Long, LONG, DIRK DIGGLER LONG Term Storage of Bike

As above make sure to fog the tank inside. Also as mentioned drain the brake fluid and replace. I bought a long sitting SV (like 6-8 years) and the fluid in the brake lines had teh consistency of gummie bears.

So basically moisture is the enemy. Oil/coat all the steel parts, tank, engine, etc. Put fresh oil in it maybe with storage additives. If you want to go crazy look at some aviation engine storage recommendations. They make dessicant systems to replace the spark plugs and add to the exhaust and intake so no wet air can enter.

 

I’d be concerned about gaskets drying out over time.

 

Go on ebay and pick up a few critical parts (fuel pump, ecu, etc..) that might be hard to find once you decide to get it going again or decide to restore it. 10-15 years those may be hard to come by.

 

If you haven’t had any issues I’d say whatever you’ve done to this point has worked well

 

Fresh oil

 

Fill with nitrogen and purge a few times. LOL

 

Drain the fuel and fill it with 100LL avgas, and run it through, that stuff lasts for years before spoiling.

 

Put rat poison in the airbox

 

Identical to my '76.

 

Agree on flushing the hydraulic fluids, at least on the clutch. Mine sat for several years while I was busy with life and the clutch cylinders seized. It was gummy bear consistency like was mentioned before. That required a rebuild of the master and replacement of the whole slave assembly. Brakes were fine however.

I also agree on getting your hands on the parts that might get more difficult to find. But keep in mind quite a few parts were used on other bikes. The slave cylinder, for instance, was used on several other bikes for years before and after the RC. (the XX and CTX among others if i recall.) Though, Durbahn had a cable clutch modification for sale back in the day. Probably better all around than the stock hydraulic.

Otherwise, I just kept it on a tender, would warm it up and go for a spin around the block every other month.

 

Are you from Columbia?

 

Lexington....but yeah.

 

Any bike that sits for more than a week is getting the battery & fuel pulled. No if, ands, or buts... Tenders have cost me more in batteries than they've saved.
Fleet problems and thats not even getting into tires & what not. Most of the nut cases I know with bikes in "real" containment or box storage can't even see if the bike is still in there...haha
Could probably build a lexan box if youre feeling froggy.

 

I cant believe we're 2 pages in and no one has mentioned its a POS 4T Honda so why bother???? Now it was something sweet like an RZ500, 350, NSR, TZR or RG500 then yeah go thru the effort.

 

An 18 year old bike with under 13K miles that still looks new, like literally had two people ask if it was new yesterday, is worth going through the effort.

 

We are in Lexington too.

 

That depends on who asks. I have had several people ask if my 1997 85,000 mile VFR was “new” in the last 20,000 miles. It obviously isn’t and anybody with half a clue should be able to see it.