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Winterizing Your Ride
It never fails - come spring, we are always guaranteed to see the neglect of the winter months. Here in the Old North State, thunder doesn’t only rumble in the spring; with our typically sweet-n-mild average climate (in most areas) we keep open the option to ride right on throughout the cold months.
There are two types of riders when it comes to the cold months naturally:
The Put-'Er-Away
Or…
Putt-'Er-Away
No matter what your choice is, if there is one thing that remains law-like, it is the fact that the maintenance of your motorcycle is still direly important.
You may believe it frivolous to put new fluids in your machine before it sits all winter. Or maybe you are just under the 5,000 mileage mark for your full service, and you only plan to do a slim pickins of winter scooting; in other words, you just don’t want to fork over the dinero on another full service (at least not right now...).
You can bet your sweet chilly cheeks that it’ll really jar your preserves come early spring when two-wheeled fun-ctions begin and your rusty steed is laid up and out of commission due to a limp leg- and lo! the local shop is booked out for weeks due to case after case of the same winter negligence.
***Maintenance is far cheaper than repair, friends.
Whether you’re a Putt-'Er-Away or a Put-'Er-Away kind of operator, a touch of maintenance can go a helluva long way.
Storing for Winter (The Put-'Er-Away):
If you do indeed decide to put her away for the frigid months, there is a very specific punch list you’ll want to follow! Don’t let yourself (nor your cherishd ride) fall victim to the "cold shoulder".
This punch list, of course, involves both mechanical and surface maintenance and protection.
Following these 8 steps, your bike will be ready for you to ride as soon as the snow melts and the frost crystals are the sparkles of yesterday's wintry dreams.
1. Clean your motorcycle.
Dirt, condensation, and temperature fluctuation all come together over time to form a corrosion party. The easiest way to prevent this is by putting your motorcycle away clean and buffed. Now is the time to give it a good detailing job.
If you’re lucky enough to still have warm weather, you can pull out the hose, bucket, and suds and give your steed a good washin'.
If you’ve already missed the boat and put the hose away for the winter, you can still get some stellar spray-and-wipe cleaning products to use in the garage. Apply some WD-40 to a rag to wipe down metal parts (except brake parts), and apply a good coat of wax to all the painted parts. Some folk like to leave the wax on over the winter and buff it off in the spring. This provides a nice protective layer, a snug winter blanket, over your paint for the cold season.
You’ll also want to lube moving parts such as the chain, cables, and sidestand/centerstand pivots.
You could also always just:
2. Change the engine oil.
Just like the motorcycle itself, you want your engine to be as clean as possible during storage, so it’s best to perform an oil/filter change to flush out contaminants just before you batten the hatches. A product called Sea Foam has great water absorption properties, and a small amount can be added to your fresh engine oil. Sea Foam will also dissolve varnish deposits it encounters, and, most importantly, is safe for use inside an engine.
Once you’ve changed the engine oil and filter, run the motorcycle until it reaches operating temperature to allow the fresh oil to coat the engine.
3. Top off the tank and add fuel stabilizer.
The longer a fuel tank sits, and the larger the volume of trapped air, the more havoc that can be wrought on your fuel system. Temperature fluctuations will cause moisture in the air to evaporate in the sealed environment and condensation will occur. A metal tank will begin to corrode under these conditions and cause rust to form, which can weaken your tank and eventually clog fuel filters, injectors, and jets.
The best way to combat rust formation inside the fuel tank is by storing it completely full of gas so there’s the least amount of condensation inside the tank. Make your last stop of the season the gas station and top it off. If it's already too cold for you to ride, you can top it off with some fresh gas from a good ol' portable gas can.
Also, it's crucial to note that fuel breaks down as it ages; its components separate into layers. The water evaporates and what’s left becomes a sticky varnish. Using a fuel stabilizer, such as Sta-Bil, in your gas tank will prevent this process.
Before you put the bike away for the season, ride it until it’s almost out of fuel. Bring the stabilizer with you to the fuel station and add it before topping off the tank. Then, during the few miles back home, the stabilizer will have a chance to weave its way through the system.
If you can’t get back out to the gas station, you can still add stabilizer to the tank, but you’ll want to run the engine a few minutes to allow it to be distributed through the whole system. Don’t forget to top off the tank with gas.
4. Empty the carburetors.
If you have a fuel-injected motorcycle, you can skip to the next step. But if you have a carbureted motorcycle, you need to get all the fuel out of the carbs to prevent the jets and needles from getting plugged with the old fuel. One easy method to run them dry is to turn your fuel supply valve (petcock) to the off position and let the bike run until it’s simply out of gas.
