Hello to All.

Have a 2001 F4i was sitting in the Garage for two years with the fuel stabilizer in the tank. During the winter, yet times used to start it for about 5 Mins and cut it out just to keep the batterry charged. This is all done without any knowledge of taking good care of the bike.

After two years, one fine day took it out, washed it, fully charged the battery and started it. It started but smelled as if the oil is burning with the slight whilte smoke.

So called in the local mechanic, he picked up the bike after fews days, he told me that he had to clean the gas tank and fill in the new gas and still the problem of smoke still exists. He further told me that the spark plugs have to be replaced, so gave him the headsup, even after that problem exists. So asked him to return the bike and this time took it to the Honda Dealer.

Dealer did the following:
Part No: 31912-MBW-E11 - Change 4 Plugs
06164-MBW-J21 - Change 1 Injector Set, Fuel
- State Inspection
- Added Fule Treatment and ran the bike
- Checked brakes and fuild
- Adjusted and lubed chain
- Lubed Chasis
- Checked Steering Head
- Checked Coolant

Recommendations from the dealer:
Yamaha Ring Free Fuel additive should be used in this bike for next two tank fulls
Bike hesitates at lower rpm due to sitting so long -- fule system very very gummy.

From me:
When i ride the bike smells gas burnign all over, still smoke exists so called the dealer and talked about the same, he says that ride the bike for two full tanks and hopefully it will go away (these are the words)

All please suggest me, advice me.

Thanks all for your valuable advice and not but least thanks for reading the post.

 

for storing the bike over winter...i suggest a "battery tender" to keep the battery in good shape.

as for the smoke...no clue.

i wouldn't suggest letting the fuel sit for more than 6 months at a time (in the future).

try running a few tanks of gas as the shop and stealership have suggested...hopefully it'll clear up with the work that's been done. not sure why they'd replace the plugs a second time though...

 

Thanks for the reply.

They said the plugs are clogged and have to be replaced.

At that time, did not know whom to believe, if the first one changed the plugs without riding how could they clog again.

Would the plugs go bad if we start the bike? Is the question.

Thanks

 

plugs age, just like other parts so they prolly needed to be changed once, but no idea why a second time,thats prolly just standard procedure dealerships do for bikes that have sat.
the bikes not made to sit, its made to be ridden fairly hard, and 5 mins starting it at a time isnt long enough to really do much to help it.

the bike will prolly be fine, but its sat for a while, give it another while to get used to running again. itll prolly stop smelling and get back to running just fine.

 

Thanks for the reply.

As per the suggestions will run it.

Please someone suggest me the best ways to winterize the bike.

 

there is no real way to do it. just try to ride it or run it as often as you can. its not like an inboard boat. the bike will tough it out dont worry.

 

Once the bike has sat for a while like you are saying I would definitely do an oil change w/ filter before running it too much

 

Eh... Not quite correct. If the bike is being 'winterized' in a nice, heated garage then no worries. If you bike was like mine last winter, somewhere under a 5 foot snow drift, you should do a few things to it.

Battery:
Simplest solution is take it out the bike and bring it in the house. A battery tender will also work. Starting your bike for 5 minutes once a week is doing more harm than good. The cranking voltage is getting used but the battery isn't getting charged. Motorcycle stators rarely produce enough power to charge the battery at idle. They need about 4k+ rpm to produce any significant voltage. And motorcycle batteries aren't anywhere close to that car battery they freeze in a block of ice in the commercial. I took the battery out of my F3 when I was sure I wouldn't ride for a while and stuck it under the couch. When riding 'hours' (cause full days without rain or other crap weren't due for another month) came around, the battery charger stayed in charge mode for 5 minutes then switched to maintenance mode.

Tires:
Best solution is to get your bike off the tires. Cold weather will harden the rubber and drop the air pressure. Sitting in the same spot under those conditions make the tires prone to forming flat spots. Front and rear stands if she's going to be sitting a couple months. Poor man's solution is to go out there regularly and move the bike so its not sitting on the same spots. A piece of old carpet under the bike will help a little.

Openings:
Is your bike outside? If so, plug up the intakes and exhaust. They make great burrows for hibernating critters. More than one person has blown a nest out of their exhaust or found their air filter has been used as a nursery.

Fluids;
Obviously if you ran water or anything other than antifreeze during the hot weather, it's gotta be drained and replaced with proper antifreeze. Doesn't hurt to flush your radiator at the end of the season anyways (antifreeze is cheap). Some guys change the oil before storing the bike. The idea being that the bike doesn't sit with dirty oil, giving the gunk that may be in it a chance to settle or harden.

Covers:
Gotta be careful with these. They are not all enclosing. If outside, water may pool beneath the bike and then evaporate up into the cover. This will raise the humidity under the cover and anything that can rust might form some on the surface. I took my cover off when it was dry out so any puddles under the bike evaporated away from the bike

Chain:
Use that last ride to heat up the chain. Clean and lube the chain before storing.

Gas:
Prior to storing put in a stabilizer, run the bike so the stabilized gas works through the fuel system and fill up the tank as much as possible. The less space left in the tank, the less area for gas to evaporate into and form rust in the tank. 3+ months of storage and untreated gas will go bad. It will gunk up the fuel system. Having to clean gunk out of the carbs on the first good riding day instead of riding sucks.

 

Kuroshio...that last post maybe should get stickied

 

Is it White Smoke that smells sweet, or is it blue smoke?

How far have you ridden it since you got it back from the dealership?

Bad Fuel is painfully obvious in the way it smells - the smell is unmistakeable. It is a very "full" and sweet smell.

The level of paranoia surrounding gas on this website is a little over the top. Gas doesn't go bad in a couple months. I wouldn't let it sit around for a year or more without stabilizer but a couple months isn't going to hurt anything.