Preparation for Hibernation

J

Jack911

New member
Location
London
I’ll be taking my Jota off the road for a year or so unfortunately.

Is there anything in particular I should be doing to prepare the bike for that, or should it be OK as is?
 
Yes generally as above,if you are not draining the tank then adding some fuel stabiliser is a good idea,if not i would drain the tank and swirll some oil around inside it to help protect it.
Others may use other methods.
 
Wherever you store it make sure its dry and not damp. If you have any concerns about damp think about spraying vulnerable parts with ACF50.
 
Yes to all the above, and take the battery indoors on a trickle charger/batterytender. Drain the gas and put tank inside if possible, and lube up the chain, rotate wheels occasionally. Change the oil if needed to prevent sediment buildup. Personally I just keep it in the garage and start it up every week or so.
 
I fill the carbs with Redex, (syringe into the top of the fuel pipes) then in the summer just loosen the float bowl nuts to let it out. Works perfectly in preventing any clag whatsoever forming in the carbs.
 
In the USA you must drain the carbs and fuel tank if the bike will be sitting for a year or two. I have seen bikes even with fuel stabilizer have the fuel tank full of rust in a year. After draining the tank, coat the inside with oil. Most fuel in the US has ethanol in it and it loves to absorb moisture from the air.

Now the best option if you can do it is to fill the tank with aviation fuel, it never goes bad.

Also, change the brake fluid and a battery tender is a good idea.
 
the problem in the UK are the wide variations in temperature even through winter ,which produces condensation on everything metallic and makes aluminium your furry friend .........so if you can not keep it warm and dry the options are the vac bag system which sucks all the air out of a big bag around the bike or a dehumidifier. My option is for the latter for my (at the moment) 11 bikes. I am always amazed how much water gets collected.
 
Gerald said:
If you can, drain fuel out of the carbs.
Saves a lot of aggro in spring.

HTH
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have had it that the seals dried out due to that and the carbs leaked. I would do it differently therefore:

-drain the carbs to make sure no water is in the float bowls and refill them with fresh gas
-top-up the gas tank as much as possible while also making sure there is no water in it (look into it with a torch and see if you can see water at the bottom of the tank, which looks like bubbles of fat actually, just not swiming on top of the gas but - due to heavier weight of water compared to fuel - at the bottom; if so, drain the fuel also from the gas tank completely, remove the pet cocks and make sure, no water remains; re-install the pet-cocks and top up the gas tank to the max.
-when you get to use the bike again, drain the float bowles again, open the pet cocks after re-installing the float bowles and the bike should fire up as if you did use it yesterday (rest of all settings in full order and freshly charged battery assumed).

Also don't drain the tubes from the tank to the carbs! they harden out if you do and might brake. Same for any other rubber part in the gas circle.
 
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