Cylinder Fogging

[Coyote Chris]

Normally, when I put my bikes up for the five month winter here in Spokane, I like to fog the cylinders with fogging oil in an attempt to keep as much rust as possible from forming on the cylinder walls, which of course are bare metal and Spokane has lots of foggy damp days in the winter which means high humidity. The best way of doing this is to spray the fog into the sparkplug holes, move the rear wheel in fifth gear and move the pistons that way, up and down, then spray again. But the spark plugs dont seem to be too much fun to remove on the NT? I suppose I could remove the air cleaner and spray into the throttle bodies but somehow that doesnt seem like such a good idea either. Just how hard is it to get those plugs out?

 

[skiper]

Don't know - wonder if spinning the pistons thru the rear wheel twice a month would oil the walls at all ?

 

[Rmcapozzi]

The right side plug (front cylinder) is a bit of a bear to access. I haven't tried it without the airbox and throttle body off (only done it at valve checks) but the quarters are quite tight. From what I remember, the frame gets in the way for the front cylinder so using a really long extension didn't look like it would be the way to go. I had to use an extension that would stop just short of the frame and then attach my ratchet at that point. The rear was much easier to access.

I'd try it with the tank removed and the airbox still attached. If that doesn't work, it isn't much work to remove the air box. It would only take a few hours to pull the tank and the throttle body so it isn't a ton of work.

 

[EX Winger]

Chris,

Why not just pick a dry day once a month + - and fire it up and do a short ride; just enough to warm everything up and bring it hopme and park it? I know there are nice winter day even in Spokane or do you cancle insurance on everything? shucks these bikes aren't corvettes, my late brother in law would park his vette's in Oct and not let them out of the garage door until May; LOL I used to kid him by telling him to put studded snow tires on them or just get a set of cable chains , I won't put his reply on theis open foprum pagebut it ended with YOU DON'T SPEAK CORVETTE!!!!! After that I used to give him the same speech every fall and he finaly realized I was trying to keep a straight face as I said those things.

 

[Warren]

In my opinion in the period of time the bike is layed up not much rust if any is going to form. Its a reasonably closed system and I doubt if much ambient air is going to enter. I would not go through the effort unless it was going to be stored for an extended period. I have taken vintage motors apart that have not run for years that had no visible rust on the cylinder walls.

 

[jackgermain]

Just put the bike on a battery tender and fire it up every so often during the time you elect not to ride.

 

[Mellow]

I'm with Sam... put something in the fuel to keep it stable and that's it.

 

[suvcw04]

I used to spray WD40 in the gas tank to keep rust out of there. Now I have a place to store my bikes that maintains a 40 to 45 degree temp all winter, so I skip the spray. Last winter, my NT and my Yamaha Majesty scooter sat from November thru March with no prep, not even a battery tender. They fired right up. Having access to straight gas, combined with a pressurized fuel system makes a big difference. No tiny jets to clog like with a carb.

 

[Coyote Chris]

The bike will certainly be full of non-ethanol fuel and properly stabilized for sure. And the battery tended.
I see my choices as three . One,Of course, is you run up the bike (and oil temp) once a week or so, riding or not depending on
conditions (I live in a hilly, shady black ice zone). The pistons stop at different points each time you stop the bike, of course. Indeed,
when the ignition switch kills the fuel and spark, the engine dies still oiling the cylinder walls, and while the oil scrapper ring still works
to some extent, at least parts of both cylinders will be protected for awhile. Nothing wrong with that. If you drive your car once a week, the same thing happens. No worries.
Two, If one just parks the bike in a cold garage for five months, I do not personally believe any bike is a "closed system". As the air pressure rises and falls, cold damp air will come and go through
the valves that are open, either intake or exhaust, and also probably by the rings after awhile. I do not know the composition of the cylinder liner but probably any surface rust would be very minimul,if at all, even in cold damp foggy spokane
(Home of the ice fog).
I do know I have had to chip out a piston out of a cylinder with a hammer and a chisel on a bike once due to , and I am guessing, disimular metal corrosion over many years of no use (I was given the bike).
But,I think the bike would fire up right away in the Spring.
And three, I can inspect those bogus spark plug caps that dont look like the two new ones I bought and fog the cylinders. Or at least one. I have about a month to decide!

