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Might be screwed. What would happen if....

1440 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  jeeps84
Ok guys...may be a major mess up on my hands here! But I sincerely hope not.

With my impending move back to Australia and the severe mismanagement by the shipping company, I didn't get to spend the time I would have liked to properly prepare my bike for the shipment by container from Detroit to Melbourne, Australia. I know that certain things have to be accomplished for winter storage, but the bike technically wasn't going to be stored for the winter. Just a trans-pacific boat trip!! Nothing major. ;p

I removed the battery and drained the gas tank. Before I did so I put a double-dose of stabil in the gas tank (that had premium fuel in there) and ran it through the carbs. I didn't drain the float bowls though. Not a problem as I left it like this last winter and the bike started fine this Spring. I am also not worried about lubricating the chain as that is going to be replaced when I fit the single sided swingarm.

I didn't drain the oil, but it was replaced with Amsoil Synthetic only about 1500-2000 miles ago. I plan to replace the oil and filter when I get to the bike when it arrives.

My problem is this....

Earlier in the year, I upgraded to a 954 radiator to my bike when I fitted the 99 bodywork. I replaced the coolant with distilled water and Redline Water Wetter. I can't seem to recall if I put just Water Wetter and distilled water in the cooling system, or if I also added about 25-50% antifreeze in there too.

Well, the night I loaded my bike, it was about 15F out. It was the same the next night. The bike has been in my garage up until the point it was loaded into the container. In any event, it was probably below freezing for quite some time. The container left my house on December 6th, and made it's way to LA where it sailed on December 23rd. So the bike was sitting in freezing weather for a while....anywhere from 2 days to about 10 days I figure. Plenty of time for stuff to freeze up. I am not sure when it left Detroit for LA.

Worst case scenario. Let's say I only have the Water Wetter and distilled water in there, with no antifreeze. Would the coolant have frozen in my bike? That being the case, do any of you think my motor would have been damaged by this (the coolant freezing inside the motor)? The bike hasn't been attempted to be started in this condition (it's just been sitting in the crate), and obviously the coolant would have thawed out again by the time it left Detroit's freezing temps.

Am I screwed? What sort of damage might I expect? Has anyone here been in this position or know of someone else who has...if so, what was the outcome? Yeah, I know I'm stupid. I feel like such an idiot. I should have replaced it with the proper antifreeze stuff or just left it drained altogether. I was in such a rush, I really wasn't thinking (what compounded things was the dismal fact that I was up for 62 hours straight while I packed/loaded the container).

Feel free to be forthright with your honesty peeps. If I wrecked my motor, I know this is my fault.

Thanks in advance for any info,

Sime
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Thanks guys. I sure hope so. I am kicking myself because at the time I saw the price of the engine ice, I was too stingy to spend the money. If this comes to bite me hard on the ass, my lesson has been (expensively) learned.

Will keep you all advised as soon as I find out myself.

As to shipping the bike Chris, I got a whole 20ft container for $3775 which included the wood free crate for the bike, plus I got to put all my other stuff in there too. We loaded it at my house, and that fee is to the port of Melbourne, so I do have to get a truck there to load everything into. But considering I was quoted by another company just to ship the bike including a crate at $2345, I'd say we got an excellent deal!

The company is www.discount-shipping.net if anybody needs anything moved. Apart from the container arriving late which wasn't their fault, they are good people.
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