Winterizing your bike
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 8:58 am
This is my philosophy :grins:
But seriously I thought we had a thread on this but I couldn't find it. I searched through all of maintenance and the general topic forum :ponder:
Some things you need to do when winterizing a bike:
Change the oil.
Put some kind of additive like Stabil in the fuel and run the bike around the block.
Remove the battery and place it on a block of wood or put a trickle charger on the battery if left attached. If taking the battery out DO NOT place on Concrete, it will die.
Place the bike in an environment that minimizes temperature changes. A good place is near the house if your garage is attached.
Its a good idea to run your bike every couple weeks throughout the winter for 20-30 min.
In the spring change the oil again and put fresh gas in the tank.
If I missed anything feel free to add to the thread and we can put it on the wall.
For further reference:
Jimbo wrote:Living in the northern part of IL, the ritual of winter storage always surfaces. This weekend, I just finished "winterizing" my bike. I have a non-heated garage so the situation is similar to yours, i.e. not too dramatic of temperature swings. My course of action is:
1) Wash and wax the bike
2) Change oil & filter
3) Clean & lube the drivechain
4) Add "Sta-bil" to the gas and run the bike to get it through the carbs
5) Fill tank completely (I have a manual petcock so I do not worry about gas leaking past the vacuum stock operated petcock which is a common issue). I do tend to worry about rust in the tank so I like to keep it full. Never had an issue with start up in spring. That is with gas containing ethanol too. Only gas available here.
6) Pump the tires a couple of psi higher than stock, keeps them round and less prone to flat spot
7) Cover the bike. In my case with a old queen size flannel corner sheet (the elastic actually helps hold it on the bike).
8) Put it on a battery charger once a week (battery tender is the brand I like). I have multiple bikes so they all share duty on the charger otherwise I would just leave it on there the whole time.
That's my process for storage. Then I dream I lived in a warmer climate and wouldn't have to do this.