So...bikes been sitting all winter...going to change fluids before I ride it...do u drain oil right away or start it first to warm it up ??? Opinions...

 

I always ride mine first to get the oil up to operating temp. I do the same thing with my cars. The old oil will flow better if its hot.

 

If you changed your fluids before the bike went into winter hibernation, no need to change it. If not, I would ride the bike to get the motor to operating temps to burn off the accumulated H2O and get all that gunk circulating within the oil and drain out.

 

I recently watched a video on YouTube from a guy that's a motorcycle mechanic. He said that if you let your bike sit all winter that allows anything floating around in the oil to drain into the oil pan. So instead of starting the bike and circulating all that stuff throughout the motor, it's better to just drain the oil while all that stuff is in the oil pan. Makes sense when you think about it.

 

Looks like craigffb beat me to it.

There might be some differing opinion on the 'just drain the oil while all that stuff is in the oil pan' thinking. That crud settles all over the pan, and the oil doesn't drain fast enough to 'pull' that crud to the drain hole.

 

Not sure how across the board this is between different bikes, but not all of the oil drains out of my bike when I pull the drain plug- it's not exactly like a car where most of the oil seems to go to the bottom- some oil (up to a quart by some reports), stays somewhere in the engine. So it stands to reason that the oil that remains in the engine has whatever crud in it as well. Probably doesn't make all the much difference which way you go in the long run. Change the oil before storage, problem solved. But I've not done that a few times. I personally run the engine before changing the oil.

 

Me, personally, I like to ride around for a little while, then come home and park it, let it cool down some, put it up on the jack, then change it.
Oil is warm and flowing, engine not too hot to burn you, and the ride gives you a chance to get it all together including anything else you need to do to it.

 

I always ride it to operating temp before a drain. Oil flows out the drain more easily, and I imagine it stirs up the heavier contaminants so you get more of them out of the system when drained. It may be a moot point for me though, as I normally do a "scavenger" oil change (kit from roguechopper.com)... which cycles all of the old oil out of the engine.

 

Synthetic oil flows easily even cold.

 

Alternatively remove the drain plug(s) and leave to drain overnight.