My suzuki savage last year had a clogged muffler because the previous owner had let it sit for 9 years due to an illness. As far as gas, I had quite an issue with the gas, but my ninja the year before was fine and had almost a full tank in the top of my dads garage. Personally put stabilzer in it and run it. If the storage is cold remove the battery to room temp and you will be fine. If the bike is in room temp then run it if you can and your fine.

 

There are certain things you should do, depending on the climate and where the bike will be stored, such as if its a more humid area, you can take off the chain to keep the rust off, pour a teaspoon of oil in each cylinder to keep out surface rust, rub a LIGHT coat of oil on the forks to keep surface rust from forming in knicks, putting a bag over the exhaust to keep critters from building nests, and little things like that. I've had to store my previous bikes in diferen ways because the temp and climate in a garage in wisconsin is differet from an occasionally heated garage in North Carolina to stoing the bike outside in New Jersey.

 

My garage stays above freezing in the winter. All I do is fill the tank, put the bike on stands, disconnect the negative terminal on the battery, and cover it. Once every month or two I'll run it for a bit.

 

If anything its better to start them once every other week if possible. Easier on your motor(valve springs). Based on over time some will weaken more than others if they are holding in a position with a bunch of tension on them(same as car motors).

Its a good idea to put a fuel stabilizer in there since gas will go bad and also these bikes are sensitive to octane.

Getting flat spots is a myth for cars. For bike I have no clue yet I would assume the same, as long as pressure are in the correct setting.

Be sure to put moth ***** and steel wool around it based on mice. Some people take blue painters tape and plug the tail pipe.

Charge your battery every other week so that the cells don't get to dead. If your battery is brand new you don't have to worry about it yet as it ages the cells inside break apart from electrolysis.

Coolant should be good as well. If bad will crack the head and as well electrolysis can occur if it's a positive charge.

 

Starting every two weeks as well as charging every two weeks is overkill. The valves can handle it. 6+ months if sitting is where problems start to arise.

I never do stabilizer, but I wouldn't recommend against it. It can't hurt. And I don't really know what "sensitive to octane" is supposed to mean, but it sounds ludicrous. Feel free to explain. (Personally I think "bad gas" is a stupid excuse for anything. I've never had an issue with gas, nor as anyone I know, bike or otherwise.)

Simply disconnecting the battery will eliminate 99% of drain. As long as it can hold a decent charge, it would be fine sitting for 6+ months. I've done this for three winters and have the same battery.

 

Let something sit long enough with gas in it and you'll change your tune. A year or two will cause serious trouble. I just serviced a Honda-engined pressure washer that had been stored for 8 years without draining the gas or adding stabilizer . . . the stuff that came out was brown and smelled kind of like how I imagine the urine of a hobo might smell, if he was dying of bladder cancer.

 

Well sure, that's over a much longer time period. Your gas isn't going to go bad in a winter. And like I said, if you're pushing it, stabilizer can't hurt. Anyone with half a brain can prevent any sort of "bad gas" issues...

 

Completely agree - letting something sit for 6 or 9 months isn't going to cause problems if it has fresh gas in it to start with.

The overzealous fuel nuts are way overboard. Some guy on another thread I was reading told the OP that fuel will begin to go bad over 2 weeks....

 

Are both stands necessary, or is the rear stand good enough?

 

the article in the magazine says:

1. fill your tank up with gas and add stabilizer. this way if the temp changes and you get condensation ,it is on the outside of the tank and not the inside

2. cranking it up for periods of time makes condensation worse, when the engine heats up the gas tank warms up .if you dont have a full tank this makes condensation in the tank worse because you warm it then it cools again causing even worse condensation

3. coolant. make sure your coolant levels are up to spec. the higher the ratio of coolant to water the better the freeze protection.

4. cold kills batteries, even new ones, so take the battery out and store inside, a tender is very helpful