Time to put the sled away.... Till next year....

[x2thez]

ok its time.... to put her away. I am going to pull it back into the shed but I am just wondering if there is somethign special that I need to do for this one. Here is what I have in mind please feel free to add or edit anything that you feel would be better.
1. I drain most of the fuel and put stabil in and run it to get the fuel in the carbs
2. Loosen up the track and set it up on a jackstand
3. I wasnt sure about whether to just leave the battey in and leave it on the optimate or to pull it and put it in my basement
4. Fog the motor
5. Pull the belt off
6. Spray a light coating of oil on the suspension components
7. Kiss her goodnight and cover it up.

Did I forget anything?

 

[yamaha1]

If you are going to do the stabil thing you might want to actually fill the gas tank not drain it. If it gets humid in the spring where you are at you could actually get condensation on the inside of the tank if it is not full. Plus, stabil only preserves octane not enhance it. So it works better with fresh gas.

I also prefer to take the battery out and bring it inside. I usually put it on the trickle charger when I take it out and then at the begining of next season before I put it back in.

 

[pro116]

If you want to you can pull out the primary spring and secondary spring also.

 

[06rsvectorer]

i have one major question should i or should i not fog the engine, if i do will the carbs need to be cleaned in the fall because i know fogging oil is sticky. and if i do fog the engine should i spay it in though the carbs or take out the spark plugs???? thanks for your help

 

[x2thez]

I dont use any special fogging oil, I just use a spray oil, a penetrating oil and always have and never had a problem

 

[k75]

Change the oil and filter. Have a set of metric allen wrenches in hand for the job. 4 stroke sleds and cycles should be stored with new oil. This is my first year with a 4 stroke sled but I have been enjoying bikes for years. Last thing to do is change that oil and briefly run it to splash clean oil everywhere in the engine. that baby does not get started until you are ready to ride next winter. Keep the battery charged. I'd put it on a battery tender out of the sled. There would be no reason I could think of to fog. The carbs need to be kept clean. I gather from this forum the jets are small in the carbs. I would think foging would almost certainly mean carbs will need a cleaning come winter. pulling plugs and shooting oil in could be done. I appreciated your post as this weekend my sled goes to sleep for the summer. I was putting it to sleep last weekend until I realized my metric allen wrenches were no where to be found. Can not drain the oil with out them. A buddy of mine waxed his sled and discovered the wax took the printing off of his Mn trail permit. I never have waxed a hood but if one does care maybe the order of the day. At least in Mn.

 

[06rsvectorer]

well what i was going to do was but the k-100 in the gas, run it though and leave the 3 gallons that are in the sled right now in it, plug in the battery tender, grease the suspension and put it in the back corner in the garage, spray the entire engine compartment will wd-40 (execept clutchs and brake) then stuff it in the corner of the garage with a bunch of other stuff, then in the fall wax the sled and change oil fill the tank with gas and start it up, did i forget anything???

 

[PAMikeC]

Here is what also might help. If you have fuel shut offs just run it till it dies after changing the oil.

I also don't think that fogging hurts the jets. The jets get their fuel from the floats and you are not fogging inside of the carb but instead thru the carb. That is my opinion and getting rid of the gas in the carbs is more important so that it doesn't gel up and clog your jets, float , etc.

I run all my stuff dry lawnmowers, snowblowers , boat motor and ATV. Don't ever remember having to take carbs apart and clean them for quite a few years now.

 

[06rsvectorer]

well this k-100 will make the carb go dry faster, I cant do the shut-off trick because no shut-off valves. well more than likely I wont fog the engine ill just start it about everyother month

 

[k75]

You should change the oil before you store it and do not start it up until you plan to ride. Leaving dirty oil in your engine does it no good. Starting an engine briefly is harmful in comparision to not starting it. Oil burns off moisture when hot and some of the contaminates. briefly running an engine will mean it never truely gets hot enough to burn off moisture and contaminates. That dirty oil has acid in it that does not need to sit inside of your engine for months.

 

[Steely Dan]

I do all the normal cleaning and lubing but I also put stabil in a full tank of gas and start them once a month all through the summer. That takes care of lubrication of the engine and keeps the battery charged.

 

[marlowe]

Putting away my sled too....following most of what's being said here...not sure about the fogging oil...always did it on my 2-strokes, but not sure about on my new Rage...

Question: What about blocking up the machine to get the weight off the suspension over the summer? Does that benefit Yammies? I know the old Polaris manuals always recommended it, but there's no mention of it in my Yamaha manual.

Thanks!

 

[ttw_walman]

I don't use any spray oil on my sleds.

I use an entire can of engine bright on the engine compartment and suspension. After a good soaking I pressure wash the entire sled. I then wait a couple of days for a complete drying. Greasing the suspension is next and very important to push out any water that might be in there and would cause corrosion over the next 7-8 months. Lastly I use an entire can of silicone spray on they engine compartment and suspension. I have been doing this religously now for over 10 years on all my sleds and trust me it works!! All of my sleds look practically brand new even after 5 or 6 years with 10 -12000 miles on them!!

 

[yamaslob]

Any reason not to just start up the sled pretty good once every few months? put it on a jack stan and run it?

 

[ttw_walman]

YAMASLOB

As far as just starting the sled once in a while. I"ve heard (and it seems reasonable to me) that just running your sled does not get the exhaust system hot enough to boil off all the water that is produced during the combustion process. You need to be into the power to get that kind of heat. Instead you would get a lot of condensation in there that could lead to corrosion and subsequent premature exhaust system failure.

P.S. You live in my favorite place in the world. Winter or Summer!! I'm especially fond of Cranberry Lake!!