Back riding after 2 years

[shaunk]

Well, having just joined the forum I thought I would post some pictures and also a question and some background.

Due to a two year house renovation my loved Bird has been in storage and not seen the light of day for the last two years, over the last 3 weeks the bike has been placed in it's new home (my new garage) and cleaned / serviced etc... it's been great to get back out for some rides, however since moving house I've also lost my ride out mates and local meets, so any info for the Newbury Berkshire area would really be appriciated.

Some pic below, the bike is a 1998 carb model and I have owned it from new, also had the pleasure of some fantastic riding in Germany, Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and I would never change I simply love everything about the bike from performance to the personalised look. rgds Shaun

 

[Grapefruits]

Let me see two years whilst you had a bike sitting there itching to be run

christ it must be one hell of a house good luck back on the bike

 

[shelley]

Welcome back to the fold colourful one w4lc0m3

Always good to hear of bikes being used abroad, I'm planning next years trip each time I go to the khazi.

Did the bird need much doing to get her up & running?

 

[NB1]

Nice looking bike! Welcome. w;;v

 

[shaunk]

Storage for a long time

Shelly,

Well when I pulled her out of storage the first thing was some nice new petrol and battery, it was quite amusing when I connected the new one and thought Ahhh go on start her up (I knew I shouldn't have without checking things first but the temtation was there), I cranked her over and a kind off miss firing attempt was heard followed by a 3ft pool of petrol underneath, needless to say a quick retreat to throw my cigarette out the garage door and also if you notice the garage I built last year is wood !!. So there is a lesson, never just try and start your bike after that long without checking it over.

In terms of the work that was needed not much, the carbs were all stuck up which caused the petrol to come out the breather pipes , followed by a good service, at the end of the day if you do all the right things before putting your bike to bed for an extended period you should be ok.

Steps that I took before I stored the bike:

1/ Drained the carbs (they did still stick up though)
2/ Drained the petrol tank and added a small amount of oil which was shaken into the tank (obviously the tank was off the bike) to coat the inside and prevent any corrosion.
3/ Removed the battery
4/ Good clean and heavy wax
5/ Stored on blocks and covered up.

The only extras to the standard service were changing the brake fluid, cleaning the tank and re-filling.

I would advise any summer only riders to look at some of the storage precations because it can save you so much heart ache when you ride again and of course damage to the bike.

rdgs Shaun

 

[Raymundo]

Welcome. Hope to see you on the road sometime.

Ray