Storing/Winterizing bike

12866 Views 43 Replies 17 Participants Last post by pooder7, Nov 16, 2012

live_to_ride

Discussion Starter · Sep 27, 2011

Thought I'd start a new thread. Coming to the end of September and "blech" the start of cold weather leading to winter. What do ya'll do when it comes to preparing your precious bike for winter storage. Of course this applies to us who experince the cold freeze. Brrrr!

1 - 20 of 44 Posts

r100

· #2 · Sep 27, 2011

Go for a ride to warm up the engine and do an oil/filter change. (Acids develop in oil as it gets old and used.)

Drain the carb. After that, I usually squirt a little WD40 back up the drain and let it drain out.

Take out the sparkplug, put a little 2-stroke oil in the cylinder and turn the engine over a few times. Turn it to TDC (tod-dead-centre) and put the plug back in. (2-stroke oil is designed to burn off clean when you next fire it up.)

Change the old brake fluid (it has slowly been absorbing moisture).

Service the chain.

Drop tire pressures to about 25-26 lbs.

Check battery fluid and put it on a trickle charger.

Have a beer.

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250 Tom

· #3 · Sep 27, 2011

Well here is what I do. Change oil and filter, clean and lube chain, fill tank and ad fuel stabel, wash and wax and cover it up til spring.

250 Tom

· #4 · Sep 27, 2011

This bike is fuel injected and doesnt have a carb, also has a maintenence free battary

live_to_ride

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 28, 2011

Keep tank full with fresh premium, apply trickle charger for several days every month and park it on a swatch of burber carpet. Don't want the tires sitting on cement for months on end. Cover him up in his bike cozy and wait impatiently for warmer weather. Sadly my garage is unheated. Only one bike stand for stable of three. Mine doesn't rank high enough to be off ground

Sluggoserver

· #6 · Sep 28, 2011

"Winterizing," wait, it'll come back to me... Oh yeah, I remember now. LOL.

Sorry, couldn't help it. Grew up in Minnesota/Colorado so I did my time.

GenMacSmiley

· #7 · Sep 28, 2011

Fill the tank and stabilize fuel, wax, store/optimize battery, cover the bike, grab the snowboard and wish for a snow storm.

Jeff

· #8 · Sep 28, 2011

live_to_ride said:
Keep tank full with fresh premium, apply trickle charger for several days every month and park it on a swatch of burber carpet. Don't want the tires sitting on cement for months on end. Cover him up in his bike cozy and wait impatiently for warmer weather. Sadly my garage is unheated. Only one bike stand for stable of three. Mine doesn't rank high enough to be off ground

So your bike is male eh? Mine's name is Freya. I'll run her in winter wearing very warm gear... weather permitting. Might buy a heated jacket. She'll go on a battery tenderizer if she sits too long.

sendler

· #9 · Sep 28, 2011

Ride

Wait for one nice day in thirty and go for a ride anyway? Maybe through a weather window and keep going south for a week.

Reactions: 1

live_to_ride

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 28, 2011

Jeff said:
So your bike is male eh? Mine's name is Freya. I'll run her in winter wearing very warm gear... weather permitting. Might buy a heated jacket. She'll go on a battery tenderizer if she sits too long.

Yup, my bikes a male cause i'm a girl lol. Haven't named him though. He's just a he! Quite doted over though. Spoiled

jkv357

· #11 · Sep 28, 2011 (Edited)

I've been winterizing cycles for a while now, and these are the things I do every year -

Check the coolant to make sure it's safe for your storage temps. Change the coolant if it's more than a couple years old.

Adjust and lube the chain.

Change the brake fluid if it's anything but crystal clear.

Wash and wax.

Add fuel stabilizer and fill the tank to the top. Use Ethanol-free fuel if possible. Run or ride the cycle for at least 10 min to make sure the stabilizer gets to the carbs/injectors.

While it's still warm, change the oil and filter. For storage especially, a synthetic oil has advantages over conventional oil. After changing, start the cycle up and run it for about 10 seconds - no more. The fresh oil will coat the engine and protect it from corrosion during storage. Do not start it up at any time during storage to "warm it up"! You are just adding acids and moisture to your fresh oil!

I also inflate the tires to about 40 PSI to make sure they don't squat as the temps drop. I've never worried about being up on a stand or tires on the concrete. I haven't seen any problems because of it.

Remove the battery if you are storing in cold temps. Use a trickle charger regularly or a battery tender.

Block the intake and exhaust openings.

Cover it to keep dust off it.

I like to do all maintenance before storing so I can just install the battery and ride in spring.

