My CBR600 F3 currently sits in my garage during the week while I'm down at college, I only get to ride it on weekends. I know a week w/o riding is perfectly normal but I'm wondering how long can my bike sit idle before the fuel/oil/other fluids begin to become contaminated and cause problems on the next time it starts up. Months? Years? Say I were to not ride for 3 months? would it be ok?

 

No. If you're not riding it weekly, you need to set it up for storage.

Get the tires up and off the floor. I heard of people placing rubber sheets under the tires and moving the bike around to start it on the weekends. Guess that works for them.

Change the oil and filters.

If you're not starting the bike weekly, take the battery out, PLACE it on rubber and use a slow/trickle charger once a month.

And give her a good bath

 

alright cool thanks for the quick response. I'll have to work on being home weekly rather than biweekly, won't be too hard though since im dying to go home just to look at it again.

 

[sm=youreright.gif]

 

Every other week wouldn't be that bad... I thought you were talking once a month or more.

 

biweekly isnt too bad. letting a bike sit for 3 months is another story, in that case, I'd wash it real well, put some good wax on too, clean and lube the chain, and follow the suggestions above. take my word for it, gummed up carbs from old stale fuel are NOT fun. when you park the bike for a month or more, top off the tank, get it as full as you can, add fuel stabilizer, ride around a bit to mix it thorougly with the fuel, and get it into the carbs too, then park it, make sure the tank is filled as much as possible to get as much air as you can out of it.

the idea behind this, is that fuel will not go bad as quick when there isnt as much air present to allow it to do what it does. prevent the hassle.

 

re long term storage, what about draining the tank and running the bike out of fuel? The fuel can't go bad if it's not there...

By getting the wheels off the ground, do you also include getting the weight off the suspension?

 

the tank can rust on the inside and that is a huge pain to deal with. also, after you get your full tank and stuff turn of the gas and run her till she dies by her self. this way there is no gas in the carbs that can gum them all up and stuff.

 

Someone said that starting it up once a week is bad just more condensation during the winter.

Mike

 

As far as the fuel stabilizer, you might want to try some stuff called sea-foam. Most auto parts stores have it. Almost any of em work, but i've had very good luck w/that stuff storing boats that have sat for 2-3 years, then started w/no problem.