winterize your valk

[mark81]

Some people think its abuse to leave your Valk sit outside all winter covered in snow.  Mine doesn't sit long. Made a short video about how to give your bike some love through the winter months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqJPjZg5sqs

[cookiedough]

gee, and I thought I was bad not washing and covering up my one valkyrie yet in my garage. 

[Fazer]

So Mark--how far did you ride that day?  300-400 miles?

[hubcapsc]

Some people think...

I'll tell ya... some people... 

Throw that bench off the sidewalk and park your valkyrie there 

-Mike

[JimC]

There really should be a law against that !

Jim

[sandy]

BTW: Pumping the throttle does nothing on our bikes. There's no accelerator pump.

[Hooter]

Buy a tarp.

[Chrisj CMA]

If you're cold they're cold, bring them in

[..]

Good job it's not your bike Mark.

Don't think you would ever do that deliberately. 

[scooperhsd]

MIne is in the garage, on the battery tender, but the only other winterizing I do is to put non-ethanol gas in. I do ride every once in a while when weather is good enough.
Had to replace the clutch interlock switch this week.

[Oss]

Not what it looks like today (thankfully)



Valks both resting in the  garage
The bmw sleeps under the cover outside  If it dies, it dies

[Savago]

Winterizing? Damn... I was riding it the other day!
 

One of the few advantages of living in California.

[Willow]

Some people think its abuse to leave your Valk sit outside all winter covered in snow.  Mine doesn't sit long. Made a short video about how to give your bike some love through the winter months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqJPjZg5sqs  

   

[cookiedough]

Not what it looks like today (thankfully)



Valks both resting in the  garage
The bmw sleeps under the cover outside  If it dies, it dies

Have not seen a snowfall like that in well over a decade,  sure hope it stays that way yet again this winter.  Back in the 1990s, I remember way back then a few days with 10-15 inch snowfalls that mounded up with high winds to create a compact near 4 foot drift my entire 16 foot garage door when opened up the next morning.  I was like what the F!  having to shovel it all out at the time in order to get to work, should have just closed the garage door and went back to bed...

[Rams]

MIne is in the garage, on the battery tender, but the only other winterizing I do is to put non-ethanol gas in. I do ride every once in a while when weather is good enough.
Had to replace the clutch interlock switch this week.

I do about the same thing.   But only add Stabil during cold months.   I don't really winterize it.   Normally (before my crash), if the weather was decent, I rode my fat lady.  But she was always garaged if, I wasn't riding her.

Now that I have another fat lady (can't ride it yet), she has Stabil in her tank and gets started and brought up to operating temp often.   But, I recognize that not everyone has an indoor storage area.
Having said that, if I didn't have indoor storage capability, she would most definately have some type of cover over her.

Rams 

[The emperor has no clothes]

Some think bikes have feelings. I'm not in that camp though. But, I do know previous owners do. I hope KY,Dave doesn't see this. I'd feel sad if I were him. Can you put a shed in your backyard ?

[bscrive]

What a shame.  At least cover it.  Then the guy will wonder why he is having issues with it in the spring.  yeeeeshhh!   

[John Schmidt]

Mark81, after watching the video of you starting your snow covered bike, I'm curious as to why you kept twisting the throttle. All it does is keep your wrist loose, doesn't accomplish anything else....especially no gas pumped into the carb throats.

[cookiedough]

My valk once on full choke cold starting,  if you twist the throttle while pushing starter button, will NEVER start.  Must leave throttle alone just touching starter button in order to start while COLD. 

Maybe he was hoping and thinking by twisting the throttle he was going for a ride giving it the juice making Vroom, Vroom noises as well....

[Fazer]

Mark knows what he is doing the with Valk.  I am sure the throttle twisting was just a conditioned response.  I still occasionally pump the gas pedal when starting a car/truck although I KNOW it is not needed or even good for the vehicle.  (I got your back, Mark.)

As for the snow, be glad you don't live anywhere near the eastern side of Lake Erie--such as Erie, PA or Buffalo, NY.  They know what it means to get snow!

