Winterizing your motorcycle

[shakalaka]

How do you guys winterize your bikes? I've owned a few but never nice enough ones to bother about that until now so not sure what it entails.

[MR2-3SGTE]

Garage stored? Batter tender, stands, and cover is all I do. Also just cleaning it up nicely just before storage

[blueToy]

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How do you guys winterize your bikes? I've owned a few but never nice enough ones to bother about that until now so not sure what it entails.

I'll give her a good cleaning, fill it full of fuel and throw in some fuel stabilizer. I also park it on a piece of plywood on its center stand and remove battery and put that on a trickle charger. Lastly, I put the cover on it. Make sure to start her up every couple of months too.

[Rocket1k78]

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. Make sure to start her up every couple of months too.

Everyone has their own method when it comes to break in and winterizing but starting the bike here and there over the winter is supposed to be really bad for the bike. I used to do that all the time(more for hearing the bike lol) but i stopped a couple years ago because i heard on a couple forums its supposed to be really bad for the bike and not necessary at all.

Heres my routine and this could be totally wrong too lol
Stabil in the tank and let it run for abit to circulate
Clean the bike
Get her on the stands and then clean the chain and lube it up good
Take the battery out and tender it indoors.
Sing her a love song and then cover her up and cry for a bit
Wipe off the tears and then go inside to order some mods to help the winter pass

[D'z Nutz]

Yeah, don't start up your bike until you're going to ride it for good.

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then go inside to order some mods to help the winter pass

Other than periodically starting up your bike if you're not ready to ride again, this is a terrible thing to do cause then you'll be itching to put them on all winter and it will eat away at you haha

[ercchry]

I don’t do anything... beside random winter rides when we get a good chinook

But for those that actually put them away... surprised you guys don’t pull plugs and fog

[shakalaka]

Didn't realize this became a thread. Makes sense though. Thanks guys.

Mine is in a heated underground garage and I can cover it, put a fuel stabilizer and all that. Only issue being the battery, there is no plug in the parkade so can't connect it to a trickle charger while in the bike but will have to remove the battery and bring it into the condo. Is that something I should definitely do though? I was thinking if I leave the battery in and run it like a few times every month for a few minutes to get the battery charged and wrap it up again. Sounds like that's not a good idea?

[ExtraSlow]

Bring the battery up to your apartment and charge it with a charger.

[TYMSMNY]

You can bring the battery up but unless the battery is easy to get to, just start it up once a month is fine. Fuel stabilizer. good clean/wash before putting a cover on top.

Roll your wheels at the same time too, unless they are on stands.

[jacky4566]

Here is mine in a cold garage, but really taking care of the battery is #1 for cold storage.

Wash, clay, wax.
Put on rear stand
Remove battery and place in closet with maintenance charger.
Fuel in the tank must not have Ethanol since it absorbs water. Add stabilizer if I have it.
Clean and lube chain, *check tension
Cover

Also a good time to clean all your gear, my textile gear gets full of bug guts.

Then in the spring. Oil change, just do it regardless of km since its convenient.
Check valve clearance. replace any necessary fluids.
Ride!

[revelations]

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Make sure to start her up every couple of months too.

Do not do this, idling a bike in the dead of winter can be a sure fire way to kill the battery (many bikes barely produce a charge at idle) and to introduce excess combustion byproducts into the crankcase from excessive idling.

This notion of starting the bike up likely stems from Carb bikes of years gone by - where fuel will turn into slime in the small passages if its left sitting around. People who were lazy and didnt drain their float bowls tended to start up the bike instead.

If you dont have a charger (you should), best is to cover it, disconnect the negative post, fill tank ( to prevent corrosion on exposed surfaces) stabilize fuel, change oil and leave it.

Most Lead-Acid batteries lose about 5% a month in storage.

Note: "The self-discharge of all battery chemistries increases at higher temperature, and the rate typically doubles with every 10°C" .

[Shlade]

When I stored my Harley last winter all I did was pull the battery and take it up to my condo and placed it on a trickle charger for the winter time. I just tossed a cover on it. It had fuel in it before and was totally fine.

I started it once a month or so. But like others said no need to really do that. I personally don't think there's any issues doing that since I've done it several times with vehicles and bikes over the years to just get fluids moving and it operating at normal temp.

[roll_over]

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I don’t do anything... beside random winter rides when we get a good chinook

But for those that actually put them away... surprised you guys don’t pull plugs and fog

Word, I like to do occasional burnout and piss around on them during the winter months so I don't do a god damn thing. I won't even cover them cause I like to stare and dream during the winter.

[blueToy]

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I started it once a month or so. But like others said no need to really do that. I personally don't think there's any issues doing that since I've done it several times with vehicles and bikes over the years to just get fluids moving and it operating at normal temp.

I guess I should've mentioned I do it to my carb'd bike. Thirty two years now, still runs like new.

[D'z Nutz]

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I won't even cover them cause I like to stare and dream during the winter.

If I can't go riding in the streets, I may as well winterize it cause I'm not going to go peeling around the parkade like a jackass. Since my parkade gets dusty as fuck I cover it during the winter so no staring and dreaming for me unless it's

[Rocket1k78]

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If I can't go riding in the streets, I may as well winterize it cause I'm not going to go peeling around the parkade like a jackass. Since my parkade gets dusty as fuck I cover it during the winter so no staring and dreaming for me unless it's

LOL thats a pretty awesome PS. I dont like to cover mine either because i like to go in every other day to say hi to her