LegsandaWing wrote:Can you not not just run the engine for a few seconds once a fortnight/month, assuming you regularly plug it into the mains. Mine gets started once a fortnight in winter.
This is pretty much the worst thing you can do. One of the byproducts of engine combustion is water. When you start the bike for a minute or two, that water being produced hits the cold exhaust system and condenses on the inside of it. You then shut it off, and that water, along with the various corrosive elements in the exhaust, corrodes the exhaust system, rusting it from the inside out.
This is why, when you are putting your bike away for the winter, you should take it for a ride for a good hour, making sure the exhaust is very hot, and that any remaining moisture will be evaporated.
As well, the time when an engine experiences the most wear is at cold startup, before oil has begun to circulate. When the bike has sat for a week or two, and all of the oil has drained completely to the sump, when you first start it up, you're running with minimal lubrication and maximum wear. By starting it for a few minutes every couple of weeks during the winter, with cold oil, you're basically repeatedly causing the most possible amount of wear to the internal components of your engine.
