Paul's Crazy Motorcycle Page

OK, let's get this straight right now: I'm still a newbie. This bike is the second bike I have ever owned. This sultry looking beast is a 1998 Suzuki GSX600F Katana.
My first bike was Xeno, an old 1978 Honda CB750F3. The first time I ever rode a motorcycle was on March 28th, 1997. So, even though I just passed the MSF course (April 27th, 1997), it's obvious that I still have a lot of learning to do.

To keep you WWW surfers coming back, I'm keeping a log of what I've done and where I've gone. Since I'm still fairly new to this whole motorcycle thing, your comments are welcome. Go ahead and email me if you'd like to tell me something, offer advice, or simply chide me for wasting so much time and effort on this silly hobby.

March 27th, 1999

Ahhh, the sweet smell of spring. Today marked the de-winterizing of my bike, and the first ride of the season. There's always something special about taking the bike out on the road for the first time of a year, and today was no different. All over town bikes of all sizes and denominations were buzzing from hither to yon with riders that shared at least one thing in common with each other: a huge stupid grin.

But enough of that mushy stuff, here's the practical information that you can use. First of all, the winterizing of my bike was extraordinarily simple. All I did was fill the gas tank, add some gas stabilizer, and deflate the tires to 20psi. Then, every three weeks or so I started the bike up and let it run for fifteen to twenty minutes to let the battery charge and distribute the oil back to all the various parts of the engine that had been drained in the past weeks.

And, as is my habit, here's a mistake I made. Please learn from my error and save yourself some hassle come this winter.

When you're ready to let the bike sit for a few weeks, make sure to cover the muffler and airbox with newspaper (or something else) so that little critters don't try to make their home and/or larder in them. I didn't, and found my air filter filled with about 1/2 cup of thistle seed -- no doubt the winter horde of some field mice. Emptying the air filter wasn't exactly easy, and I would have been very happy had I not been forced to deal with it at all. In short, cover all those holes so that "things" can't get in.

Other than that minor inconvenience, however, the winter passed without incident. The battery never went dead and the bike always fired up (even though my gsx600f is a notoriously cold-blooded creature). This was a far cry from the hours of work that my old Xeno required. It's nice to be able to ride when I want, as opposed to being forced to "fix this" and "replace that" before the bike could be considered road-worthy.

Ride safe!