we had some crappy weather the last couple weeks so the bike sat. i didnt fire it up didnt think i needed to. shes sat for upwards of a week before in warmer weather and always fired right up. so yesterday we had a nice day and i pulled her out, hit the button and shes just cranking. chokes in all the way, its out, didnt make a difference, i twisted the throttle a few times and finally got her to start with the choke in and then i had to pull it out once she fired. i also noticed that at 104 degrees when i shut the choke off she just died. so im wondering what tips you guys have for starting this beast after the winter? itll get fresh plugs before getting started, i know my honda quad fouls the plug if it sits for a month or so, not sure why but it does, my polaris doesnt do that, but id just like to avoid having to deal with the after winter starting issues.

 

I know your bike is new to you - have you replaced the plugs yet? As you noted Hondas can be a bit tough on plugs.
Otherwise looking through the threads I've noticed a reacurring theme on fueling issues - gumming up, varnishing etc. I've not had any problem with mine, but I use Seafoam. My yamaha 2-stroke water toys can be pretty prone to fouling. The forums on those all love sea foam and it has worked for me.
For my Shawk I don't use it all the time, but once a month I'll put about 6 oz in the tank when I fill up. I also use it as a fuel stabalizer in the winter for all my toys. I haven't put it in my oil - that just seems odd to me...
I fog my water toys for winter storage, but did not for the hawk. Seemed like overkill for a nice clean 4 stroke.

 

havent done them yet, i noticed shes idles a little lumpy when sitting for a few days. plugs are gonna get done over the winter i dont see the point in doing them now only to let it sit for the next half of the year. ive heard of guys using seafoam in cars but all the vids ive seen shows the cars pissing out smoke like crazy. so with using seafoam as the fuel stabilizer, you just add the 6 ounces as you mentioned, run it for a bit till it gets cycled into the motor and then thats it you let it sit for the winter? im trying to find the proper way to winterize the bike on a few different forums, some say to do alot of little things while others say just to put some stabilizer in the gas over inflate the tires and forget about it. what do you recommend? youre not that far from me our winters are very similar im sure

 

I always have mine attached to a battery tender when Im not riding it. Its cheap and something I recommend at all times...

http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender.../dp/B000CITK8S

 

thats actually a pretty good price. im waiting for canadian tire to have one of them on sale so i can pick it up but if that doesnt happen in the next month or so ill probably order from there. thanks

 

Big carbs mean big jets. It's not easy to gum up our carbs. I've had mine sit the last 4 winters with fuel in the carbs (with Stabil) and never had a problem getting her started. I'd look somewhere else, like maybe something intake or electrical. Maybe something made a home in your airbox.

 

This last winter I let mine sit for about the same as Hawkrider in the same way, carbs full and such. I had issues when I went to go start it with either the floats stuck or the stoppers for the floats not sealing. This meant I could start it and get it running but it would dump fuel on the ground like crazy. I opened up the carbs, cleaned them carefully, and put them back together to get it to stop doing that. I think if I had emptied the carbs this wouldn't have happened. I would recommend doing that.

 

yeah maybe ill empty them. i had the lid off the airbox a few weeks back and everything was good in there. how would i drain the carbs? shut off the fuel under the tank and run it dry? and also in the spring time how do i get it restarted with empty carbs? just crank it till it starts or do i twist the throttle a few times and then try starting it

 

I am loath to admit it, but I have let mine sit for a couple months with no problems and no preparation.. It's always started right up and ran fine.

 

My winter prep is simple... Clean and washed, general stuff like chain and such...

Then a full tank of gas to keep from getting moisture and rust, then I stick the bike on stands and disconnect the battery to store warm, and put a cover on it... Then it sits in a cold garage, it's always above freezing, but that's about it...

When spring comes I just check tire pressure and give the battery a fresh charge, drop it in and fire her up... Usually have to crank a few more rounds than on a normal start that one time... But so far, that's it... Nothing fancy...

 

see ive never really preped my cars for storage, id fill them up in high test and let them stay like that all winter. id pop in the battery and be on my way after that. i still need to get a rear stand, not too worried about a front but a rear is needed. need that some cct's rear sprocket and i think thats the end of my winter mod list, got everything else i need

 

Mine starts ok after winter. I use stailizer in the fuel and thats it. The longer it sits the more you have to open and close the throttle I find, to prime it I guess. Mine sits at least 4 months.

 

yeah mines gonna go away probably early to mid november and wont be back till april or a little later. all depending on when the roads get cleaned.

 

Ditto....always just put it on stands and left it sit with no problems re-starting it. But then again I always find a way to take it for a ride at least every week or so if if it calls for a good bundling up just not to freeze.
But if anyone needs a good battery tender check these out at good ole Harbor Freight, only like $5.00 and sometimes you can get a coupon and they are only a couple bucks. They work good and I use them on mowers and bike batteries with no problems. And since they ar eso cheap I have a few extra's on the shelf for that just in case moment.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=42292

 

I bought that exact float charger for my scooter. It fried the battery. My old boss bought one with me that day for his quads. it burnt one of his batteries too! Just my experience. I love my Battery Tender 800 though!

 

Maybe you got a bad batch. I had doubts about them at first too because of price and watched them. But knock on wood I have never had any troubles.

 

The smoke you see on Utube is when people fog the seafoam into the carb intakes. I do that on my 2-strokes, but have never bothered on my bikes. I may be lucky, but I'm with a lot of others here - I just clean and wax her, Take out the battery and bring that into my house, fill her up, I change the oil and run that a few weeks so there might be 500 mile on the oil, and as I said, the last tank has sea foam. Toss a blaket over her and she is set.

 

summa bitch i just bought one today and paid 27 bucks for it but its a pretty sweet little unit. that there i might have to invest in aswell, maybe grab a few for that price and run one on my quad battery.

ill try the seafoam tecknique this winter see how she works for me

 

In regards to not emptying the carbs for storage, it will probably be ok 99% of the time. I just got really peeved because I got the bike home from storage, cleaned the carbs and all in perhaps 70-80 degree weather over 2-3 weeks (had seal issues upon dissasembly)... and then the next month and a half was rain in the mid to low 60's as a high. It's just a quick thing to do and I don't want to miss half the summers good riding days again. If you didn't do it... odds are the the bike will be ok and run fine in the spring.

For cars my dad and I have always just filled the tanks, used fuel stabilizer, and disconnected batteries. Occasionally in the past ~10-15 years I remember having to replace the batteries after the winter but it's always been after about 2 years.

 

ill leave it to a coin toss i guess. so basically if i leave fuel in the carbs i risk having it gum stuff up right? are there any draw backs to leaving them empty? seals drying up in the carb? stuff like that?

 

Right on the money... It's a tossup really... Here in Sweden we have either less additives in the gas or less agressive additives, cuz it hardly ever gums up, so I go with the full option and never used any stabilizer...