Understanding Ethanol Related Fuel Problems

Written by: Biker Chad

    We all have seen the signs and stickers on gas pumps everywhere stating that there is 10% ethanol added to our gasoline.  This Mixture of 90% gasoline and 10% ethanol is often referred to as E10 or “gasohol”.   We usually just fill our tanks up and go not ever giving a thought to what effects burning the added ethanol in our engines may have.  Does ethanol damage engines?  Do you lose power, performance, and MPG with ethanol?  I have been asked these questions and many more at our bike shop numerous times.  In this article I will try to answer these questions and tell you how to combat ethanol related engine problems.  So read on and study hard, there may be a pop quiz later. 

    Why is ethanol added to our fuel in the first place?  The answer to this question goes back to amendments made to the “Clean Air Act” in 1990.  This amendment stated that gasoline be oxygenated to cut down on Carbon Monoxide emissions.  The first additive that was used to do this was Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MBTE).  MBTE had a very strong turpentine smell and it turned out to be proven to contaminate ground water.  Little is known about the long term health hazards from exposure to MBTE contamination in our water.  MBTE had been used for this as early as 1979 in some states as a replacement for the lead in leaded gasoline, however due to MBTE polluting ground water it was replaced by ethanol around the year 2000.  I worked at a small engine repair shop when MBTE was added to our gasoline.  Our shop went from one full time and one full time mechanic to three mechanics working overtime to keep up with repairing damaged engines.  It should be noted that gasoline with MBTE and gasoline with ethanol should not be mixed as this can cause precipitates that clog fuel filters and carburetors.

    Are there positive effects of ethanol in our gasoline?  Additives like MBTE or ethanol are used as an Oxygenate in gasoline.  Adding an Oxygenate like MBTE or Ethanol into gasoline reduces Carbon Monoxide emissions thus reducing pollution but this reduction in pollution is really only noticed in engines that have a carburetor and are not computer controlled by a “closed loop” EFI computer system.  Any vehicle that has Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) uses at least one oxygen sensor to analyze the exhaust allowing the vehicle’s computer to make adjustments to control emissions so they benefit very little from an ethanol mixed fuel as far as an emissions reduction goes.  The main reason ethanol has been added to our gasoline stems from the Bush administration’s push to reduce America’s dependency on foreign oil so the result is 10% ethanol is added to dilute gasoline to cut down on the amount of gasoline consumed and help reduce the amount of foreign oil consumed. 

What are the negative effects of using ethanol in our engines?  There are five major problems that I know of from ethanol in our gasoline;

1.       Debris in fuel / premature fuel breakdown.  It is almost impossible to empty all of the fuel from any engine system so there is always old fuel somewhere in any fuel system.  Straight gasoline starts to deteriorate around 30-60 days and ethanol fuels break down even faster than straight gasoline.   When gasoline breaks down leaving gum and varnish in fuel tanks, fuel lines, carburetors, etc.  Ethanol is also a great cleaner of gums, varnishes, dirt and the rust that water in the fuel creates.  That is why ethanol is used in almost every bottle of carb / injector cleaner on the market.  So when you fill up your tank you introduce fresh ethanol to run through your fuel system and it will dissolve the deposits running all that crud through the engine’s fuel system clogging fuel filters, injectors, and carburetors.  Clogged fuel filters will drop fuel pressures telling the regulator to work the electric fuel pump harder to keep the fuel pressure up.  This will burn out fuel pumps.   Gummed up carburetors and fuel injectors all lead to poor performance and all of this leads to hefty repair bills.  Considering you never really know how long the E10 sits at the refinery in a holding tank before it gets transported to the pump station to sit in the underground storage tank just to be purchased by you to sit in your tank before being burned in the engine, break down of the E10 gasohol fuel can be a real issue. 

