Winterising or Short trip Riding?

    I am not going to ride the K75s during this winter, so I was thinking about ''winterising'' the bike. Alternatively, I could avoid the former procedure and ride her for short periods of time, approximtelly a quarter of an hour around the block in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear, once every couple weeks, in order for the fluids to go around the crucial parts. Do you reckon it's a good idea? Are these short trips in low gear going to hurt the motorcycle ? How often should I change engine oil and gear oil under these conditions? The bike is otherwise kept in a dry interior garage space.


    Thank you for your patience


    Stavros
    K75s 1989 (128.000kms)

    The most critical part of a machine element and its lubrication is the beginning portion when they're still cold. Machine elements (including the oil) are designed to work best at working temperatures which are reached after a certain time. Metal expands, the oil is reaching its designated viscosity and oil additives begin to do what they're designed to do (friction modifiers, anti wear, anti oxidants, ...). All of this is taken into account by the designer of the tribological system (engine, gear box, final drive, even clutch, ...).


    At lower temperatures (before this working temperature is reached) the machine elements experience the highest tribological stress ever.


    So what you are doing when you wake up Sleeping Beauty out of her sleep, you ride her in a state in which she is most vulnurable. And the moment all the machine elements are finally starting to reach the designated temperatures you already shut'er down. All the moisture, all the acids that are expelled at higer temperatures are now in the oil and do their dirty work. And you repeat this process every couple of days?!


    That for sure is the fastest way of killing any machine!


    Take'er for a last spin, exchange all oils, reload the battery, protect all electrical contacts and let'er sleep until spring!


    Do not start her up until you really mean to go for a (real) ride...

    Make sure the battery is fully loaded before you hit the rtarter knob after winter! This helps to protect the starter relay...

    Don't worry too much: store the bike in a bry place, not too hot nor too cool (avoid freezing if possible) kepp the battery charged ... if you like to worry more: keep both typres away from the ground and wait for the spring to come. Then fire her up, drive her for quite a while and change the engine pil and filter...that's about it!
    Short trips in the wintertime might collect salt, wetness and other stuff on the bike, which you do not want.
    Short trip driving might not heat the oil enough to make water evaporate completely, which you might not want.
    Short trip driving might rather discharge the battery than charge it, which you might not want.


    :D

  • Dieses Thema enthält 4 weitere Beiträge, die nur für registrierte Benutzer sichtbar sind, bitte registrieren Sie sich oder melden Sie sich an um diese lesen zu können.

Jetzt mitmachen!

Sie haben noch kein Benutzerkonto auf unserer Seite? Registrieren Sie sich kostenlos und nehmen Sie an unserer Community teil!

Benutzerkonto erstellen Anmelden