Forum

[Perorec]

Thanks for your help.

[PeteF]

Well Papa, you might not have noticed any problems but I would be interested to learn what you mean to achieve by starting the engine. You may well get the engine head and barrel warm (to the point where you get no vapour) but the oil temperature will have risen a few degrees at most. You say you free the clutch; OK but I find the clutch is pretty stuck after about a week and no worse after 3 months. You'll not charge the battery much with a short run. You might clear out a wet sump I suppose but wet sumping is usually prevented by leaving the engine at tdc (and if not I'd be looking for the reason)
Personally I change oil, empty carb, spray inside combustion chamber with fogging oil, take battery off, get the weight off the tyres, cover with a cotton cloth and leave well alone till spring.
I would love to ride in the winter but anno domini and arthritis have put paid to such carryings on.

[papasmurf]

PeteF, why I free clutches regularly is based on past experience of the only way to free clutch that has not been freed off regularly has been to dismantle it.
Why I start the bikes regularly is because of the wide range of problems I know that can happen if I don't.
I check all the lights and operate all switches as well.
As has been discussed on the forum before, laying up a bike is very different not using it for a month or two.
I rarely get any of the nasty surprises than others seem to get.

[Bullet Whisperer]

A bit of condensation and 'mayo' in the oil would not worry me. When I worked as an engineer on Tugs, in the early days of my career we had a mysterious fresh water cooling leak into one of a pair of big Ruston diesels [1440 bhp the pair], the water would seep in during lay up periods and I would pump out the water from the bottom of the crankcase with the hand operated priming pump before starting up and once we were underway the leak would stop and the water would steam off and out of the oil. The first time I came face to face with this problem, I was unaware of it until I started up to find soon afterwards, a custard like substance on the dipstick. I stopped the engine and an oil sample was sent to Castrol, who advised there was a 55% water content in the oil !! We dumped that oil and I learned to always pump out from the bottom of the crankcase before starting and let any residue evaporate once running. the engine came to no harm and eventually, the cause of the water leak was found and fixed, but that engine carried on, along with its' partner until the boat was scrapped in 2006. I worked on it from 1990 - 1998, so this happened in the early 1990's. Bottom line - a bit of water in the oil is not as bad as many people believe and emulsified oil is still a lubricant, after all, unlike neat water or nothing at all! Regards, Paul.

[Gwilly]

Sorry Pete couldn't resist,,, WTF is Foggin oil????

[Les H]

Don't keep your oil level topped up to the maximum in winter Half way or just below minimu is adequate. No difference in oil flow rate what so ever so don't worry about it. In fact you could run your engine with probably just a cupful of oil as long as you didn't go up any very steep hills Ha ha. Less oil circulating is less to heat which means the oil will heat up faster in fact you really need the oil to reach 80 deg C. This will dry off the water vapour, and let the oil work better by lubricating better and less oil drag on the flywheels and oil pump so you'll get more MPG too. If you're worried about the oil working harder and aging more quickly simply changed the oil in proportion to the percentage of oil you leave out ...EG: if you usually top up to the full mark and change the oil every 1000 Miles and then change to a half full measure of oil, simply change the oil every 500 miles, the cost is identical and you'll be getting better lubrication too....no more mayonnaise and corrosion....I know it might seem odd but running on cold oil is bad for an engine...Les

[Les H]

Weird how you don't spot the mistakes before posting....but I'll correct one of them....so it should say in regards to oil level: "Half way or just ABOVE minimum is adequate"......I know there's lots of other typos too....I'm used to being able to edit write ups.....

[Adrian]

Sometimes it's a good idea to write your post in your favourite word processing software first, because you have more opportunity to spell check, etc, before copying and pasting it here. This is also handy if you have a long piece to type and don't want to be timed out and risk losing it. A bit tedious, but it might save unwelcome extra effort later on!



A.

[PeteF]

Gwilly, fogging oil comes in an aerosol and is formulated to prevent corrosion in combustion spaces. It comes out as a "fog" and gets to all your important little places. You can use WD40 as well but I happen to have the proper stuff as I work on outboard engines quite a lot and it is specified for those. (If you're charging someone to do a job I feel you should use the correct stuff)

Papa, I would still be interested in all these problems that can be prevented by running the engine for a few minutes. I'm not being awkward, I just don't see what you hope to gain. It's a mechanical object, if it's put away properly it should start OK after a few months. The only problems I've ever had have been battery related before the advent of decent trickle chargers. I see your point about the clutch i suppose and may start doing that without starting the engine (though I've never had a problem)
I appreciate that a long term lay up is different, quite a lot of work involved in that.

[papasmurf]

PeteF you are assuming a "few minutes." I run the engines up to working temperature, operate all the levers and switches. Check the tyre pressures.
That way based on 30 years of experience I don't get the problems that seem to pervade this forum.
I also charge the batteries the next day, that way I don't get nasty surprise with a faulty battery.
I am also following best practice laid down for emergency kit that may only be used intermittently and that HAS to run at a few minutes notice. For instance an RNLI Lifeboat HAS to be launched no longer than six weeks after it was last used in order to check all systems.
My roadside breaks downs are rare, and those are usually on the BMW K75S which has now done approaching 100000 miles.
It stripped the splines on the drive shaft at 900000 (ish) miles. (Even that only cost £275 to repair.)
Even then that is usually something like the sender for the speedo needs taking out wiping with a wet wipe and putting back.
Due to horror stories on this forum, all three of the engine drain plugs on my Electra X(ish) were removed at the last service with no signs of anything nasty at all.