Want to see what you guys think... My 04 KTM 950 has been in storage for 8 months. Gonna knock out an oil change, but do you think I should warm it up first as during a regular oil change, or do you think I should drain it cold? I imagine all gunk/crap has settled to the bottom of the case. Do I want to start it up and have that crap disperse throughout the crak case/motor, or just drain it cold?
If you didn't drain the fuel out of the bike before storage, I'd run a fuel treatment into it to help break down any fuel breakdown build up. I like the Yamalube ring clean.
BUT, of course you changed the oil BEFORE you stored it? Otherwise the acids and water have had 8 months to etch all the parts. Go ahead and warm it up. Ride it for 20 min or so. Open the filler cap and open all the drain plugs to get the hot oil out fast.
Sounds like the genereal consensus is to warm it up, will do. Of note, oil was changed prior to storage and I topped the fuel off with ethanol free fuel (I only run ehtanol free fuel unless on a trip and can't find it), added a fuel stabilizer, and ran it for 15 minutes to get the stabilizer throughout the fuel system. Thanks for the replies.
I'm in the same position but I bought the bike from a guy who had it sitting for two years! :huh Will follow suggestions above for oil, what about changing out fork oil as well? Suggestions?
The oil drains from 4? places? I think it will drain ok cold. I don't guess the oil temp maters much. The gas on the other hand......... I would drain that shit out of the carbs and tank an run a mix of fuel cleaner and gas through it. Maybe run it and let it sit and run it and let it sit repeat etc. The carbs may be fucked up.
Yep, if it was sitting for 8 months with clean oil in it I would run with that oil for sure. It's not out of date and changing it costs money and wastes resources (No I'm not a greenie but seriously, that's brand new oil you'd be tossing!) If you filled up with non-ethanol gas and added stabilizer I'd run the gas as well. I'm not certain how finicky the 950's carbs are but I've run real gas that old without issue on many other carbed bikes. On the other hand if you think the gas is questionable no harm in filling up the car with it and get fresh for the bike. Oh and I'm in the always drain oil warm camp. Running before draining helps get the contaminants in suspension so they come out with the oil. The only time I would drain cold would be if the motor had ingested a good bit of water.