Drain fuel from SV650S (K5)
 

Hi guys,

Have joined the SV club recently (2005 SV K5), but cannot ride for a while and need to store the bike for a few months. Dont have garage or insurance yet, so not risking it sitting on the road (despite it being covered, tied down to land anchor, immobilised and wheel locked), so am putting into a storage unit.

That said, the condition of storing it is to drain it of fluids, and have never done this before.

Any guides, tips, process that could be recommended would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Drain fuel from SV650S (K5)
 

I am not sure I would but it would depend on how many months you're talking about. If it's less than 6 months I'd fill the tank and add a stabiliser, I don't think there is one that protects against ethanol but a full tank would reduce its ability to absorb water. Ensure brake fluids are topped up and check coolant level (and colour to see how fresh it is). Oil change, oil chain with gear oil (it's cheap and stops rust better than chain lube imho). Pump tyres slightly higher than normal pressure (2 or 3 lbs). Remove the battery and put it on a tender. If you have stands put the bike on them to take the weight off the tyres.

ACF50 (or similar) is a good rust preventative



If it's longer term, I've not done it so can't help. I would add when I was in the RAF (a long while ago :) ), I'd leave my (carb'd) bike at my parent's house (garaged) for months without doing anything.


One other idea is a vac bag - cost about £50 - put the bike in, suck the air out and you're done (I'm sure there's a bit more to do it). I know someone that puts his Harley in one every October to April and says it works well (the bag not the Harley, ;) )
https://www.vac-bag.co.uk/motorcycle-vac-bags.html


Oh, and welcome :D congrats on your bike.

Re: Drain fuel from SV650S (K5)
 

Thanks for the reply.

I need to store the bike in a secure storage facility, and they require me to drain the bike of all liquids. From your suggestion, it seems perhaps thats a bad idea? Considering its a secured facility, guessing they would have to control for moisture, and I only need it stored for a couple months. That said, there is a hint of rust on the top of forks (steering column) that I need to sort out.

Also, thank you! Bought the bike from a guy in the RAF actually.

Re: Drain fuel from SV650S (K5)
 

No, I'm not saying it was a bad idea just that it was maybe unnecessary but if it's a requirement from the storage company, that's different.


Do they mean all fluids? I wouldn't have thought that coolant or brake fluid would be an issue.

Draining the oil is straight forward enough, warm the engine, put bowl underneath, remove drain plug and filter. Fit new filter and refit drain plug (with a note reminding yourself to put oil back in before next run - I have a poor memory!)

Petrol - you would either need to lift the tank to release high pressure fittings and invert tank or buy a syphon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/petrol-syph...=petrol+syphon

Coolant - pull a hose. Brake lines - I'd not bother unless forced (only because it's a faff). I'd still remove the battery though.

Re: Drain fuel from SV650S (K5)
 

Brake fluid does have a flash point so may be that is a requirement as well. 2nd note most important, refill the brake fluid

Re: Drain fuel from SV650S (K5)
 

i'd be tempted to have a chat with the storage facility operators about the details if you haven't done so already. "Drain all fluids" might not be as extreme as it sounds.

It's a while since I've stored a bike like that, but when I did in the past my experience was much more straightforward:

• The big concern was fire risk, and really only from the petrol. (I manually siphoned with a length of tube as best I could.)
• Generally oil was allowed to be left in and I've never had to drain brake fluid or coolant.

I've even shipped a bike to/from Australia (though around 6 years ago now) and the only requirement for that was to drain fuel from the tank and disconnect the battery.

Seeker's advice is good. As he mentions, for draining fuel the alternative to siphoning is to disconnect the hose off the tank outlet and connect another longer pipe to drain from there into a suitable container - on the K5 you can even turn the ignition on to power up the fuel pump to flow it into a suitable container. (You'll see/hear when it's empty.) It's a little fiddly due to constrained space but straightforward enough once you've lifted the tank to get at connections.

And, finally, if they really do mean every fluid :(, then I'd probably recommend looking for a more accomodating storage provider tbh!

Re: Drain fuel from SV650S (K5)
 

Thank you guys for your replies, have learnt quite a bit and now have the gear/knowledge to get this done.

Seeker - the guy I spoke to was referring only to oil and petrol. will confirm brake fluid and coolant, and redtrummy's point makes sense, so perhaps i get to learn how to change brake fluid too.

Ruffy - good point, and if they do make it harder, I'll def be looking for somewhere else to store it.

Thanks again, love the bike but also really appreciate the community here. Being a new kid on the block, didn't know if i'd get responses and am chuffed at what I found.