[captrajesh]

Many points have already been covered. Here are my 2 cents.

While I was in Army, we used to do "Mothballing" of battle tanks. Here is a gist of what they do:

1. Pressure clean the bike thoroughly and dry it for a day under the sun.

2. All metal parts would be smeared with grease (different types for different parts) and wrapped with wax paper. Best to dismantle and do it; if not can be done with the bike parked on centre stand.

3. Battery disconnected and put on trickle charge. (You may not have this facility so wash it thoroughly with soap water, dry it and just apply vasaline on terminals.

4. Empty the carburetor by running the bike with fuel shut.

5. Empty the fuel tank, sun dry it and then pour oil (thicker the better) and let it spread it all around by rotating the tank in all directions.

6. All rubber parts must be smeared with generous amount of french chalk.

7. Remove tyres and tubes. Clean them with soap water and dry them up. Apply generous amount of french chalk and keep in a cool and dry place. If not possible, deflate the tyres by half (not fully) Then put cloth / sponge cushion under both the wheels so that the bike is on centre stand and cushions on both the front and rear tyres.

8. Seal all the holes (like silencer etc) with cloth / paper soaked in oil.

9. Put a PVC sheet over the bike (long enough to cover the bike but not to fully cover the bike) to prevent dust seeping through the canvas cover.

10. Put a Canvas cover over the bike.

Hope this helps.

[GTO]

If it were for such a long duration (i.e. 5 years), personally I'd just disassemble the entire bike, carefully pack the parts up and move on. In 2015, I'd reassemble the Yamaha using all new rubber parts, with the help of a Yamaha specialist.

Here's a related thread on cars that might be of some help to you.

[aargee]

If it were for such a long duration (i.e. 5 years), personally I'd just disassemble the entire bike, carefully pack the parts up and move on. In 2015, I'd reassemble the Yamaha using all new rubber parts, with the help of a Yamaha specialist.

I strongly agree to this!!! Reason being that complete peace of mind that no one is meddling with my Rx. However storage should be done very carefully. For example, no harm in immersing the entire crankshaft assy, gearbox, dog, clutch assy, engine bearings, crankcases, sprockets, fork & cylinder in a large container with 2T oil.

However after 5 years, parts such as chain, clutch dampers, brake shoes, cone set bearings, cylinder rubber kit & wiring kit should be changed and parts such as suspensions should be overhauled before fitting.

[Fantasy]

Originally Posted by RT13

Trivandrum is far from dry Its about as humid and muggy a part of India as you can possibly find. 5 years? 1 year is more than enough in that climate.

thanks for clarifying.....i guess when i think of india i think of it as a whole, not remembering there there are very diverse and varied areas in the country.

well good luck on the rust, or just spray the entire bike in oil.

[fabiarider]

Originally Posted by RT13

If one of your friends has agreed to use it then fine. The only thing I personally would worry about (if I'm mental about my bike and really love it the way you seem to ) is whether they would take care of it the way I would. Too often a person who really doesn't know a bike (and doesn't love it like the owner would) is at the mercy of the local mechanics. You might come back to find a whole lot of original parts ripped off and suchlike...

If you do park it in a garage and are planning not to use it, a lot of the suggestions here are good - painting the chromed areas with anti-rust is one of them.

I have a bit of experience on this count. My Dad left his 1980 Yezdi standing in my grandfather's garage from 1990. I only just moved it a couple of months ago. It had been standing for 20 years - unused.

Miraculously, after taking it apart a bit, it started on the 3rd kick.

The paint has of course taken a beating and there is certainly rust (though fairly little considering its been 20 years) since he didn't put anti-rust on it. But the engine has been preserved in perfect shape!

The secret?

Unscrew the spark plug and pull it out. Then take a few packets of 2T oil and pour it into the barrel. Keep pouring until it tops up. Then screw the sparkplug in again.

This will ensure that no rust touches your piston and barrel. Every time you're in town, pump the lever a bit to make sure the piston is moving and pour a little more oil in if warranted. It will preserve the heart of your bike and you can be sure that it will move freely even after twenty years of no-use. This is by far the most important thing since original Yamaha spares are getting hard to find even today.

One more thing you can do is plug the exhaust with waste cloth and stopper it if possible. This will ensure no grit or grime (or water - God forbid!) travels up the pipes.

Thus, the heart of your bike is taken care of.

Funny thing about draining the tank.... I found that the presence of some petrol in the tank is what kept it from rusting over time. I should've had holes in my tank but its in pretty good shape. If you do drain the tank, then take it off the bike completely, clean it out, oil it, wrap it in plastic and keep it somewhere safe. An '88 RX tank is worth preserving in good shape.

Pull off the battery. Also, disconnect the alternator if you like and keep that packed somewhere.

All the best bruv

Thanks, i would certainly like to go by this method as its a proven one. Sometime in future i will bring my back from hibernation.

[Visaster]

Wonder why such highly complicated options are provided. You should understand what a regular individual will do when such complicated options are thrown at him, like - removing this and that and french powder and what not.

Keep it simple.
Nothing much is going to happen to the engine if not used for any amount of years.
But when you are going to get her back to life it will definitely be a refurbishment task.

