IMO, the best thing to do is not winterize your bike, unless is it going to sit for a very long time (or you don't have access to it, where it is stored). All the bikes I have ever owned I would just go out to the garage and run them for about 20 minutes every week or so during the winter months. This keeps everything in the engine lubed up and the battery charged too. When you drain your gas tankyou run into the problem of it get rusted insideand the trickle charger has to watched very close, also. It is much less of a headache to just runit every week throughout the few months that you won't be riding.

 

A question with regards to my original question. I have more fresh oil available andam nowthinking I will change it this week.... so, should I run the engine justlong enough to have the oil that'sin it now return to the oil tank againand getthat oilwarm before changing so it will flow out well and completelydrain from the system? I'm assuming this isthe wayI should do it?

 

To digress a little, I live in Florida, and we don't "winterize" anything, but being in FL we usually have high humidity. I am a pilot and it's not unusual to find a slight milkey color to the oil during a pre-flight check in a plane that hasn't flown in a couple of weeks, because of condensation. When checking the oil after a 1 hour flight the milkyness is gone.

If you want to change the oil go ahead but since you're in Canada (cold chit place) I would warm the oil before draining it so it flows easier. If the milky color is bad enough to make it look like coffee w/cream then change it.

It's just my opinion but if you're running syn oil, I would change it at the start of the season instead of the end. New oil just sitting in the tank & crankcase for 6 months doesn't offer any more protection for the motor. my .02

 

the factory says to change the oil and filter before you take off after storage. it's a cheap deal for peace of mind. i'd hate to spend that time on the side of the road, waiting for the tow truck, kicking myself in the butt. i'm glad we can ride year round in texas.

 

Personally, i am with LazyBoy.
Here in California, we dont winterize, but I would change it for peace of mind. Maybe run it for a minute to get the oil flowing, then drain, and replace. You wont get it all out, but you can always change it again. Its cheap insurance.

 

Well, if you can get most of the old oil out without starting it first, I would do it that way. Then I would put some cheaper oil in it (non-synthetic), run it at idle till it warms up a little, then drain it all again and change the oil filter this time (I doubt if the oil filter will have water in it as well if you don't turn it over), then put in the better, syntheticoil and new filter. If the previous oil filterwas new, however,you can probably reuse that safely, but just drain it first.[/align][/align]I read where someone said in here that it might be difficult to get the oilout of the crankcase, because it drains through the tank hose. Since I've never had this experience like you, perhaps you can drain it through the oil filter outlet or something, or maybe there is another way if you read the manual.[/align][/align]If it was my bike and it had visible water in the oil, I wouldn't even think of starting it in that condition. 90% of all engine wear occurs during start up, when the oil is not lubricating very well, I have long heard. And this would be especially bad for the engine if the oil was visibly contaminated.[/align][/align]I'd rather be safe than sorry, and I'd rather pay a few bucs extra for some extraoil than a lot of money extra for engine repair.[/align][/align]Next winter, don't change the oil before storage, but leave the old stuff in it and change it when the new season starts instead and you're ready to ride again. That way the condensation will only be contaminating old oil that needs to be changed anyway.[/align][/align]As someone else said in here, you might want to do something to that tank line to keep it from draining into the crankcase next year before you put it away for the winter, as well.[/align][/align][/align]
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By the way, if anyone tells you it's too difficult to drain oil when it's cold, ask them if they warm up their quarts of oil first before they pour them into their bike.

Cold oil will come out of your bike just as easily as it will come out of a quart bottle.

Trust me, don't start the bike until you drain the contaminated oil out of it first and replace it.

 

Makes sense now. I'll drainwhat's in there now incl. drainingthe filter, put in some cheap 20-50 stuff, run it a bit then drain again,and finallyreplace the oil with thenew syn. I have. Just really don't want to take the chance of frigging the motor(it's like new, only 5500kms.).

 

If you want to change the oil then you will have to run it. Like I said previously, there is no way you are going to get the oil that drained into the engine out without cranking the engine. It's just not going to happen.

Also, it is recommended that if you want to change the oil you should get it up to operating temperature. By the time you get the oil to operating temperature any moisture that was in the oil will have evaporated and you will be draining good oil.

You can decide to drain the oil cold without running the engine, but anything that has sunk down into the engine is not going to come out without you cranking the motor and it won't drain as well.

That's a bad idea. You ALWAYS change the oil before putting your bike into storage. The combustion bi-products are corrosive and bad for your engine. That's why you drain your oil BEFORE storage. Letting that old oil sit in there all winter is just asking for trouble.

 

If you're going to drain it OK. But I would not go back to dino just to flush it. Drain out what you can and refil with syn.