[The emperor has no clothes]

Mark knows what he is doing the with Valk.  I am sure the throttle twisting was just a conditioned response.  I still occasionally pump the gas pedal when starting a car/truck although I KNOW it is not needed or even good for the vehicle.  (I got your back, Mark.)

As for the snow, be glad you don't live anywhere near the eastern side of Lake Erie--such as Erie, PA or Buffalo, NY.  They know what it means to get snow!

I have to admit, I've done it on occasion when it was slow to start. Breaking 40 years of conditioning is not always easy. I hope my post wasn't taken as a slam on Mark. It wasn't. I hope he is able to come up with better housing for his girl. But, I understand not all of us have garages or the room.

[Rams]

As for the snow, be glad you don't live anywhere near the eastern side of Lake Erie--such as Erie, PA or Buffalo, NY.  They know what it means to get snow!

I used to live about 35 miles from Lake Erie, there's a reason I moved to a more southern state.
I travel quite a bit, the same reason keeps me from heading up north during certain times/conditions.

They are not the only ones who know snow, they just like it more than I do.  (Apparently)   

Rams 

[cookiedough]

I have not too many issues with deep snow,  it is the idiots who drive in it that get me upset.

[Kaahn]

I would cry if this happened to my Valk

[0leman]

I would cry if this happened to my Valk

I would too, especially since she sits in a nice warm garage.   

[mark81]

Yea I realize twisting the throttle does nothing without an accelerator pump. It’s an old habit that was beat into me at a young age. If I didn’t pump the gas on the tractor it would just flood and not fire. Then I had to shovel the driveway instead of plow it. I know it hurts to see it outside in the snow like that. It hurts me too. But it’s the only option other than put it in storage where I won’t be able to access it for months. I don’t go more that a few day without riding it if I can help it so I don’t want to have to drive 45 minutes just to dig my bike out of the back of someone else’s garage where who knows what is being piled on it and knocked against it. I did ride that day but not as far as I wanted to. It took a while to get it turned around in the snow and to the street. Roads were clear and dry.   Unfortunately my entire yard and driveway is downhill so a shed isn’t an option. I have a 14 X 20 she’d in the backyard but it’s at the bottom of the hill and stays soggy until July. I parked it there once and took 2 days to get it out of the mud when I wanted to ride. If it’s rained in the last mont you aren’t driving anything up that hill. I guess all in all this video was more about justifying to myself that it’s ok to leave it out because I ride all the time in any weather. Thank you guys for all the not so negative responses. I know what you’re really thinking. But it’s ok if this valk goes to crap I have a backup in the basement. And Dave if you do see this I’m sorry. I did buy the bike to ride it and I have put over 35k miles and traveled through 18 states in the couple years I’ve had it. I do love the bike just not in a polish and shine every day kind of way.

[The emperor has no clothes]

  I’m sure your scenario is much better than the guy that buys his bike in ‘98 and puts 11k on it while it sits in the garage the rest of the time.

[mark81]

I don’t know about much better than than letting it sit in a garage without riding it. If that what gives some people a smile then good for them. I’m an auto mechanic by trade. The most common question is how do I keep my car from breaking down on me?  My answer is always “the 2 worst things you can do to a vehicle are drive it and let it sit”. If you can avoid both of those things then your car will last forever.   I didn’t cash out my 401k to watch it sit I spent the money now because I want to tell great stories when I’m old. If I make it that long.

[Big Rick]

Mark, I was going to offer to keep it in my shed for you but I saw where you still ride year round when you can....I am more of a fair weather rider . but if you ever feel the need to store it you're more than welcome here.   Big Rick

[mark81]

Thanks rick. If I decide to keep the interstate too I may take you up on that next winter. No point in leaving them both out. Ideally I’d like to get my CB750 back in operating order for my beater bike since it’s already been sitting outside for 10 years and been plowed into by an Audi so it has no resale value with the salvage title and low budget repairs to get it riding after the wreck