Every winter since my 1994 Gen 1 V-Max was new, I've been putting it away for the winter with a fresh oil change followed by squirting some marine engine fogging oil into the intakes as the engine idled. (That technique always worked great on my Chevy V-8 in my boat.) Makes for a smoky startup for the first minute or two when I start the V-Max in the spring, but the 15 year old bike still runs great!

Tonight I'm studying up the manuals to understand all the new technology of my 2009 Gen 2 VMax as I get ready to put it up for the winter. Any reason I shouldn't use fogging oil?

Wouldn't see why you couldn't use a light coat. Don't don't how long you are planning on not running your bike. I wouldn't think it would be necessary. I'll probably find a few decent enough days in the winter to run my bike at least every two months or less. I put in a light dose of Sea Foam and a good shot of Marvel Mystery Oil in the fuel around this time of year.

My bike is down 4-5 months a year and I add nothing but a trickle charger. Never had an issue. The vmax drinksit so fast I can't imagine having an issue with it either, I may get two rides in on a 50 degree day or two in the 5 months and do fill up afterwords to be honest.

Theohiomike wrote:


Five months? Don't know how you do it. It's been a week of crummy weather here in Dallas, and I'm going through withdrawal. Sunny and 50F today, and going to get my fix.

i want to ride!!!but im @ home with my son and doing the double -D clutch mod..

The original reason for squirting a shot of oil in the cylinders was to prevent the cast iron cylinder liners from rusting. Since most new high performance bikes, including the VMAX, now have a ceramic cylinder coating rather than a cast iron liner, it seems like the oil is totally unecessary now.

I'm in storage for ~ 4-5 months. I'm inclined to agree that oiling the cylinders is outdated tech. The manual still says to do it for long term storage (But, of course, the manual also says to oil the chain after cleaning the bike. Guess that shows how much effort is put into making the manual accurate!)

Not just for my Vmax but for my V-Rod and cars I use Fuchs' 0W-20 GT1 (Ester), good for consumption, smooth, keeps temp lower and starts in one go regardless of summer or winter down time...

One thing for certian it won't hurt the bike.

It's always a good thing to start the bike sometime in the winter and make sure the trannsmission and rear wheels get turned over.

I have seen ring gears on differentials that have rust and pits on the half of the gear that is not below the oil level. This from sitting un-moved.