Ninja 250 Motorcycle Winterization

The time has come to winterize my first motorcycle -- a 2001 Kawasaki Ninja 250 (with 51,000 km). I am by no means a gear head and the following motorcycle winterization is based on some research I have done and what I found to work in this instance.  The basic narrative follows below.  I should note that the bike is being stored in an unheated garage in the Greater Toronto Area, and will not be used until the 2011 riding season.

First I made a plywood platform for the bike on a few casters so it can be moved easily if needed.  The wooden surface for the bike to rest on is also better than the bare concrete.

I decided to completely drain the gas tank because of the long storage time, and I felt gasoline stabilizer would be insufficient for the extended duration.  I did however run some stabilizer through the system to stabilize any residual gasoline that may be in the system.  I drained the tank by siphoning it with a 1/4" hose.  I tried sucking the gas through with my mouth which didn't work well on the first attempt.  For it to work I had to kink the hose the suck the gas slowly and regulate the gas coming into the pipe by slowly releasing the kink.  It had to be released slowly while maintaining suction.  Once the gas started flowing I directed the hose into a container.  I left just a little gas at the reserve tank level so I could run the engine to spray fogging oil into the carburetors.

I ran the engine and sprayed fogging oil into the carburetors until the engine stalled and stopped.  See photo to the right.

Once the engine was fogged, I removed the gasoline tank, which I will store inside the house (basement) so it doesn't rust.  Incidentally, I will also store the motorcycle seat and battery inside the house. The hoses that connected to the gas tank were plugged with a few screws so foreign material doesn't get into the system. 

Next I removed the spark plugs and sprayed fogging oil into the cylinders and a little on the plugs themselves.  I turned over the engine a few times with the electric starter to ensure maximum contact with the entire cylinder.  I also know of being able to place about a teaspoon of new motor oil in the cylinders. 

The next part of winterization was to drain the carburetors of residual gasoline.  Unfortunately the drain screws on each carb was stripped, so I had to remove the entire carb assembly to use vice grips to loosen the drain screws.  I placed the 1/4" tubing on the carb drain nipple and loosened the drain screw, which drained a surprising amount of gas.  

I did this for both carbs.  In order to remove the carb assembly, I did have to loosen the air intake housing box so I could jimmy out the carbs.  This was more difficult than I thought, but just needed some finessing.

As I was concerned with the extended storage period, I also checked the radiator coolant with a hygrometer (sp?) to ensure it had the proper proportion of antifreeze to water and that it would withstand the freezing temperatures expected -- it was fine.

I also changed the oil in the engine, putting in a new oil filter and 20W50 oil.  I put in about 1.5L in, which according to the manual is the volume with the filter in.  I noticed on the oil indicator window that the depth of oil was well above half and I thought possibly too much.  To ensure I got full saturation of oil in the system, I turned over then engine with the electric starter (but removed the leads to the spark plugs first).  I turned the engine over for at least 30 seconds, and the oil window started to show the oil level half way at the window -- which is where it should be. 

I sprayed some WD40 into the tail pipes and lubricated various parts.  I had cleaned and lubed the chain a few days ago so I didn't do it again.

I placed my cloth motorcycle cover over the machine and tucked it away in the back of the garage in preparation for 2011.  Unfortunately a spark plug lead broke during the winterization process, so I will have to fix that before I ride.