Cold winter, care and feeding.

[johnny6speed]

09 yz450f. Untouched OE carb settings. FMF powerbomb header (destroyed OEM). We just got destroyed with a foot of snow up here in Maine, and as the cold sets in, I was curious what the recommended things to do were for riding and storage of the bike in 40F down to -20F temps. I am aware of jetting changes that are crucial for proper operation but, what about lubricants, storage, running it a few times a week in the garage etc. My garage is not heated and the bike is up on its stand.

Also, this winter I am going to do my best to slowly learn more about the assembly of the bike, as its my first "real bike" I'll be shipping my forks/shock out to get revalved and serviced. Is there a "Haynes" manual type literature to walk me through it? Or should I just use common sense and go by the OEM manual?

Thanks?

[DC_Excitement]

sounds like you plan on riding the bike in the winter so you really dont have to treat your fuel system. the jetting may be an issue but you may get lucky with a fuel screw adjustment. and test your coolant to make shure the freeze protection is ok. some manufactures suggest running a lower viscocity oil in cold weather but i think your prolly just fine with 10-40.

i used to ride in the winter (i have a sled now so i dont bother) but i always had to change fork seals by the time warm weather came. i dont know if the cold weather cracked them or not but that would be an educated guess

i loved studding my tires and riding the blazed snowmobile trails after some freezing rain so you stay on top of the snow. im getting all fired up just thinking about it.?

[rcdude33]

+1 for the 10-40.

But one thing i would be careful of is bolts possibly breaking. Since its cold the bolts maybe more brittle. I may sound stupid but im sure it happened.

And fork seals sound like a good idea too. I agree with davecarr on that one

[HRC]

The only thing I do with the bike when riding in the winter is blocking one of the rads with some kind piece of paper for the tempeture, other than that...some warm clothes and cloves.

Ride hard !

[johnny6speed]

The only thing I do with the bike when riding in the winter is blocking one of the rads with some kind piece of paper for the tempeture, other than that...some warm clothes and cloves.

Ride hard !

That's cause you gots fuel injection!?

[brentn]

I usually start my bike once every couple of weeks to keep things flowing. Used to just start it and then kill it but then was told that it's real bad for the plug on four strokes. Now I start it and let it warm right up to full operating temp, give it a couple twists, let it warm up some more and then shut it off.

When riding it I blocked on of the rads, but anything lower than 5 degree's celcius and it still runs too rich, the bike never gets past 30 degree's celcius this way...

If I do take it out in freezing temps or lower this year, I'm going to block off the front of both rads this time and see what happens. There should be still enough flow (very very little btw) behind the rad to keep the bike cool. The fuel injected bikes run much cooler than their carbed ansestors.

[HRC]

That's cause you gots fuel injection!?

I actually didn't do anything more back in the carb days.