2.       Water in fuel.  Pure gasoline does not absorb water but ethanol will.  Ethanol is hydrophollic this means it pulls moisture from the air and bonds with it.  In ideal conditions E10 gasohol will keep roughly .5% water by volume is suspended in gasoline.  Our fuel tanks and fuel storage cans are hardly ideal conditions as they need to be vented allowing the ethanol to absorb more moisture from the atmosphere or in the form of condensation.  Ethanol never truly bonds with gasoline molecules it is a loose mixture at best so when the threshold of .5% water is exceeded or the E10 gasohol mixture cools off every night the water / ethanol solution falls out of suspension in the gasoline.  Oil and gasoline float on water as they are lighter than water so the water /ethanol mixture will stay at the bottom of your fuel tank.  The process of the water and ethanol separating from the gasoline and sinking to the bottom is called “Phase Separation”.  Phase Separation is a real problem because the water from the bottom of the tank is sucked up and sent to the engine it causes a lean condition raising the engine temperature causing valve damage, carburetor, fuel lines and electronic fuel injection pumps pull fuel from the bottom of the tanks where the ethanol / water mix stays and water doesn’t burn well in the engine leading to premature engine / fuel system corrosion and poor engine performance.  It gets worse, ethanol and water mix in E10 gasoline is a breeding ground for microbes like bacteria and fungi which just adds to the corrosion and debris in your fuel system.

3.       Loss of power, octane rating, performance and mileage from E10 gasohol.  Contrary to what most people believe, higher octane gas does not make your engine more powerful.  Only if your engine is built for performance or racing with a higher compression rating do you will need to use a higher octane gasoline.  Your vehicle manufacturer tells you what octane rating to use depending on your vehicle’s requirements.  This information can be found in the vehicle owner’s manual, on the fuel door or gas cap.   At the pump you typically have three choices of octane ratings use gasoline that has an octane ratings from 87 (lowest), 89 (mid-grade), and 91 or 92 (premium) this is due to a few factors, but it is mainly relevant to the compression rating of your engine.  The higher the compression the higher the octane required.  This is due to the fact that gasoline and air mixture heats up as the piston moves on the compression stroke gasoline will ignite before the spark plug fires.  This is called pre-ignition and it will damage the engine.  Octane prevents this by slowing down the burn rate from an early damaging explosion to a slower more controlled burn.  Pure ethanol has an octane rating of 113, so adding ethanol will raise the octane rating of gasoline.  The gasoline blender has to take this into consideration and uses a lower octane base gasoline so when the ethanol is added you don’t get a higher octane fuel.  Now what happens is this; you purchase E10 gasohol with an octane rating of 87, phase separation occurs and as the ethanol sinks to the bottom of the tank the octane rating in the gasoline actually gets lowered to around 82 to 84.  This is too low for a gasoline powered engine to run efficiently and causes loss of power and engine damaging pre-ignition.  Ethanol produces about 34% less energy than the same amount one gallon of gasoline so in an E10 mixture you will lose 3% - 5% of your horse power and MPG.

4.      Ethanol is corrosive.  Ethanol is an excellent solvent and will clean all of the gunk and grime that an engine will accumulate but these same strong cleaning qualities can lead to trouble for your engine.  As I had stated earlier in this article ethanol is a great cleaner and this alone can cause issues as it dislodges built up dirt sending harmful and filter clogging particles through your fuel system and engine.  Ethanol is also a drying agent and can disintegrate plastic, rubber, some types of fiber glass, aluminum and magnesium.  Ethanol is most corrosive to ferrous metals (metals that contain iron, such as steel).  This corrosion leaves behind salt deposits and a jelly like substance, both of which can clog fuel filters, fuel pumps and carburetors.  Ethanol also burns at a higher temperature than gasoline causing damage to pistons.  Any car or truck that is not a “Flex Fuel” vehicle is most likely not equipped with ethanol resistant parts and even less small engines like lawn mowers; motorcycles etc. are equipped with ethanol resistant parts.  Marine motors and ethanol just do not get along at all due to the high water content in their operating environment. Due to the high damage rate and risk of marine motors developing polluting gasohol leaks from ethanol damage, a lot of marinas are currently offering ethanol free gasoline.  According to the FAA ethanol is forbidden in airplane fuels (excluding air craft licensed as experimental).  Using E10 in 2 cycle outdoor power equipment (weed whackers, chainsaws, etc.) can seize motors and most manufacturers will not honor warranties on their equipment if E10 is used.  E10 is bad enough, but if E15 is put into place we can expect severe damage to any vehicle not equipped like an E85 Flex Fuel vehicle.  Please consider that the levels of ethanol are not closely monitored by most gas stations, but you can purchase inexpensive ethanol test kits to be sure the ethanol percentage is not over 10%.    

