Jeff's Winter Bike Storage To Do List
We try to deny it, but we let winter sneak up on us every year! We squeeze in as many “end of the season” rides as we can, but inevitably the snow will fly again. For some, it’s a yearly tradition to fire up the woodstove or torpedo heater and commence the winterization process. For others, it’s the thought of where am I going to store my ride, maybe I should buy a cover or put a sheet over it, and it ran when I parked it; therefore, it should be fine in the spring! Let’s try to at least have your motorcycle ready for winter! We’re going to use the industry 10 steps as follows:
Clean and Polish the Motorcycle
Removal of brake dust, bug guts, and small spots of corrosion will prevent further damage to finishes and coatings in the future. Very often, you will find loose hardware, leaks, and other damage while simply cleaning your ride! If possible, ride the bike after washing or use a shop vac run in reverse, air dryer, etc. to remove the water from washing. Now you’re ready to polish using products such as Moose polish, Original spray cleaner and polish, or Wizards mist-n-shine, etc. It’s also not a bad idea to spray metal parts down with WD-40 or other commercially available products that can be washed off easily in the spring.
Prepare the Fuel System
Mostly empty fuel tanks can take on considerable moisture from condensation, rusting the inside of metal fuel tanks. We highly recommend using K100 brand fuel treatment, one of the few that will absorb water and hold it in suspension for months even years! There are other products out there, just known as effective from experience with this product. Follow directions and top off fuel tank to bottom of the filler neck. We recommend running the motorcycle to work fuel treatment into carburetor or fuel injection system. This step could be worked in elsewhere in your ten-step process. Note: fuel begins breaking down after 30 days losing octane and possibly gumming up, thus the importance of treating the fuel!
Replace Oil and Filter
Being efficient, we recommend you perform this step after the test ride for fuel treating or washing the motorcycle. We feel you are better off having fresh oil in the engine, trans, primary, etc. for several months, than old broken down oil with contaminants from normal wear. Grab your service manual and find the colder weather oil viscosity, recommended for spring riding weather and also easier starting. If possible per your mechanical skills, it is recommended to fog the cylinders or put a small amount of oil in each cylinder. This is not easy on many motorcycles. Do not cause yourself problems over this step, just skip to the next step.
Lube External Moving Parts
Lube parts such as lever pivots, shifter pivots and heims, cables, sidestand pivots which very rarely get done, and last but not least the drive chain. I’ve found that a decent chain lube works great for most of the above applications. Most chain lubes nowadays are O-ring safe. Other options could be leftover motor oil, grease on a rag, or Tri-flow because it works good and smells great! Note: also good time to check for loose or worn pivots or heims, etc.
Battery Maintenance
If your battery is on the way out, we recommend letting it go till spring to replace. Good idea to remove from motorcycle due to freezing and bursting if the battery is bad. Batteries self-discharge, especially if left hooked up to the motorcycle, particularly European brands or bikes with a lot of accessories. If your battery is operating properly now, keep it that way by installing the leads and hooking it up to a Battery Maintainer. Brands such as Optimate, Battery Tender, Noco, etc. work very well for this job. Trickle chargers you have to babysit or doing nothing at all are both very poor ideas resulting in battery replacement come spring. Check for corroded battery terminals now, even if you already have a battery tender lead installed on the motorcycle!
Tire Maintenance
Inflate your tires to proper recommended specs. If possible, put your motorcycle up on stands to get the tires off the ground. If you have a center stand, at least the rear tire will be off the ground and motorcycle quite stable. If not, just move the motorcycle to rotate tires to different contact areas preventing flat spots. It doesn’t hurt to place scrap carpet, a mat, or plywood under tires to get them off the floor’s surface.
Check Coolant/Antifreeze
This is very important to riders doing track days or racers. Most tracks mandate water with an additive such as Water Wetter or Cool-aide. This will most certainly freeze come winter! We recommend putting some form of coolant in the system, even if just for the winter. The empty system will have moisture in it and start corroding, causing blockages later. For the rest of you, check the level and quality of the coolant in the motorcycle currently. Coolant replacement intervals are typically 2 years. You can never go wrong by replacing or having a repair shop change the coolant properly if you’re concerned about its performance.
Keeping Out Pests
This is an all too common issue come spring. We have found nests in exhaust systems, more often in the air box and under seats or under the air box. Plug the exhaust opening with and exhaust plug etc. It’s very difficult to plug intakes on modern motorcycles. Screen mesh is effective if you can access intake openings. We have had good luck with dryer sheets placed all over the motorcycle, the stronger the smell, the better. Don’t forget to remove them come spring. This step is a bit of a battle depending on where you live or where the motorcycle is being stored. Good luck! Check for little footprints or leftover bedding come spring.
Covering and Protection
Invest in a good quality motorcycle cover. The higher quality options have soft material that sits on windshield areas and are built of thicker materials that will last longer. Some versions have high temp materials for exhaust areas. Do not put covers on too quickly after riding. Even the best covers will melt to hot exhausts! If storing the motorcycle outdoors, try to find a more fitted cover or strap the cover to prevent the wind from catching the cover. If storing indoors, a simple sheet works great for keeping dust off of the motorcycle. We’ve found that fitted sheets are not much more money and work much better to stay in place.
Anti-theft
Installing an alarm, one with a pager would be a better option. Chain or lock the motorcycle to something fixed if possible. At a minimum loop either through the wheels and frame. If they want to steal your ride, they will have to carry it. Depending on the cost of your motorcycle or your storage situation, you may want to pay for storage elsewhere. Locations for motorcycle storage are becoming more common, even being blueprinted into new dealership building plans. They are typically secure, heated and dry, and less likely to have an in law knock your motorcycle over or kids climb on it! We say a win-win for the cost of almost a half year of secure storage in the Northern U.S.