rx1jim
New member
There is a lot of great info. on this site about preparing a sled for storage. here are three additional things I have done for several years now:
Along with fogging the engine with oil, I clean the carbs and put some fogging oil in the float bowls. Those philips head screws are a real pain to get out without stripping. What I have found works well to remove them is to first use a small vise-grip pliers on them to crack them loose. You don't need to turn them much with the vise-grips, 10-15 degrees of rotation will loosen them enough to finish the job with a screwdriver. I get rid of those crappy, soft philips head screws and replace them with 4 MM dia. x 15 mm allen head screws and a lock washer. Sure makes cleaning the carbs much easier next time.
After lossening the track, I take out the bearing on the drive axle, speedo side. Using a dental type pick, I pop off the seal and clean out all the old grease and accumulated water. This is important to do before storage to get the water out. You only need to take off one seal and you can clean out the old grease with brake cleaner and compressed air. I repack it with a marine grade white lithium grease. Make sure the bearing slides on the shaft freely, if not polish it with emery paper, apply some grease or better yet some antisieze compund to the bearing and reinstall it. The only reason these bearings fail is due to the accumulated water causing the races and balls to rust. Cleaning and regreasing it once a season has worked for me for years on all 4 sleds.
Before storing the sled, cleaning out the chaincase is a good thing to do. Better to get any accumulated water and debris out now rather than having it sit in there all summer. I drain the chaincase and remove the cover. Depending on the mileage, I often remove the chain and gears and inspect them for damage. I wash the chaincase out witha light oil like wd40 which acts as a decent solvent. There will be some debris atthe bottom of the case. Before I put the cover back on, I put some white litium grease the upper bearing in the case so it has some lube during the first few miles of next seasons ride. Fill the case with lube, I use Amsoil's chaincase lube, and you are good to go
Along with fogging the engine with oil, I clean the carbs and put some fogging oil in the float bowls. Those philips head screws are a real pain to get out without stripping. What I have found works well to remove them is to first use a small vise-grip pliers on them to crack them loose. You don't need to turn them much with the vise-grips, 10-15 degrees of rotation will loosen them enough to finish the job with a screwdriver. I get rid of those crappy, soft philips head screws and replace them with 4 MM dia. x 15 mm allen head screws and a lock washer. Sure makes cleaning the carbs much easier next time.
After lossening the track, I take out the bearing on the drive axle, speedo side. Using a dental type pick, I pop off the seal and clean out all the old grease and accumulated water. This is important to do before storage to get the water out. You only need to take off one seal and you can clean out the old grease with brake cleaner and compressed air. I repack it with a marine grade white lithium grease. Make sure the bearing slides on the shaft freely, if not polish it with emery paper, apply some grease or better yet some antisieze compund to the bearing and reinstall it. The only reason these bearings fail is due to the accumulated water causing the races and balls to rust. Cleaning and regreasing it once a season has worked for me for years on all 4 sleds.
Before storing the sled, cleaning out the chaincase is a good thing to do. Better to get any accumulated water and debris out now rather than having it sit in there all summer. I drain the chaincase and remove the cover. Depending on the mileage, I often remove the chain and gears and inspect them for damage. I wash the chaincase out witha light oil like wd40 which acts as a decent solvent. There will be some debris atthe bottom of the case. Before I put the cover back on, I put some white litium grease the upper bearing in the case so it has some lube during the first few miles of next seasons ride. Fill the case with lube, I use Amsoil's chaincase lube, and you are good to go