    When it comes to using ethanol unfortunately we do not have a choice, unless you are lucky enough to live in an area that still has real gasoline available at the pumps.  Total prevention of ethanol problems is almost impossible, but there are some things we can do to minimize the problems and damage ethanol can cause. 

1.      Every time you fill your fuel tank, be sure to use a fuel stabilizer like STA-BIL or Amsoil Gasoline Stabilizer even if you are not planning on storing the machine or fuel.  These stabilizers work by stabilizing otherwise unstable aromatic hydrocarbons and preventing microbial growth in the gasoline.  If left untreated gasoline goes bad as fast as two weeks.  Stabilized gasoline can last a year or two depending on storage conditions.  Properly stored gasoline should be mixed with a fuel stabilizer, stored in a properly labeled plastic gasoline container, away from any ignition sources, in a cool dry place, and if stored on cement floor place a piece of plywood on top of cement.  Rotate and use any gas that is in storage regularly to keep storage time to a minimum.

2.      Keep any fuel tanks around 90% – 95% to prevent condensation but still allow for expansion and contraction.  

3.      Change fuel filters every year, or at the least every other year.  Keep in mind some vehicles can have more than one fuel filter.

4.      For seasonally stored small engines (lawn mowers, motorcycles, chain saws, weed whackers etc.) always add a fuel stabilizer in the fuel.  Be sure to run the motor long enough to get the stabilizer through the entire fuel system including the carburetor or fuel injection.  After storage be sure to add Amsoil Quick Shot before running the machine to prevent ethanol damage before the first use.  Quick Shot is specially formulated for these types of small engines.  This information is especially important for any 2 cycle motor as they are VERY susceptible to ethanol damage.

5.      Adding an octane booster may seem like a good idea to combat the octane drop E10 can have when it deteriorates but keep in mind that a lot of fuel additives like injector cleaner, carburetor cleaner, almost all octane boosters contain ethanol alcohol, methanol alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, or other forms of alcohol and adding these to your E10 gasohol can raise the alcohol content and this is a VERY BAD idea.  Be careful what you add to your fuel tank.  A better idea would be to purchase the appropriate octane level that your engine requires at the pump and treat it with a stabilizer to prevent gasohol deterioration and octane loss.

6.      Buy your gasoline from new modern gas stations whenever possible as they will have new storage tanks.  Gasoline is stored underground at gas stations and older gas stations may have rotting storage tanks that allow water to seep in.  

7.      Inspect fuel lines every so often, like when an oil change is performed, or when washing the vehicle.  As we learned rubber, plastic, and even steel and aluminum can be damaged by ethanol.  Leaking fuel lines can lead to a vehicle fire.

More Sound, More Power, Less Money

(A stage one project)

Part I

Written by: Biker Chad

    Before I start this article I would like to say thank you to all of you who have e-mailed me your questions, compliments, ideas, and criticisms.  I really appreciate all of your input.  After reading all of my e-mails, there seemed to be a common theme in a lot of the questions. To answer these questions, I wrote this article. 

    The stage one consist of installing: free flowing mufflers or entire exhaust, a high flowing filter assembly or replacement air filter, and some method of getting more fuel to the firing chamber by modifying the fuel injection or carburetor.  A stage one is also the most cost effective way to get more torque and horse power out of a stock Harley Engine. 

    Unfortunately the addition of fuel injection has a lot of bikers too afraid to modify their bikes, because they do not fully understand what to do.  There is also a lot of incorrect information and false scare tactics used to keep you in the dark about all of this.  I will try to dispel some of the rumors and educate you as best I can.  With that in mind, I will say that even my opinion is just that, an opinion.  Every one will tell you what they think you should buy.  It is up to you to do your homework, remember knowledge is power. 