Only few things required according to my opinion

Remove the battery.
Leave some amount of fuel in the tank. (draining the fuel completely also is an option)
And park it close doors away for sun, rain, pests and people bothering it. ( Most important of all )

And when you get back after how many ever years -
Start by a complete service.
Part by part check and restore routine.

[fabiarider]

Thanks friends for all valuable advise

Considering all factors and my limitations, this is what i am going to finally

1. Pressure clean the bike thoroughly and dry it for a day under the sun.

2. All metal parts would be smeared with grease (different types for different parts) with the bike parked on centre stand.Oil (2T oil ?) will sprayed over all chrome, metal areas as well.

3. Battery disconnected and removed

4. Empty the carburetor by running the bike with fuel shut.

5. Empty the fuel tank, fill it with diesel and 2T oil mixture

6. Seal all the holes (like silencer etc) with cloth / paper soaked in oil.

7. Put a PVC sheet over the bike (long enough to cover the bike but not to fully cover the bike) to prevent dust seeping through the canvas cover.

Somebody will

1. kick the bike once in a week or so that pistons wont get jammed
2. Operate the brakes and clutch as well

so when i come for vacation every year i will just service it and ride as far as possible before i repeat the same process again for next year.

[Visaster]

Your final routine seems good enough.
Wonder what difference a diesel oil mix going to do to tank
You are going to be back in the country every year, so it would not be a problem to keep the bike alive forever.
Cheers

[fabiarider]

Originally Posted by Visaster

Your final routine seems good enough.
Wonder what difference a diesel oil mix going to do to tank
You are going to be back in the country every year, so it would not be a problem to keep the bike alive forever.
Cheers

Diesel - oil mix was suggested by yamaha mechanic as according to him it will prevent corrosion. I am not sure on the chemistry involved. Did a bit of research and the finding is :

How to remove rust from your motorcycle's fuel tank

[fabiarider]

Now that i have decided on the process to be followed. I am now considering to disassemble the bike as far as possible and keep them wrapped separately.
Also it is necessary so that i could oil all the parts of bike well.
I want to do it on my own and being a newbie i need help from bhpians.

To start with i am wondering how to separate the fuel tank, i understand that for this to be done i must first remove the seats. Where are bolts of seat located?

Are these things in RX100 owners manual, can someone help.

[aargee]

Sure...

Originally Posted by fabiarider

Also it is necessary so that i could oil all the parts of bike well.

If possible soak them in oil. Reason being that, if you simply apply the oil & leave it, the oil gets to the bottom of the part in course of 3-6 months & gravity. So immersing them is important.

Originally Posted by fabiarider

To start with i am wondering how to separate the fuel tank, i understand that for this to be done i must first remove the seats. Where are bolts of seat located?

Whoa!!! I'd love to help, but from your post it appears your totally newbie, so, either you take guts to do the job or ask any of your friends (who do not experiement by learning on your Rx) to guide you or ask them to carry over.

Anyway, you need to remove the seats first for which the nuts are located at the rear end (nr tail lamp assy) below the seat, use 13mm wrench to remove from both the sides. Once you remove the seats, you can see a single nut for holding the fuel tank, again 13mm. Ensure to close the fuel cock, disconnect the tube from the fuel tank & then remove the tank.

Originally Posted by fabiarider

Are these things in RX100 owners manual, can someone help.

Not much in owners manual, but a lot in workshop manual.

[fabiarider]

Thanks for help aargee, i am a newbie but very interested to learn about my bike so this will be the best opportunity i guess. Will try to work out things at slow pace

[captrajesh]

Also, don't forget to half empty the tubes and tyres or else the tyre would develop cracks, first minute which get larger over a time as the bike is not going to be moved.

[roy_libran]

Considering Trivandrum, and 5 years, my suggestion: 1. Completely dismantle the bike, and most of the engine's major parts. Clean them thoroughly, to remove accrued dirt and dust. Spray oil. 2. Repaint all parts with any trace of rust, with anti-rust coating. 3. Rechrome all chrome parts and spray oil. 4. I don't think there is any method to protect rubber parts and tyres for 5 years of zero use. These will need to be replaced. 5. Follow the suggestions from Aargee w.r.t Fuel tank. 6. Pack all individual components in good quality air-tight bags, away from rodents. Then pray to God. Points above by Capt.Rajesh are very good.

[mac187]

Originally Posted by am1m

Just finished preparing my '94 Shogun for a long-term parking last week. Here's what I did (gleaned from various sources off the Net):

1. Got her serviced and got the paint touched up.
2. Drained the petrol from the tank and the carb. Splashed 2T oil around inside the tank.
3. Removed all the 'plastic' - side-panels, rear panels.
4. Removed the spark-plug and poured some 2T oil inside the opening. Kicked it over a few times to distribute the oil. replaced the spark plug and cover.
5. Oiled the chain and chassis joints and points.
6. Spread some oil on the front forks and bounced the front wheels to get the oil spread inside the fork.
7. Wiped the bike clean.
8. Deflated both tires.
9. Removed the 2T oil; left the gear oil intact.
10. Parked her in a dry area and covered her with a cotton bedsheet - cotton to let the material 'breathe', this prevents moisture from getting trapped like in the case of plastic covers.

This is the best way to store your bike. Additionally you should get anti rust coating done on your bike periodically. That should suffice i guess.

P.S: Didn't see a single reply asking you to sell the bike, I feel happy that we all share the same passion to our machines.