Taking my bike outta storage, advice please.

[monkeywithaplan]

hi all

i laid my nc35 up for 8 months while between housing, finally moved and getting arse in gear to collect my precious.

just checking all i need to do to get her started and make sure she safe to drive. ok, list
1. new battery in
2. clean carbs, dump fuel in tank and clean.
3. fresh fuel.
4. quick brake clean to make sure no pistons seized.
5. chain lubing.
6. might aswell clean plugs while carbs is off
7. oil and filter change when i get her back home
and the one i am not sure of and i am sure there will be divided opinion.
7. should i drop a teaspoonful of engine oil or 2t oil in each cylinder and turn her over manually?, to coat the rings a bit as its been sitting so long and against partial engine seisure. never sat a bike for so long, so unsure.

its been sitting in a cold garage the whole time,

cheers
david

[monkeywithaplan]

so anyone any ideas?

[Neosophist]

Dont' think you've missed anything

Check the air in the tyres too :-) They might look ok but they've probably gone down a fair bit. (make sure there not flat where its been standing!

Puttin a bit of oil in the cylinders isn't going to hurt, providing you crank it out with a cloth, it'll burn the excess off when you start it... alternativly you could just crank it over a few times without starting it to pump some oil around and leave it a minute or two to settle.

[monkeywithaplan]

cheers dude. left her on the abba stand and over inflated the front to near 40psi, so hopefully that tyre is ok. at worst £70 for a new front.
yep, the pump will be coming down with me also.

think a teaspoonful of 2t oil and crank the engine over manually (or should i crank it with the starter motor?) with the wrench will be the way to go then, and left for 20 mins to seep in while i clean the carbs and reassemble the bike.

[Neosophist]

Either, but if you do crank it over make sure you have some rags around as it'll spray everywhere :D

[jowyvfr]

Sorry to divert the thread slightly but I am just about to do the same to my bike as I have a track day at the weekend and like you my bike has been sitting for a good 8 months or so. Just looking through your list wanted to check a couple of points. namely what the best way to clean the brakes is, just whip the pads out, give em a spray and maybe then bleed through. Also how easy is it to clean the carbs and what is involved in doing it? Am sorted for the rest of it and have been pretty vigilant in starting it up every other week and letting it idle for a good while with a few revs chucked in for good measure so dont think the battery is an issue. Thanks man and hope you get your bike up and running ok.

[monkeywithaplan]

got her going and she sparked up quickly aswell :)

for the brakes take the pads out and calipers off the fork, welt away with some brake cleaner and toothbrush if needed for the crud. as a quick fix on sticky pistons, not full on seizure - thas a different ball park altogether i just used my caliper/piston splitter majigger(lol, cant remember its name), to force them back into the caliper. you can use a bit of wood or the body of a long bladed screwdriver the same to get it done. reassemble, and pump the pistons back out. for a trackday i would def get some fresh brake fluid in there. dot 5.1 stuff.

carbs, just remove and drain, remove float bowls, spray like a man possessed with carb cleaner. i would use a pressurised air duster can and spray up the jets aswell for good measure.

thanks dude, got my bike back home yesterday to find both forks pissing with oil. oh well, they were due replacement i think anyways. tis just a pain in the behind, along with some electrical gremlins it has now developed . but it will be a fun week sorting it out