    In this article I will cover the first thing all Harley owners do to their new bikes, change mufflers.  Every one wants that classic Harley rumble and the stock pipes are just too quiet.  There are tons of mufflers and after market exhaust for sale out there.  I will (for the sake of keeping cost down) rule out an entire exhaust system, and discuss just “slip on” mufflers.  A slip on muffler is called such as it is as simple to replace them as; loosening the muffler clamp, unbolting the muffler hangers to slip off the old muffler and then slipping on the new muffler.

    Why should you replace your stock mufflers with an aftermarket free flow muffler?  Stock mufflers slow down the flow of the exhaust with a baffle design that forces it through twists, turns, and some dead ends before it can exit the muffler.  This is done mainly for one reason, to quiet the sound of your engine.  The downside to the stock muffler is it slows down the exit of very hot spent gasses from your engine, which can cut as much as five horsepower from you engine’s output.  Considering a stock TC88 motor only has around 53 HP out of the box, losing 5 to a restrictive muffler is a big deal.  The other main reasons people change their bike’s mufflers is, to gain the powerful rumble that a Harley is known for and to change the look from the cookie cutter stock mufflers.

    No matter the look all aftermarket slip on mufflers do the same thing, allow the exhaust to exit as fast as possible via a straight thru baffle design.  This gains you around five horsepower over stock, and gives you the classic Harley rumble we all love.

    Some slip on muffler manufacturers do not offer a choice of baffle sizes or “changeable” baffles and some manufacturers do offer changeable baffles.  The size of the baffle is the inside diameter that the exhaust will run through.  The larger the size, the less restriction the exhaust has on the way out of the muffler.  The larger the size, the louder the exhaust is.  Too large of a baffle is not good for your engine however; as you need some backpressure to keep the low end torque that a Harley is loved for.  A straight through two-inch baffle is sufficient for most stock engines.

    If all you want out of your bike is sound and a few more ponies, a slip on muffler with a straight through baffle is all you need.  As far as the baffle size goes, if you only plan on adding slip on mufflers you should not go any larger than two-inches.  Any larger than two inches and you will risk running the bikes engine too lean and will have to add fuel with a dealer down load or an E.F.I. modification box.  If you add a slip on muffler and a high flow air filter, you again will need to add fuel to the engine or risk running the bike too lean.  Running the bike too lean raises the engine’s operating temperature, ruining the oil, robbing power and generally shortening the motor’s life.  A common sign of an engine running too lean / hot is your mufflers will blue and yellow.

    In the next part of this article, I will talk about installing the next part of our stage one project. 

Ride smart, Biker Chad.

Running Hot part II

Written by: Biker Chad

    In the last installment I discussed some of the high temp issues that all Harley riders face and the main factors that effect our engine running temps.  The first thing I talked about was the way moving air helps cool our engines.  There are not a lot of options to keep air moving over our engines except to keep the bike moving.  I often shut my bike down if I am caught at idle for a long time, like a train or traffic jam etc.  I do know a few companies that offer parade fans to mount on your bike.  I don’t put much merit into these fans, the help they may give is outweighed by the price of the purchase in my opinion.  If you pull a lot of parade duty I could almost justify it, but I think there are better things to do to cool down your bike.

    First, high quality synthetic engine oils can do wonders to lower your bike temperature.  You may have heard untrue stories of how synthetic oils can hurt your engine or make your clutch slip.  Hear are some of the ones I have heard. 

    I hear rumors about a louder ticking in an engine when synthetic oil is used.  This is supposedly due to some synthetic oils being slightly thinner than their fossil oil counter parts.  As long as I match the weight of the synthetic oil to the weight recommended by your bikes manufacturer, I have honestly never noticed this on any bike I have used synthetic oils in myself. 

    Next, I hear people talk about clutch slippage when using synthetic oil in their primary.  This can be true, but not because synthetics are bad.  It is due to most synthetic oils having a friction modifier in them, although this is good in your engine it may cause the clutch plates to slip sometimes.  As long as you make sure to use synthetic oil in the primary that does not contain friction modifiers (Amsoil does not use any friction modifiers in there oil), you will get no slip along with a cooler, happier running primary.

    As far as the transmission goes, good synthetic oil will allow a smoother, quieter shift, a cooler transmission temperature, and prolong the life of your transmission. 