 

[Bear]

Chris,
I used to live not too far from you--Bonners Ferry, ID--so I am somewhat familiar with your wintertime conditions. I do not think that fogging your engine is necessary. With synthetic oil--I hope you use it--your engine is so well lubed that for the short time the bike is laid up, you are home free. The Battery Tender--for sure. Put the bike on the centre stand and block the bike so that the front wheel is a smidge off the floor. Cover the bike with a bed sheet (bike covers hold in moisture) For your fuel--add 1/4Oz of Star Tron additive, and forget the bike till spring. If you are storing in an unheated environment, make sure your coolant is up to handling zero+++ temps.

 

[Coyote Chris]

Actually, I dont use synthetic.....I had planned to ride this bike only 4,000 miles a year and I am a wacko who likes to change the oil in the Spring and when the bike goes to bed.....I use Honda Oil.
You are probably correct about not worrying about the cylinder walls.....anyone want to send me an old cylinder I can do experiments on this winter????? Thankfully, Spokane doesnt get cold...not like
Illinois.....but it gets foggy and gloomy and the sun never gets much over the trees in the winter....

 

[junglejim]

I have always stored my bikes in my horse trailer (along with the lawn mower, rototiller, and other summer items) which is parked in a cold machine shed for the winter months in order to save space. Usual precautions of non-ethonal gas and stabilizer, battery removed, bike covered and mouse traps everywhere. Battery gets stored in my heated garage/shop and put on the smart charger once a month.

But I always wonder about the oil change. Is it best to change in the fall to get the contaminated oil out or wait till spring to change and start with a fresh oil change?

Also the service manager at the local (only) Honda shop said DON'T use full synthetic. Use a synthetic blend. I'm still pondering what oil I will be using in this new bike now that it is well broken in.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Any reason for synthetic blend rather than full-synthetic, Jim? The old service manager at Sun Honda frowned on anything but straight petroleum oil, didn't like syn or syn-blend, but could never tell me why.

 

[junglejim]

Phil, the service manager never said why not to use full synthetic. Just said use synthetic blend or regular petroleum oil.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Hmm, maybe I ought to start an "Oil" Thread. Winter's coming and Oil and Tires are always good for lots of cold weather posts.

 

[junglejim]

Hmm, maybe I ought to start an "Oil" Thread. Winter's coming and Oil and Tires are always good for lots of cold weather posts.

Good idea, but a little early yet. It is still pretty nice here this week so far. I'm hoping to make the COG ride "Hunt of Red October" on 10/18. There are always quite a few non Connies there and that crowd isn't very particular who rides.

Then I'll be considering putting the bike up for the year.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Jim, COG was no more particular about who rode than we are. They even put up with me.

 

[charlie b]

It used to be that full synthetics were not blended to work with wet clutches and some still hold by that. I have used synthetics since Mobil 1 first came out and still do.

To put a bike away for a few months I'd put SeaFoam in the gas, change the oil and run it on the road til nice and warm. Then shut it down and store it with tires off the ground.

Around here I would not do anything to it, but, doesn't get that cold and it is dry.

I have never seen a rusted piston/cylinder on anything that was not sitting for many years, even in rust country (NY, KY).

 

[Rocky]

I fog the cylinders of my outboard for the winter as that will not be able to be started all winter. I have easy access, with motor running spray in the carbs till she conks out, then spray in the plug holes. My bike for the winter I will go the fuel stabilizer and start once a month route. That pesky front cylinder plug I have found can be removed with a few choice words and the right combo of extentions and a UNIVERSAL joint with your socket set.

 

[Bear]

I change the oil before storage and do not start the engine for the duration of the storage period. I fill the tank and treat the fuel with Star-Tron. Both tires are off the ground. I might periodically give them a spin so that the grease works in the bearings. I don't remove the battery--just plug in the battery tender. The bike gets covered with a bed sheet.