Page 1 of 1

Pulling the Buck 10 out after winter

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:16 pm
by laxer
Ok, so it'll probably be another month or two (sad, I know) before I will take off the cover and actually ride again. Anyway, has anyone had any problems when pulling their ratty out of hibernation? Is there anything special I should do to get him ready? Thanks.

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:01 pm
by GDP
That depends very much on what you did, or didn't do to get it ready for hibernation: Have you started it at ALL over the winter?
Did you pull the battery and bring it in from the cold and perhaps
leave it on a trickle charge?

Glen

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 2:12 am
by laxer
I have been trying to start it periodically, but am afraid that I've gotten a little lax about it with how harsh this winter has been. I, unfortunately, had not heard about bringing the battery in, so I obviously did not get that taken care of :(

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:47 am
by Amahoser
Check or replace the gear oil
charge or replace battery (if it went fully dead and won't come back)
Check the air in tires. Look for cracks in tread and sidwalls.
Check two stroke oil.
Check for free operation of the brake levers. Lubricate if necessary.
If it has been a year, replace the brake fluid for the front brake.
Do a check of as many rubber lines as you can get to. Look for cracks or the rubber hardening.

Basically, do all the stuff you should be doing periodically anyways. Just do it all at once. Depending on how many miles I ride (not many since I have 7 bikes). I tend to change out the brake fluid once a year and the gearbox oil once a year as well. I also regularly lube any moving parts like the brake levers, kick/centerstand etc. I also regularly lube the brake cable.

I have 6 cars and 7 bikes that I keep running so many times, a car or bike might sit unused for a few months. I have NEVER had gas go bad after only a few months. Usually, charge up the battery and crank it and it starts right up. It might stumble for the first few miles but after that it is usually fine. On a scooter, if it runs rough first thing to check is the spark plug. I never clean plugs, just replace them. Cheap enough. If it still runs rough, then the gas probably went bad. Usually, gas will evaporate in the carb and dry out. There will be sludge clogging up the pilot jet and probably the float bowl. Take it apart and clean it thouroghly. If I feel lazy or if the stuble isn't that bad, i'll spary some carb cleaner in the carb while the bike is running, reving the motor a bit. That will usually clear it up. But the best solution is to clean out the carb manually. This has only happened to me when a vehicle has been sitting for an extended period of time (like a year) so chances are, winter storage won't cause fuel related issues.

If you wanna be safe, next winter, drain the gas and run the bike untill it dies.
Store the bike on its centerstand and then prop up the front wheel so both tires are off the ground.
Dicsonnect the battery or put it on a tender.
Liberally coat metal parts with WD-40
spray a bit of wd-40 or transmission fluid in the spark plug hole and reintsall the plug
Put a cover over the bike

That the proper way to store a vehicle for the winter. Do I do this myself? Heck no! I live in So. Cali! But quite honestly, I am way too lazy to go through all that myself!

If you haven't done any of that, no fear, chances are, everything is fine. Just double check as much stuff as you can and enjoy the ride again! I'm sure you missed it!

Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:03 pm
by luckyleighton
While these are all excellent tips in general some of it is overkill. I put mine up for a few months and made sure I ran it at idle every week or two for about 20 minutes. This gives the battery some relief and allows the gas to move through the system. I had no problems, but I did notice the longer I went between starting her the harder she was to start. Luckily there was no impossible to start moments.

Checking your 2 stroke oil, tires, etc is general maintenance you should do always. And if you do put it up for an extremely long time you should run the gas dry and not let that old gas gum up and cause problems.

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:47 am
by laxer
Thanks all for your help. It was finally warm (and dry) enough to actually pull the rat out today and ride. It was cold, but it sure was fun! And it's supposed to get up to the 50's by Sunday, yay!!

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:39 pm
by oruacat2
I wheeled my Rattler out once/month and ran it for 10 minutes or so around the parking lot throughout the winter, so I havent had any problems - just occasional stalling when I let off the throttle.

It's warm today, so I put about 1/4 bottle of STP gas treatment in the tank and drove 5 miles around the neighborhood. She seems to be purring like a kitten now.

KD