You can always use fuel stabilizer such as Sta-bil even if you ride the bike every so often. Just fill the bike up after a ride and put a bit more in, it's not going to harm anything. As long as you start the bike and then ride for 30min or more you are okay. The battery will recharge. Some people just let the bike idle for 10min, not good. A lot of juice is used to start the bike. You are also letting the bike get hot enough as far as water condensation. You could always pull the battery out and charge in doors once a month. No need to start the bike and ride, unless you really want to go for a ride. Better to store the battery in a cool/cold place than a warm place. Batteries don't mind the cold, the output just gets low. Excessive heat can kill a battery. Once a month should be enough in my view.

 

Thanks! Will buy stabil or something like that if I find it around here, need to fuel up anyway so will add it after
The garage where I keep it isn't too cold so I think that's good. Gonna go ride it a bit now, brb putting on 10 layers

 

Little update: Went to start it and it wouldn't. It's been 15-20 days since last time I rode it. Planned on going earlier but always had something come up. Meh, took the battery out to charge it a bit and I'll see if it starts tomorrow, or maybe I'll just start it with cables and scooter I have there.

Surprised it wouldn't start after that much time, all electronics worked but when I tried starting it it wouldn't even start turning on, would just go blank and then restart(dashboard), sooomeeetimes if I revved it you'd start hearing it but it was rare and for less than a second and I gave up so I don't drain it completely. Even tried from rolling start but nope.

 

The gauge lights and others don't draw that much current. The starter motor draws approx. 85A, so your battery was too low or cold to crank. As the battery gets colder. the output drops. I don't know where you live so don't know how cold. If your battery is an AGM or Gel, the cold or even freezing won't harm the battery. You just might not have juice to start. Motorcycle batteries being smaller than auto batteries are more sensitive to everything.

 

Guys,
Over the years I have worked at Mercury Marine, Briggs & Stratton, and now Kohler Engines. The biggest change in the last few years has been the change to ethanol. It's now being used in a large portion of the US. We could all discuss whether it makes sense or not, but it's here, and will only be used more, not less. We are due to go from 10% to 15% in the next year or so. Here's what it does: mileage goes down about 10%, it attacks all carb O-rings if they are not viton, or if the bike/engine sits for an extended time. If the engine sits, ethanol bleeds off the light ends of the mixture, and it's the light ends that fire off when the bike is cold. The only cure is to drain the carb float bowls for winter storage, run the bike with at least double the normal amount of Sta-Bil Ethanol Blend before draining, and fill the tank to the top. I had a hard time starting my GSF400 Bandit, if it sat for a month. I could crank for 10 minutes, and it would not start. If I drained the bowls, and let it refill, it would start in about 10 second.

If you don't have ethanol, don't think you are out of the woods. The blends today all have a problem with letting go of the light ends. Todays gas is only good for about a month, and then it starts to degrade.

I use non leaded 91 octain non ethanol in my Yamaha YRZ385 two stroke, my daughters GS500F, and my 1965 Ducati XR160. It is only good for about 2 to 3 weeks, if its the summer blend.

Watch out for when they switch over from winter blend to summer blend. They run the underground tanks to the bottom when they change over, and there is always water in the bottom of the tanks.

Brian

 

Ride, if you can't move. :naughty:

 

Not sure where you live but I live in the north east in 'merica. It gets cold, snowy, and windy here. I still ride. Not saying I go out in a blizzard or anything but if it is flurrying I will still ride if I need to. It is currently 10F here and I am considering going for a ride. Only thing that scares me away is salt and when they use gravel for ice. Only piece of advise I have is just make sure you buy decent gear. Riding while YOU are cold (not cold outside) is dangerous.

 

Charged my battery and works perfectly now, rode for few hours and went great, now I'll start it and ride it more often!