    Another question I hear is, “will it void my warranty to use a synthetic oil.”  The answer is no, it will not void your warranty to use a synthetic oil (so long as it is the proper weight that is recommended by your bike manufacturer,) you cannot void your warranty.  If you don’t believe me Google search the Magnusson Moss Act.

    People have asked me if you have to use a special oil filter when you use synthetic oil.  The answer is no. The only difference in the filters is that a synthetic designed filter has a larger filtration surface.  This is due to synthetic oils lasting longer than fossil oils, so the filter has to last longer too.  A regular filter will work fine, but it may require you to change the regular filter before the synthetic oil needs to be changed.

    If cost is the barrier that keeps you from using synthetic oils consider this.  The higher cost of synthetic oil is way out weighed by the benefits of using it.  When things like the longevity of your engine being increased, the fact that synthetic oils last longer between changes (as long as the filter gets changed regularly,) and better fuel economy are entered into the equation, synthetic oils are much, much cheaper in the long run.  So I really have to say there is no reason not to use a quality, full synthetic oil.

    So what synthetic oil do I recommend?  Amsoil all the way, now remember I do not get paid to say this by Amsoil to recommend their products, I just believe that Amsoil is one of the very best oils out there.  I know for a fact that using Amsoil in my engine, primary, and transmission has lowered my engine’s internal temp. by about 15 degrees.  I have had friends tell me they dropped engine temps by almost 20 degrees using Amsoil!  That is a huge difference.

    Now that you know that synthetic oil will defiantly keep your engine, primary, and transmission cooler, while helping them last longer.  We can move on to discuss some other things to help cool off the Harley V-twin engine.

    Even when running great synthetic oil like Amsoil in your engine’s crankcase you can still go one step further to help your engine stay cool.  I always run, and recommend to every Harley owner that you run an oil cooler.  There are a lot of companies that offer oil coolers, so how do you pick one? 

    First, the more surface area you have on the oil cooler the more effective it will be at cooling the oil.  Six-row oil coolers help a lot, I recommend an eight-row cooler, ten-row oil coolers can be better still.  Keep in mind however, too many rows can drop oil pressure, this is why I recommend an eight-row cooler.  On built up engines with a high volume oil pump pressure drop from larger oil coolers should not be a factor.

    Second, good oil coolers need to mix the oil to keep it at a uniform temperature, and evenly disperse the oil in the cooler.  This is achieved by use of a “turbolator” in the oil cooler.  Make sure any oil cooler you get has a “turbolator” feature.

    Third, an oil cooler needs a thermostat.  It is possible to over-cool your oil.  Over-cooling can be as bad as being too hot, or worse.  An oil cooler thermostat works by only letting the oil flow into the cooler when it needs to be cooled, thus keeping the oil from over-cooling in colder weather.  So make sure you get a thermostat with any oil cooler you buy.

    There are several manufacturers out there that make oil coolers for Harley engines.  Jagg and Harley-Davidson are the two I like most.  Both are close in price, design and function.  I seem to install Harley’s oil cooler more often only because it comes with a thermostat in the kit.  With a Jagg cooler you need to purchase a thermostat separately, I have used both and recommend either manufacturer. 

    Oil coolers do work best when you are moving as it relies on moving air to cool it, just like your engine.  However when you are not moving, the added surface area of the cooler will still help to keep the oil temps down better than no cooler at all.  A smart guy would figure out how to incorporate a fan to blow air thru the oil cooler, much like a car’s radiator fan (maybe we just found a good use for the parade fan Harley sells!)  Either way, oil cooler technology has come a long way since the days when we used to take the transmission oil coolers from junked cars and mount them on bikes for home made coolers.

     Oil coolers are relatively easy to install for the at home mechanic, I do believe it is a job you can do yourself to save some money.  Just be sure to purchase a 7/16” Alan wrench before you do the install.

    Once your oil cooler is installed you should check the oil level after you fill and run the bike till it reaches normal operating temperature.  This will ensure you have not under filled the crankcase due the cooler being filled with oil. 

