Winter laying up procedure, what's yours ?

[Claude]

I've never done any specific winter procedure.

[weeksy]

I've never done any specific winter procedure.

That's because your summer of non-riding lasts as long as your winter

[Claude]

I've never done any specific winter procedure.

That's because your summer of non-riding lasts as long as your winter

True

[G.P]

Esso Super is one of the few that still doesn't contain ethanol, which as anyone who has carbed bikes will know is an absolute fecker- the water separates and creates untold problems in small passages in carbs, and that's not to mention its capability of rotting rubber seals and hoses, and swelling plastic and GF tanks

I was out on the Ducati today and the fuel light came on, there happened to be an Esso garage in Marlborough so I filled up with 99 Octane 'Supreme'.
It had an E5 sticker on the pump which I understood to be 5% bio-ethanol. The E10 (10%) is the horrible bastard, yeah?

[Supermofo]

Esso Super is one of the few that still doesn't contain ethanol, which as anyone who has carbed bikes will know is an absolute fecker- the water separates and creates untold problems in small passages in carbs, and that's not to mention its capability of rotting rubber seals and hoses, and swelling plastic and GF tanks

I was out on the Ducati today and the fuel light came on, there happened to be an Esso garage in Marlborough so I filled up with 99 Octane 'Supreme'.
It had an E5 sticker on the pump which I understood to be 5% bio-ethanol. The E10 (10%) is the horrible bastard, yeah?

E5 is just the label for all fuel up to 5% ethonol. It should have none in it, unless you are in the area's listed (although never understood that)

https://www.esso.co.uk/en-gb/fuels-faqs
"The majority of unleaded 95 Octane petrol sold in the UK contains up to 5% ethanol as required under the Government’s Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO).

There is currently no requirement for renewable fuel (such as ethanol) to be present in super unleaded (97 and 99 grade petrol).

Esso super unleaded petrol (Synergy Supreme+ Unleaded 97 and Synergy Supreme+ 99 ) is ethanol free (except in Devon, Cornwall, the Teesside area, Scotland and NW England). We would therefore advise anyone who has concerns about the presence of ethanol in petrol to use Synergy Supreme+ – providing they do not fill up in Devon or Cornwall, the Teesside area, Scotland or NW England. The European standard BS EN228 covers the requirements for 0-5% ethanol unleaded petrol, the labelling requirement for zero % ethanol is E5 (as is up to 5%), a E0 label doesn’t exist. We understand that this is confusing if you are looking for zero % ethanol fuel, but as advised we can confirm that our Supreme Unleaded fuel supplied in areas except those listed (Devon, Cornwall, Teeside, Scotland and NW England) is ethanol free."

[G.P]

^^^^^ Thanks! I is now wiser.

[Druid]

I washed it before I wheeled it into the garage. It gets wheeled out regularly because I have so much shite in my garage that I have to move the bike to get at other things. I don't start the engine unless I'm going to ride it, and I plug the Optimate in when I remember to

[Scuffmark]

One gets a wash, dry, fill the tank with petrol, polish , engine gt85'd ,put on a rear paddock stand and covered over .

I'm not a fan of optimate type chargers and prefer to remove the battery and give it a couple of chargers over winter when I remember.

T'other bike gets ridden.

[weeksy]

Just fired both bikes up for the first time in several months. Both first press, no issues. Well, apart from me being in the neighbors driveway and him coming home. Lol.

Both filled with new Esso super unleaded and ready for adventure!

[PitaNaanRoti]

“Laying up procedure”?
WTF is that?
Keep riding whichever I feel like according to weather/distance/etc.

[weeksy]

“Laying up procedure”?
WTF is that?
Keep riding whichever I feel like according to weather/distance/etc.

It's 1deg... why on earth would i be riding a bike in 1 deg.. let alone the fact it's damp, salty, icy and lockdown.

[Yorick]

“Laying up procedure”?
WTF is that?
Keep riding whichever I feel like according to weather/distance/etc.

[v8-powered]

Put key in it each morning and ride it.

[mangocrazy]

Around November time I stick fuel stabiliser in the tanks and run the bikes up to temperature to get the stuff working through the system. On the VFR and LC I switch the fuel tap off and completely drain the carbs using the float bowl drain screws thoughtfully provided. Pump tyres up and put bike on stands if it's not liable to be moved around or disturbed. In Sheffield I have such a small shed that I'm forever moving bikes around to get at stuff. To be honest over winter I'll be doing bits of routine maintenance on all the bikes, so they're not left untouched over winter (unless it's the VFR, which spends most of its time in France).

All the bikes are hooked up to Accumates, controlled by a time switch which activates for a couple of hours a week. Leaving them on charge 24/7 is a good way to shorten the life of a battery, IMHO. All the 4T bikes get an oil and filter change before winter so the engine internals are sitting in clean sulphur-free oil. The shed in Sheffield has a cheap Aldi fan heater in it that comes on around 6-7 deg C to stop any chance of freezing up.

That's about it.

[Skub]

All the bikes are hooked up to Accumates, controlled by a time switch which activates for a couple of hours a week. Leaving them on charge 24/7 is a good way to shorten the life of a battery,

But that's what a battery manager does. It has period of inaction when no charge is required. Leaving them plugged in 24/7 allows them to do their job more efficiently.

Anecdotal perhaps,but in my experience I haven't had a shortened life from any battery.

[ogri]

Parked outside, gets the ice scraped off and a little ride every couple of days when i need summing at the shops or visit my vulnerable mother.

[mangocrazy]

All the bikes are hooked up to Accumates, controlled by a time switch which activates for a couple of hours a week. Leaving them on charge 24/7 is a good way to shorten the life of a battery,

But that's what a battery manager does. It has period of inaction when no charge is required. Leaving them plugged in 24/7 allows them to do their job more efficiently.

Anecdotal perhaps,but in my experience I haven't had a shortened life from any battery.

I guess that all depends how smart your battery manager is. From the blurb on my Accumates, it reverts to a very low level 'float' charge when the battery is fully charged. I'm not convinced it even needs that level of charge, so use the regime I've outlined above. I can't prove that a consistent low level of charge is potentially injurious to a battery, but I am reasonably convinced that a healthy battery only needs a top up once a week to keep it healthy. It's whatever you're comfortable with.