5. Plug the exhaust and airbox.
Anytime you store your bike for a long period of time, you run the risk of critters getting into your engine to make a nice and cozy home for themselves. One easy way to prevent this from happening is to plug the entrances, such as exhaust pipes and open airboxes.
Covering airboxes with rags or tape and stuffing steel wool in the exhaust ports will keep critters out of your bike’s engine. Don’t forget to remove all that extra protection before starting the bike back up, though!
6. Inflate the tires or elevate the bike.
If you leave your motorcycle parked in one position for a long time the tires may develop flat spots. The best way to prevent this is to elevate that beauty so its tires are off the ground. If this is an option you choose, you’ll want to reduce the tire pressure by 20 percent.
If you don’t have a way to elevate the bike, increase the bike’s tire pressure to the maximum recommended pressure. Then you should check the pressure about once a month during storage.
If you don’t elevate your bike, consider periodically moving the bike to prevent those flat spots.
7. Charge the battery.
If you leave your bike without tending to the battery, you may as well save up to buy a new battery in the springtime, as all batteries naturally discharge over time. Purchasing a good 12V trickle charger is the best investment you can make to maintain your bike’s battery.
If you have to store your motorcycle away from a power source, you’ll need to remove the battery and bring it inside. Good trickle chargers, like this Pulse Tech Extreme Charge unit constantly tests the battery and provides the right amount of charge to keep it maintained during storage.
If you install the lead that is included with your trickle charger to the bike's battery, you can simply plug the charger to it. No need to remove the battery in this case.
Check your bike's owner's manual before plugging in a charger to see if it is compatible with your electrical system.
Beware of cheap battery chargers. Most of them do not provide a float charge, rather, they provide a constant charge regardless of the battery’s condition which can do more harm than good to a battery.
Many people believe that just running a bike every few weeks during winter is a good method to keeping the battery maintained. Believe it or not, this is actually more harmful to your motorcycle. By idling your motorcycle in cold weather, you are essentially stripping oil from cylinders and pistons - which you’d coated nicely when you put your bike away properly. You’re also using fuel, which is creating more air in the tank (harken back to the corrosion lesson above).
If you have an opportunity to actually ride the bike, then certainly - by all means ride! (Just watch for sand and ice, and inflate your tires, and do all your other pre-ride checks first.) But just know that idling the motorcycle doesn’t actually get it up to operating temperature, no matter how long you let it run. And if you do go out for a ride, you need to go through all the other winterizing steps all over again.
8. Cover it.
The last step to storing your bike is to protect it with a cover. I’ve used old sheets, dropcloths, moving blankets, you name it. But a good motorcycle cover that fits your bike will protect it best.
A motorcycle cover should fit your bike so that it stays in place and covers the whole thing down to the wheels.
Decidin' to Ride On (The Putt-'Er-Away):
Braving the weather, huh? May want to jump over to our post on this season's best winter gear for Carolina riding conditions.
Here and now, however, we'll be discussing how to keep you cycle rolling strong all through the winter months.
There definitely are some things you can do to make sure your motorcycle continues to run well in colder temperatures.
TCLOCS is one of the major lessons in the MSF—it’s important to continue this process, and even be more diligent about checking that your motorcycle is in good running condition before each ride. Extreme weather fluctuations will change the air pressure in your bike’s tires, so be extra diligent about checking your tire pressure before each ride.
In addition, you’ll want to be sure to clean off road debris (this is especially important in regions that defend against ice with a salt mixture, aka rust-juice) that can begin to rust and corrode your bike after each ride, and install a lead to your bike’s battery so it can just nurse right off the trickle charger each night.
We know it goes without saying, but we gotta - Be very sure you're adept at riding the winter-tinged roads. It's an unequivocal must to aptly change the way you ride during cold weather when there’s the possibility of reduced traction (as if there were much traction on these tires to begin with! Those babies RIDE!). Check out our article on navigating rough road conditions. Gravel, grass, ice, debris - all of these must be considered by those on two and three. Fun and safety got to go hand in hand like best loves!
Jack Frost, Frosty, The Yeti - all these cats know the joy of the icy cold. You may be in their camp, too - so, if you guys have some intersting methods of "winterizing" your rides and/or passing the months of cold in a wicked cool way, please share them with us in the comments below!
Stay tuned for more, stay safe, and watch out for the dummies!
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