My F3 is off the road due to a crash, its totally fixable and I want it back on the road by spring ...so its just sitting in my garage with all the plastics broken up but everything else is sound ..the oil has been in since last November, a decent semi synthetic and its only done about 1000 miles if that ...should I bother changing it before spring as it wont be used now?? .. I often hear conflicting advice about this sort of thing ..ie. leaving used oil in over winter can attack the engine internals because of acids built up in it ... but it has only done 1k and looks quite clean on the dipstick ...


Jules

 

My personal opinion would be to just leave it, for now at least. If you can turn the motor over every know & then will keep oil in the right places anyway. Because of the low millage on the oil itself, there should not be to many acids in it (although that really depends on wot sort of riding you where doing prior, short trips means a bigger build up). A good way to judge is by the smell of the oil, oils can look ok, but if they have an 'Off' chemical/petrol smell then its would be a good idea to change it. Maybe keep the battery on a maintenance charge would be a good idea. Really its up to you, 4 litres of oil is cheap insurance.

 

I think you'll be fine, I never understood how oil can break down just sitting. "Reccomened to change every 3000 miles or 3 months" there's no way that oil changes vescosity but not baing used.

 

I've never liked letting a bike sit with dirty oil. It will have acids in it and isn't good for the metal surfaces. It's also not a good idea to start a bike every once in a while. If you aren't going to ride it and full warm it up, it's best just to let it sit. So my vote is put fresh oil in it, fix it up, then go for a ride when in the spring.

 

I would not worry about the oil as much as the gas. Put a fuel stabilizer in it and let it run a little b4 you park it. You dont want to pay $400 to have the carb's cleaned after sitting all winter and turning to sludge inside.

 

I've heard you aren't supposed to leave the same oil in a crankcase over a year. It might of been in the service manual, i would have to look. I agree with putting fuel stabilizer in. Also, if you don't change the oil, just start it once every other week and let it idle and warm up. it will take a lil bit but that way you aren't just starting it and never gettting it warm.