Motorcycle shops usually count on riders to incorrectly prepare their bikes for the winter season. If you live in an area where year-round riding is not possible, storing your bike in a long-term storage space and properly winterizing it can save you a lot of money and headaches in the future. Below are five steps for correctly prepping your motorcycle for winter storage that will have you ready to hit the road when springtime rolls around.
Living in the Big Apple doesn’t mean you have to give up your motorcycle. There are plenty of beautiful places to explore on your chopper outside of the city limits. In the meantime, rent an affordably priced self-storage unit to keep your wheels secure and ready-to-roll:
Imperial Self Storage
99 Hudson St. 5th Floor
New York, NY 10013
(212) 253-8969
1. Protect the Battery
The first thing to think about when storing your bike is keeping the vehicle’s battery safe. Battery issues are common when removing a bike from storage, and if it’s a large enough issue, fixing or replacing a battery can be expensive. To avoid any problems, make sure to check the levels on a lead-acid battery before placing it into storage. If you have a maintenance-free battery, try to keep it in a warm storage unit and periodically charge it by either visiting the facility or using a battery tender.
2. Drain the Fuel Tank
Ethanol can wreak havoc on a motorcycle while being stored and can cause carburetor failures or injector system damages when fuel is left in a tank for too long. To ensure that your bike is set the day you remove it from storage, drain the system beforehand and turn the petcock to ‘off.’ When the time comes to take the motorcycle out of storage, be sure to top off the tank and use a fuel treatment additive to neutralize the ethanol.
3. Clean the Oil
The oil in a motorcycle engine doesn’t move around while in storage, which can cause particles to separate and slowly rise to the surface. This process usually leads to carbon coating on the surface of your engine oil. Because it’s highly corrosive and can etch into metal within the system, make sure that your oil is clean before you place your bike in storage. When the spring season starts, change and filter the oil to remove any carbon deposits and to ensure a healthy engine.
4.) Over-Inflate Tires
The mechanical systems aren’t the only areas that you’ll need to prep for winterization. Your motorcycle’s tires will need some love, too! Center stands or paddock stands are ideal storage situations for tires. And if those aren’t options, be sure to slightly over-inflate the tires and move the bike from time to time. This will allow your tires to relieve some pressure and stay pumped for the season.
5.) Wash Down the Exterior
Putting a dirty bike into storage is just asking for problems. Environmental hazards, bugs, and water spots can eat into your motorcycle’s finish. And to keep your bike in good shape, be sure to clean, wash, and completely dry the bike to remove all bits of moisture. To add further protection, add a coat of wax to banish any moisture and rust that may creep in and use a corrosion inhibitor to solve oxidation and corrosion issues. Finally, after checking the entire bike from the battery to tires, use a fitted cover to blanket your entire motorcycle from outside hazards, such as water, animals, gritty sand, or dust particles that could eat away at the paint.