A bit of background, i am from northern Ontario in Canada, recently finished a course on small engines in school and wanted to learn more as i go basically, still know net to nothing about engines and tools, but i would like to learn and at the same time fix my lt 125 that i have had for a while now, this machine has been sitting for about 4 years outside with a tarp for the last 4 years. Due to family medical issues there was no real time to ride. Now that i have space in my basement with a decent space of about 6 feet by 6 feet, and a couple workbenches i am ready to bring pieces of the machine from my grandparents garage to my home to work on it during the winter months and get it ready come spring.

So basically i was going to keep this thread decently active with maybe updates and questions as it move along, possibly pictures if you guys/gals are willing to help me along, hopefully i'm posting this in the right place on here.

below are going to be some newbie questions so come along for this ride
1. How do i find out the exact year of my machine?
2. It is getting cold here now, should i drain the oil now, can it sit in the cold with no oil in the engine and warm up fine to start pulling apart? (stored in garage atm)
3. Where would be the best place for finding a cheap copy of the correct service manual once i figure out the exact year?

Thank you, i will be updating this thread as i go to ge help along the way and post pictures of how its going, hopefully people are able to guide me here as i know vey little.