Ride smart, Biker Chad

Running Hot Part I

Written by: Biker Chad

    In this article I would like to address an issue that a lot of my fellow Harley riders are faced with.  Running too hot!!  We all know our engines feel hot to us but how hot are they actually running?  It is not uncommon for a TC88 (twin cam 88 cubic inch) motor to reach temps of 230 - 260 degrees during periods of idle.  I know that the TC96 engines of late can run even hotter!  This can put an extreme strain on the oil and all the little metal bits that make up an engine.  The optimal running temperature for your engine is around 195 – 210 degrees. 

    Most of us will never know how hot we run because there are almost no Harleys that come stock from the factory with an oil temperature gauge, however Harley did fit our FLH and FLT models with an almost useless outside air temp gauge?  You can purchase a kit from Harley that will allow you to take out that useless outside air temp gauge and put in a useful oil temp gauge, the downside to this is it is around 300 bucks depending on where you purchase it, and it is beyond the realm of most shade tree mechanics to install at home.  So you will most likely end up forking out some more cash to pay your dealer to do it.  And after all that you would only see that you are running too hot and still have to spend more money to correct the problem.

    There is a slightly less expensive temp gauge option out there, you may purchase an oil dipstick with a digital read out that tells you your oil temp.  The downfall to that is, you will have to look down and try to read it from the seated position, or get off the bike to read it.  I don't see that as a good situation to be in while trying to ride through stop and go traffic.

    Now we need to understand the basics of an oil / air-cooled engine.  Without getting too far into greasy details of an internal combustion engine that is not liquid cooled (that is without a radiator and coolant) we need to understand that the Harley V-twin engine depends on two main things to keep it cool. 

    First: Moving air.  I say moving air because as we all have found out when we are stuck standing still for only a few seconds the temp of our engine seems to soar.  This is partly because heat rises so we feel it more as we sit above the engine at a stand still, but mostly because as the engine sits and runs at idle the air that was rushing thru the cooling fins on the outside of the motor's cylinders, or "jugs" as they are called, has stopped moving and is no longer carrying away the heat that the engine creates, allowing the engine temp to soar. 

    Second: Oil is your engine's lifeblood!  I cannot say enough about the importance of keeping your oil clean and cool.  The single most important thing you can do to save your engine from heat and prolong its life as a home mechanic is to change your oil often (at least as often as your owners manual tells you to.)  Use high quality full synthetic oil (like Amsoil) in engine, primary and transmission.  No, you may not go down to your local farm and barn and just run whatever is on sale!  Auto grade oils do not perform the same in modern hot running Harley V-twin engines as the recommended motorcycle oil, if there is no bike oil available, car oil is better than running your bike low or empty, but I still recommend getting to a bike shop ASAP to get the required motorcycle oil.  Every bike has its own oil needs so check your owner’s manual or ask a dealer what weight you should use.

    An oil change is useless without an oil filter change!  With the invention of high quality full synthetic oils lasting twice as long as conventional oils some people do not change the filter until they change the longer lasting oil thus making the filter work twice as long as it was designed to. Example: if your Synthetic oil lasts 6,000 miles without needing a change, I would recommend changing the filter at 3,000 miles. The filter cleans the oil by confining the contaminants the oil carries in it’s filtering media, when the filter is full of contaminants oil no longer gets filtered properly allowing dirt to circulate through the engine and slowing the vital flow of oil through the engine.  In short, your oil can't cool or lubricate what it can't get to.  It’s kind of like the arteries in your body, too many good old American cheeseburgers and deep fried goodies, and you have a clog in your body’s filter, you can get all the blood transfusions (oil changes) you want but it won't stop a heart attack from killing you.  Trust me your heart and your bike will thank you for that bit of info.  I will go into more on how to cool off your oil in the next installment of this series.   

    Another factor that contributes to a hotter running engine is the bike engine’s A.F.R. (air to fuel ratio.)  This is simply the amount of fuel your bike's fuel delivery system be it a carburetor or an E.F.I. (electronic fuel injection) will send to your firing chamber during the intake stroke.  Harley has to set its A.F.R. ratio on the lean side of things to meet emissions standards and to ensure the best mix of miles per gallon while still producing the most horsepower a stock bike can produce.  People often add aftermarket mufflers, high flow air filters thinking that they are adding performance and horsepower.   When in reality adding these things without getting you A.F.R. corrected to compensate for the added items makes the engine run even leaner and hotter than the already lean factory settings.  A factory engine needs more fuel even without adding a high flow air filter or high flow mufflers. 

