winter storage

For a cold weather climate what storage methods is better the complete draining of tank & carbs or using a fuel stabilizer. here in northern Ohio cold weather the riding days wo'nt be back till April or so. Thanks Kawboy13

I would fill the tank and add the fuel stabilizer. Run the bike for a bit to get the fuel stabilizer in the carbs and you should be good till April.

I add stabilzer to a full tank, but drain all 4 carbs.

No need to even add stabilizer if you have a full tank. It won't go bad for a year or so. The carbs are a different story. 4 months is pushing it with gas in the carbs. I did the Stabil thing one year on the KZ1000MKII and my carbs were completely clogged whithin a few months so it did no good whatsoever in my case. I drain the gas from the tank and the carbs. Of course the more volume of gas, the longer the time it lasts before going bad. I told my story of my 1993 Ford van that sat 6 yrs without running and it fired right up with 6 yr old gas.

I used Stabil once, about 15 years ago, all i got in the spring was several racks of plugged carbs, some sort of green gooey crap. now i just drain everything fuel related and have not had a problem.

If you drain the tank you may find condensation will form under certain weather conditions leaving a haze of rust inside. You're better off with a full tank. I also use Stabil, but I don't think it is really necessary. What I do recommend (I do this religiously) is that you start the bike at least every 2 or 3 weeks and let it idle for 15 minutes or so until it is thoroughly warmed up. This prevents the fuel in the carbs from gumming things up, keeps oil on all the internal parts, and keeps the battery healthy. I've been doing this drill on my bike every year (except one) since 1977 with great success. The one year I didn't run the bike I had to remove and thoroughly clean the carbs (oh what fun!). If for some reason you cannot run the bike during the winter, drain the carbs. Ed