winterize

[mnnthbx]

Well, seems riding on my new KDX is winding down for the winter and I thought I'd do a bit of winterizing including...

a regular filter cleaning

swing arm bearing packing

regular oil change

fuel stablizer run through the carb

drain the tank

waxing

anything else?

 

[bh]

ride all winter?

 

[Smit-Dog]

Drain the carb float bowl too.

Bleed the air out of the forks, unload the suspension / tires off the ground (bike up on stand).

Seal airbox and spark arrestor to keep mice out.

Unscrew the spark plug, fog the cylinder or pour a tablespoon of motor oil into it. Crank the kickstarter a few times to distribute the oil. Leave piston at TDC. I un-bent a large paperclip, and placed one end in the sparkplug hole to gauge when piston is at TDC.

Lube the throttle and clutch cable.

Spray WD-40 on exposed metal parts prone to surface rust. Cover bike.

 

[Braahp]

Holy Cow you guys are killin' me with all this winterizing talk! This is absolutley the best time of year to ride. Nothing like a nasty muddy single track to sharpen the skills. Heck, 15 of us just rode in your hood at Lake City the enduro course last Saturday. Snow covered and muddy as all get out. Hard riding but fun fun fun. You should have been there. There is no such thing as winterizing.......thats for jetskis. Get out and ride!

 

[Smit-Dog]

Braahp - Are you talking Lake City, Michigan, or Lake City Tennessee?

It was deer hunting season last weekend here in MI, so I hope it wasn't our Lake City!

 

[aliikai]

It's 80 degrees in December here in Hawaii, great riding allthe year round.

 

[john_bilbrey]

I live in Cookeville. We tend to ride for most of the winter as long as it isn't really cold. Where on "the hill" do you ride? There are several good places to ride down this way.

 

[mnnthbx]

OK, screw it.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Right now I'm looking at over a foot of snow outside my house.

Riding season is over. Heavy maintenance season has begun.

Everything (KDX, KX125 and son's KX65) will come apart, cleaned, inspected and repaired if required. Frames will be coated. Suspension fluids changed. Top ends evaluated and corrected.

Sometime in February, after all is together, the bikes will be put on their stands, pointing towards the door, waiting for the snow to melt.

It's always a long winter.

 

[kx_693]

Put some studs on her and ride...or just clean her all up, drain the gas out of the carb, and ride ur snowmobile?

 

[250RDude]

Wow, out our way in Phoenix The Riding Season is kickin into high gear. Low 40's to mid 70"s. Now on the other hand mid July when its 120+ you Will be off the trail by 11:00.

 

[wibby]

Winterize

Break out the long underwear!


I use to ride my old Yammyha 100 with trials tires in the snow when I lived in Eastern Oregon. Some years we'd have snow on the ground there for months!

Sounds like you better pull up your skirt! :laugh:

 

[KDXFreestyle]

Im all with RV6JUNKIE.

 

[davidg]

Just rejet for the cold weather and keep going. I've got about eight inches of snow outside right now. But as soon as it melts down a little it will be perfect riding conditions, muddy! :)

 

[s.d.duner]

winter is the prettymuch the only time I ride.
Its way hot in the imperial sand dunes (so. Cal) in the summer

 

[pyrofreak]

I look out my window and i see 2 foot of snow on the ground and more steadily falling. I got up to shovel this morning and the snow was as high as my barn-boots. I looked great going to Wal*Mart to get dog food in them too, by the way. More snow is falling. Too bad school wont be cancelled on Monday........ That would give me a heart attack if they did cancel it. We went for 3 days without heat in the school and still had to go. I think there is actually a law for that. But oh well, no riding for me this winter, i guess. :-/ I am thinking of bringing my bike to a freinds house to be put into his garage, so he could start it up every once in a while so i dont have to worry about this winterizing stuff. Would that work? Or do i go the Jet-Ski route and "winterize it" all nice and proper?

 

[Smit-Dog]

Originally posted by pyrofreak
I am thinking of bringing my bike to a freinds house to be put into his garage, so he could start it up every once in a while so i dont have to worry about this winterizing stuff. Would that work? Or do i go the Jet-Ski route and "winterize it" all nice and proper?

Winterize it completely if you're not going to ride it consistently.

 

[drk98]

Just running the bike only involves the engine w/ exhaust and carb. Your still letting your chain, tranny, brakes, and steering sit there and rust. You have to(or should) maintain your bike aka grease, wax, clean, etc. so every winter is a good time to check and repair while you have you bike apart. It saves you time in the spring when everyone else is out riding.

-You can use stabil to save you the trouble of draining the gas just run it so it goes through the carb.

-Remove the airbox cover permanently and put a wire mesh over the air box. Fold ends down on the sides to keep in place. Use the 1/2 inch square hole mesh. Put a rag in your silencer too.

-Waxing just keeps you rims shinning but you really should do it.

-bleed brakes and forks unless changing oil evey winter while maintaining.

-You don't have to repack steering and linkage if you don't ride a lot every winter. But atleast every 3 riding seasons(years) clean carbon off piston and repack/ grease.

 

[wanaride]

Screw winterizing it! As much time as I have spent trying to get the jetting right, its time to RIDE!!!

I went out this past Sunday morning...temps in the low 30s and the wind was howling...besides a few ice encrusted mud puddles the riding was outstanding! Of course, I had to stop every few minutes and warm up my hands...it's hard to work the throttle & clutch when you can't feel your fingers!

I plan to ride all winter, but of course, we don't get a lot of snow here in central NC, just rain and ice.

 

[dixie]

Yea, just oil, lube, & grease, inspect & Get ski suit long handles and ride Best time of the year no bugs or spirder webs to contin with or the heat. Hey , Wanaride Where in Rowan County do you live. I am in your back yard here in Rockwell. Did you race in the Goldrush Hare-Scamble a few weeks ago. Are you a member of the NCHSA I'll try to look you on their Web site.

 

[wanaride]

Dixie, I'm in Woodleaf. No, I haven't raced yet, still no real riding ability to speak of, but maybe next year. Email me at [email protected] and let's go riding! Where do you normally go riding? I've been to Brushy Mtn several times, and I've tried a couple of local MX tracks...