As always ride smart my friends, Biker Chad    

Motorcycle Winterization (An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure).

By: Biker Chad

    Winter is here and most of us have put our bikes to sleep already, but did you properly prepare your bike for months of winter storage?  Here are some tips that I can offer to be sure that your bike will be ready for that first spring ride.

    The most common problem we fix each spring is dead batteries.  Without putting your battery on a charger through the winter it may not work at all in spring, and even if it does you have shortened the life of it drastically. 

    You shouldn’t just put your bike’s battery on any old charger; it should be a “smart” charger.  A smart charger will turn itself off when the battery is fully charged and then keep it charged without damaging the battery by overcharging.  These chargers run around $30.00 at any bike shop.  They usually come with a connector that you can leave hooked up to your battery all the time, so all you have to do is plug the charger in and forget it.  So lets review, $30.00 for a good charger paid by you once, or $70.00 – $150.00 for a new battery paid in spring? Sounds like a no-brainer when you look at it that way, doesn’t it.

    The second most common repair we do every spring, was carburetor rebuilds and fuel injector cleaning / replacements.  When you park your bike all winter with untreated gas in the tank, you are asking for trouble.  Within a few weeks gasoline will break down and gum up the fuel system if it is not treated, and the new reformulated gas is even worse at gumming up carburetors and fuel injectors.  This leads to some expensive rebuilds at the garage. 

    So before you store your bike for the winter, fill the gas tank to keep internal condensation of water to a minimum, and add a good fuel stabilizer (we recommend Amsoil Fuel Stabilizer).  Follow the directions on the bottle to get the correct mix ratio, slosh the tank around to mix the fuel / stabilizer mix.  With the stabilizer properly mixed you will need to run the bike to get the stabilizer into the whole fuel system. 

    If you have a fuel-injected bike, start the bike and run it until the engine gets to normal operating temperature (or longer) as this will get the stabilizer all the way through the injectors. 

    On a bike that has a carburetor (if you have a choke, you have a carburetor) start the bike, run it till it gets to operating temperature (or longer), and then turn the fuel supply to off leaving it run until the engines dies.  Now you have successfully taken care of the fuel system for the winter.  So again lets review.  Spend $10.00 for a bottle of fuel stabilizer, or a few hundred dollars at the garage to rebuild carburetors or to change gummed up injectors. It’s your call.

    I stuff steel wool or a shop rags into the end of my mufflers to keep moisture and rodents out of the exhaust, removing them before I start it in spring of course. 

    I keep my bike on a bike jack taking the weight off of the tires and suspension, as it will prolong the life of them.

    I change my engine oil before I park my bike for the winter, and again right after my first spring ride.  Keep in mind that starting your bike during the winter to let it run for a few minutes is not a good thing.  Running your bike for less than 20-30 minutes can actually do more bad than good; this is called “short tripping”.  When you fire up your bike and only run it for a few minutes the oil does not get hot enough to allow the condensation moisture in the engine to burn off and this can cause internal engine rust.     

    A thorough wash & dry followed by a detailed waxing of the paint and chrome before storage will keep the finishes protected all winter and looking good for a long time. 

    Last but not least, all that cleaning will be meaningless without a proper breathable bike cover to keep dust off.

    Its sounds like a lot to do, but by the time spring rolls around you will be ready to ride.  Instead of listening to everyone else ride by your house, as you wait for the repair shop to call.

    If any one needs any winterization products, smart battery chargers, etc please feel free to contact us at the Road Guardians compound as we can provide almost any motorcycle product needed through our S.O.S. store.  If you have any question on this or any other of my articles you may e-mail me anytime at bikerchad@roadguardians.org thank you.

     Rust Prevention:  A tip to help keep your chrome looking good is to wax it after washing and drying it.  That's right any automotive paint wax like “Turtle Wax” will keep water from pooling and rusting your chrome, sealing the elements out and protecting it to keep it looking good.