel. | ||
| Mikej |
That's a good trick in itself, washing a bike in the middle of winter in Wisconsin.  | ||
| Nevco1 |
No kidding. Unless you have one of those new homes with a heated garage with hot'n'cold running water and a floor drain, you are doomed to fetching buckets of fresh water from inside. | ||
| Doughnut |
So, If I am going to ride, how long would it take everything to get up to normal operation temps.? Hoping to ride on Christmas day in my Santa suit. | ||
| Lake_bueller |
"Then a good rule of thumb is to let it warm up until you can't put your hand on the rocker box before you take off." That sounds about right  | ||
| Dullorb |
That takes about fifteen hours. So you should plan on starting it up in the garage the night before and let it warm up overnight. You'll probably need to stay in the garage because when you're starting it and it's cold it has a bad habit of dying before it is warmed up. If you get tired and fall asleep don't worry, just make sure you lie down with your head very near the exhaust so you'll wake up when it dies. Also very important to make sure that all the doors and windows are closed to keep the cold air out because that slows down the warm up time and if you have time you should go around the outside of your garage with a caulking gun to make sure there are no cracks that are letting in Chistmas morning she'll be ready to ride. | ||
| Doughnut |
Dullorb, need I remind you that I owe you money? Are you giving me permission to die before repayment. You know I have nothing of value except the bike, and the bank will take that.  | ||
| Mikej |
 (I think I've been missing a good show by not being at any of the BRAG meetings.) |
