low miles on last year's oil

[Squishman]

So, I parked my bike for winter quite early this year due to an injured wrist. This year's miles were embarrassingly low. Under 1000 miles. So last season's oil is still in there. Is it fine to keep using that oil next year (if my wrist is good to go. hope so!) or is there a condensation issue (or other issues) where I should change it regardless of the miles?

[T Cro ®]

Myself I've never followed that pre-winter ritual beyond "trying" to make sure that I've got a full tank (& carbs) of gas treated with Stabil and plugging into a battery tender; that an a general cleaning.

I will say that when your engine oil change takes nearly 500 gallons you tend to not change it every winter either; heck for that matter we try not to change it at all if we can... Have 21,XXX hours on the oil of my Stbd M/E right now.

Engines that are exposed to frequent heat cycles in cold weather are more prone to condensation than engines that are simply shut down and put to bed and at less than 1,XXX miles on the oil there is little to NO chance of attack from acids built up through the combustion process or otherwise.

[turbojoe78]

I'll be putting mine to rest for the winter in the next couple of weeks and expect to have around 2500 miles or so on the oil.   

I'm running Mobil Delvac 1 ESP Synthetic 5W-40 Diesel Motor Oil and I plan to run it for another 1500 miles in the spring before I change it.  YMMV

[Squishman]

Ok, well that's cool. Thanks.
btw, Tony, did I read that correctly about your carbs, that you don't drain them? I have always filled my tank as far to the top and with Stabil too, but I drain the carbs.

[T Cro ®]

Ok, well that's cool. Thanks.
btw, Tony, did I read that correctly about your carbs, that you don't drain them? I have always filled my tank as far to the top and with Stabil too, but I drain the carbs.

Nope no carb drain for me just a healthy dose of Stabil and run plenty long enough to get it into the carbs; plus I run Stabil several times a year as I'm gone so much...

We just started up the ship's snowblower on the 2nd pull... I cleaned up the carb last year with brake cleaner and added Marvel Mystery Oil to the gas in place of Stabil as it's nearly the same stuff.

[Nosmo]

I  do pretty much the same as T-Cro.  A slash of Sta-bil in the fuel and let her sit if need be.  I do that with the Connie and the Wee-Strom, and I never drain the carbs, either.  Both my bikes sit out in the carport all year, but I never start one up if I'm not going to ride at least 20 miles and let it get good and heat-soaked.  Letting it sit with last year's oil shouldn't cause any problem, as long as the last time you rode it it got hot enough to dry any moisture out of the oil.   Machines aren't like living organisms, once they are frozen it doesn't matter how long they stay frozen. Whatever you do, don't start it and run it for ten minutes at idle, that just generates a lot of nitric acid and crap that corrodes everything.  Either ride it or let it set. 

I have a Generac 3.5kw genset that I haven't added fuel to for about six years now.  I don't use it, just fire it up twice a year to test it and it starts with usually 3 or 4 pulls.  Sta-bil is your friend.

[SteveJ.]

I have a Generac 3.5kw genset that I haven't added fuel to for about six years now.  I don't use it, just fire it up twice a year to test it and it starts with usually 3 or 4 pulls.  Sta-bil is your friend.

I have the same genset, sweet, quiet little unit, and same results from Stabil. I start it and load it with a 1500 watt heater and a room size A/C unit for about a 1/2 hour to load it and get it up to temp. I bought it used from someone bailing out of the economic mess here for $150. Much better quality than the $500 Lowes ChinaCrap stuff.

[Furbo]

I wouldn't sweat this a bit.

I confess, I change my oil and adjust my valves every winter, normally around the 10K mark.  That said, I generally use the bike for longtrips vs commuting. I dont worry about it much, as a quick look thru the forum reviels that the Conc engine is phenominally reliable, suffering only from occasional pitted cams, sticking auto cam chain tensioners, and proclivity to hydrolock - none if which are greatly affected by oil.  I put overflow tubes in the carbies ages ago, and a manual cam chain tensioner last winter (WOW - hadnt realized how noisy that was...), and my annual valve clearance operations haven't revealed any issues with the cams. 

Gas - Ride - Repeat. 

[julianop]

I confess, I change my oil and adjust my valves every winter, normally around the 10K mark.  ...

Oh good, now I don't feel so bad. I've changed my oil four times in 20,000 miles - changing the filter every other time. I usually do it because I'm finally overcome with guilt and imagine the engine is getting rough and falling apart, and because shifting gets a bit clunky 1st to second.

Hope the following isn't digressing from the intent of the thread too much, it seems to be relevant ...

I do a IL-MN-IL 720 mile round trip one a week on "Vicky" when weather and family logistics permit (bike is stabled in IL, even though home is in MN), and a 26 mile daily round trip to work in IL whenever the road isn't icy. She really loves the interstate commute, and is sweet and smooth to me on Monday mornings into work. By Friday she's tightened up a bit, and lower rpm/speed maneuvers in the cool mornings are getting a bit rough. The 2-stroke oil addition seems to help keep the carbs loose. Once in a while, as soon as the engine is warm, I'll open up to WOT from about 2500 RPM in fifth gear a couple of times in an attempt to lift the slides all the way; that seems to help too.
The mixture isn't quite right because I still need to complete the upgrade to SISF's new cams, but that's my fault, of course.

[Squishman]

Hope the following isn't digressing from the intent of the thread too much, it seems to be relevant ...

Digress away Julian! I got my answer.

Once in a while, as soon as the engine is warm, I'll open up to WOT from about 2500 RPM in fifth gear a couple of times in an attempt to lift the slides all the way; that seems to help too.

"WOT"... is that the same as WFO?

ha. I remember in the late 70's in a Cycle magazine reader's mail section, a reader "DEMANDED!" to know what the heck "WFO" was as he kept seeing the reference in various articles.

[julianop]

Digress away Julian! I got my answer.

"WOT"... is that the same as WFO?

ha. I remember in the late 70's in a Cycle magazine reader's mail section, a reader "DEMANDED!" to know what the heck "WFO" was as he kept seeing the reference in various articles.

Ha!  I think the only difference is the mood you're in ;-)

As for digressing, I think I already have a reputation for wringing out a thread topic to within an inch of its life. My "five speed Connie?" thread of a year ago rivaled Alaska in terms of ground covered...