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FreeSpirit

Serious Thumper

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Joy is my Compass !

Posts: 3823
North Georgia
Gender: female

Re: Sta-bil
Reply #15 - 09/08/09 at 19:14:31

I filled my tank up last winter and used sta-bil.Didnt drain the carb.But let the bike run awhile to mix the sta-bil in. No problems that I know of.I did this because that was what I kept reading online through searches,everywhere.But some that didnt mention stabil said to drain the carb!
I personally feel the sta-bil keeps the carb from getting gummed up and according to what I read also! And the auto parts store guys said so also.So I was pretty convinced it would and did.
I've heard its not good to have a low battery in the winter,at least outside because it would do harm to the battery in freezing weather.I had my battery in the bike ,outside,forgot to keep it charged and it was no good this spring.So it did harm my battery.(Got really cold here last winter)

I am building a bike only shed before this winter Wink

My other shed/storage building was/is too full to put the bike in.

My friends keep their bikes in a garage or shed and do little to them in the winter except maybe use a trickle charger. I did use a Motorcycle cover,but that didnt do alot of good I dont think except to keep the rain off. Undecided

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2002 Suzuki Savage-Stock.Windshield,Saddle bags,Hwy Bars,Tank Bib.Custom Paint.

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ALfromN.H. FSO Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Dragon Slayer Posts: 1421 Rochester, New Hampshire Gender:	Re: Sta-bil Reply #16 - 09/08/09 at 20:04:59 I plug in the battery tender and put a cover on it. Never had a problem yet. AL
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boofer

Ex Member

Re: Sta-bil
Reply #17 - 09/08/09 at 20:26:37

I just noticed one poster is from Georgia and one is from New Hampshire. Just guessing, but maybe we are all right in our winter preps. Just harsher weather in some places. I will try to ride my Savage enough to keep it charged. I am too old to brave freezing weather, but we have a lot of 45-50 days. I have a snapper mower in unheated area. I crank it about once a month and cut up leaves. Works great and get 4 yrs from Snapper batteries. Tried cheap battery once--got one year. BTW a fully charged battery, due to specific gravity shouldn't freeze. (Can anyone back me up on this?) Saw a guy put charger on a car battery he didn't know was frozen. It exploded. Boofer

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Pabst 2006

Junior Member

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Thump Thump KERPOW!

Posts: 81
Rochester, NY
Gender: male

Re: Sta-bil
Reply #18 - 09/15/09 at 16:31:17

qn7qcw7 wrote on 09/08/09 at 20:26:37:

... BTW a fully charged battery, due to specific gravity shouldn't freeze. (Can anyone back me up on this?) ...

Last November when I bought a Battery Tender Jr, I went on their site to read up on battery winterizing. From what I recall was on their site, a 100% fully charged battery wouldn't freeze until -50 to -60 degrees F. A 40% charged battery, on the other hand, would freeze perhaps at only 16 degrees F. They did mention it was important to keep your battery fluid levels at the appropriate range a.k.a. add distilled water it if looks a little low. I don't know if the freezing point is affected if a battery's cell(s) is/are low on water.

-Pabst

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2008 S40 - Red

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FreeSpirit Serious Thumper Offline Joy is my Compass ! Posts: 3823 North Georgia Gender:	Re: Sta-bil Reply #19 - 09/15/09 at 18:06:12 ALfromN.H. FSO wrote on 09/08/09 at 20:04:59: I plug in the battery tender and put a cover on it. Never had a problem yet. AL Is your bike inside or outside?
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T Mack 1 - FSO

Serious Thumper
Alliance Member

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sold 2001 LS650 for
a 1986 XLH1100

Posts: 2919
Emmaus,Pa
Gender: male

Re: Sta-bil
Reply #20 - 09/16/09 at 10:13:01

If you follow the directions on the bottle, STA-Bil is a good product.

If you use the train of thought that my grandfather did, "If a little bit of a good thing works, then four or five times the amount must be great" you will find that the improper mix can leave a coating on the sparkplug ceramic that can short the plug causing bad or no spark. Of course that makes one think the ign system went bad over the winter and not the simple thing.

The first year I had to get his lawnmower running, took me a few hours (and beers ) to figure out what happened. Found out by accident when I pulled the starter cord without a good ground on the plug. Shocked

It isn't shorted when it has a good high resistance human body ground....

The second year, was about an hour and that was mostly the "he couldn't have done it again" train of reasoning that prevented me from looking at the gas.

The third year, about 5 minutes of changing a plug and draining the gas to a bigger container so I could mix in enough fresh gas to dilute the Sta-bil.

No fourth year because I started winter-izing the mower.

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Engineers design things, Technicians make them work.
---
30% of being mechanical is confidence/30% is knowing to go slow when needed/30% is looking repeatedly at what you have/10% is dumb luck Wink

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Digger

Serious Thumper
2005 No Login

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Ya gotta be tough to
ride singles!

Posts: 1604
Colorado Springs, CO
Gender: male

Re: Sta-bil
Reply #21 - 12/09/09 at 20:32:20

I think Sta-Bil is good stuff, but you need to keep an eye on it.

I had some of the red Sta-Bil on the shelf for a few years once. I picked up the bottle and noticed a good deal of precipitate on the bottom. It had gone bad.

Speaking of Sta-Bil, has anyone had any experience with the green Sta-Bil (the stuff made for use with ethanol-laced gas)?

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Digger
2001, Metallic Glacial Blue, Raptor Petcock, Verslavy (first hole) (otherwise, mechanically, the bike is stock), 13,xxx miles
I don't own a cage.
www.astronautbiker.com

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