Here locally, I see the weather is supposed to be in the low 60s this Saturday, 3.09.2013.. I think this is it!

In December when I put the bike away, I first filled the tank full to the brim, put in stabilizer, and put rags plugged in the mufflers to keep moisture out (preventative that may not have been necessary, but....)

Gonna get the bike outta the storage room, off the battery tender, and fire it up.

Anyone have any suggestions for that first start of the season, considering its been sitting for almost 3 months?

Let it warm up good....and go ride....I wouldn't start it and then shut it off after a few minutes.I'd take a good look around as she's warming...make sure everything's doing okay.Listen to your motor...make sure it's sounding okay.Have a look see at your dash...all lamps out that are supposed to be?If not...(besides the abs lamp)....shut off and restart.Oil lamp out?Good.

If you don't have abs...forget about what I said with that lamp lighting up...it won't.You may or may not get a yellow engine light.If so.Turn off and restart.I would check your cold tire pressures as well...

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/4/2013 @ 12:02 PM *

Prior to thumbing the starter, ensure you have adequate clearance directly in front of your nether-region.

You see, once your Ninjee counts four strokes and catches its first ignition, its going to get crowded in the trouser region.

Plan ahead and clear plenty of room.

;)

Hagrid!!!I didn't want to tell him EVERYTHINGLOL!!!

What's storage?

you didn't mention if you changed the oil in the fall. If it's synthetic, you're good to go, if not, change it. Don't forget to check the level either way.

I started mine up this weekend, and let it come halfway up to operating temperature.

I'm not concerned like Grn14 is about reputed condensation, I have never had any such condensation in 40 years of starting bikes up and letting them idle a few minutes in the dead of winter.

Soon as the weather warms up, I'll switch her over to Amsoil synthetic, and put Amsoil in the shaft drive differential too. Then off to Twigg Cycles to get the stainless steel braided lines put on.

My days of wrenching, at least that includes getting down on my knees and such, are gone. So I have to pay the man. At least they do great work, I know the service techs and service manager personally and they know I'd be a real pain if they messed up. LOL.

Good call OP on filling the tank all the way to the slosh grate. This winter I put the same enzyme treatment in that I used during riding season to treat ethanol. It seems to have preserved the gasoline just as good as sta-bil, though I'm not sure I want to use it for that.

Don't bother putting rags in the muffler tips, unless it makes you feel better.

Ya...IDK what temps anyone has going on in the winter...but where I'm at...it's very cold...a short run of the motor will definitely produce condensation in the engine.That statement was basically for 'starting...warming and shutting down'in a few minutes.If you're gonna let er run for a while...that may or may not have the same affect in the oil...IDK.I wouldn't want water condensing in the motor for any length of time...like weeks or even days if it were mine.First time I saw mine do it....I thought I'd blown a head gasket....it was that visible in the sightglass.I stopped 'short starting' mine after that during the cold.

"Ya...IDK what temps anyone has going on in the winter...but where I'm at...it's very cold...a short run of the motor will definitely produce condensation in the engine."

x2 on that one. ANYONE who knows ANYTHING about IC engines will tell you that cold starts and repeated short runs are hard on the internals and this is one of the reasons why. Petrol engines produce a LOT of water vapour which will condense in the crankcases and stay there if the engine and oil doesn't reach full OT. JMO

Thanks for the input.

When I was putting my exhaust system on, I let the bike run for short periods then shut it off, The oil sight glass showed foamy, whitish oil. Mechanic at the dealership said it was due to condensation from being started for too short of a time. You must get the engine up to full operating temp to prevent this, cause as we all know, water in your oil system is harmful no matter the season you are in.

I have since made sure its up to op temp every time since, and no problems at all anymore with the oil turning foamy.

Got the 14 outta the storage room and fired it up. Started right away, and the battery tender kept the battery just like new.. Took the bike down the road to get it up to operating temp and everything seems fine. Only thing was I had to put some air in the tires and it seems ready to rock.