Never had any problems with the "storage" fuel, but I usually add some fuel system cleaner to the first tank of fuel after running the storage fuel.

That's about all I can think of for now...

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Jeff

· #12 · Sep 28, 2011

live_to_ride said:
Yup, my bikes a male cause i'm a girl lol. Haven't named him though. He's just a he! Quite doted over though. Spoiled

You should name a heem!

And I must say that I saw pictures... your bike looks awesome!!

live_to_ride

Discussion Starter · #13 · Sep 28, 2011

Jeff said:
You should name a heem! And I must say that I saw pictures... your bike looks awesome!!

Thanks Jeff. Black levers on order and I have plans to powdercoat the rims black with red pinstripping.Also thinking of painting the shifter and brake brackets black as well. Still thinking of that though. Nice and clean. BTW.....any name suggestions?

Rick

· #14 · Sep 28, 2011

live_to_ride said:
Thought I'd start a new thread. Coming to the end of September and "blech" the start of cold weather leading to winter. What do ya'll do when it comes to preparing your precious bike for winter storage. Of course this applies to us who experince the cold freeze. Brrrr!

What I did was move to an island in the Pacific where I can ride year around. Yes, really.

r100

· #15 · Sep 28, 2011

250 Tom said:
Well here is what I do. Change oil and filter, clean and lube chain, fill tank and ad fuel stabel, wash and wax and cover it up til spring.

You're right Tom I forgot about fuel/stabilizer.

r100

· #16 · Sep 28, 2011

250 Tom said:
This bike is fuel injected and doesnt have a carb, also has a maintenence free battary

Right again. I guess you can tell I don't have a CBR (yet).
Do you know if there is anything necessary to winterize/store fuel injection?

live_to_ride

Discussion Starter · #17 · Sep 28, 2011

Rick said:
What I did was move to an island in the Pacific where I can ride year around. Yes, really.

BOOOOOO!

Azul the Cat

· #18 · Oct 12, 2011

So it's getting to that point in the year when I'm thinking about winterizing the bike and putting her away for the winter. I've read the thread and a bunch of other articles on the inter-webs about what I should be doing. This will be my first year winterizing a bike so this is my to do list

- wash/ wax bike
- fill up tank with gas and sta-bil
- run bike with sta-bil to get everything into the fuel injectors
- pull spark plugs/ drop a little oil in the cylinder/ rotate engine a few times to coat
- clean and lube chain
- change oil and filter
- bring battery inside and run on trickle charger once a month
- inflate tire 5lbs over recommended pressure
- put bike on rear stand and carpet under the front wheel (going to be on concrete)
- cover bike

am I missing anything?

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jkv357

· #19 · Oct 12, 2011

Azul the Cat said:
So it's getting to that point in the year when I'm thinking about winterizing the bike and putting her away for the winter. I've read the thread and a bunch of other articles on the inter-webs about what I should be doing. This will be my first year winterizing a bike so this is my to do list

- wash/ wax bike
- fill up tank with gas and sta-bil
- run bike with sta-bil to get everything into the fuel injectors
- pull spark plugs/ drop a little oil in the cylinder/ rotate engine a few times to coat
- clean and lube chain
- change oil and filter
- bring battery inside and run on trickle charger once a month
- inflate tire 5lbs over recommended pressure
- put bike on rear stand and carpet under the front wheel (going to be on concrete)
- cover bike

am I missing anything?

Blocking the intake and exhaust openings is always a good idea.

Do all maintenance so it's ready to ride when riding season rolls around.

I don't squirt oil into the cylinders, but if you did, you'd want to do it after you changed the oil. Synthetic oil is best for storage (and everything else too...) and it's best to start it after the oil change and run it for no more than about 10 seconds to circulate the clean oil.

DO NOT start it up again until you are ready to take it for a full ride.

somebody5788

· #20 · Oct 12, 2011

I agree with most of the things in here.
-You don't need to put oil down the cylinder, it will not do anything. ATF would clean it out if you wanted but that's not necessary on these.
-I would not change the oil filter, just change the oil and then do a fresh oil change w/ filter in the spring.
-Check all fluids
-Purchase an automatic trickle charger (it turns itself off when not needed) and integrate it on the bike. Mine has the plug under the pillion seat and stores beside the tray with the strap quite nicely.
-Fuel stabilizer with a full tank of fuel.

One of the most common misconceptions is that you should start it up once a month, DON'T unless you go and ride for a good 20 minutes starting it up is only going to build up condensation in the exhaust, this will cause premature rusting or break down the catalytic converter.

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