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How NOT to winterize your motorcycle
We’ve all heard “fire it up once a week” or “gotta put cardboard under the tires.” There are as many superstitions floating around as there are different, but effective schools of thought on motorcycle storage.
If you have a system that works well for you, by all means, don’t let me rock your boat. But allow me to debunk nine of the most common bits of misinformation.
Don’t start your bike up every week
Make no mistake, regular exercise is good for your bike — but like putting on workout clothes to sit on the couch, idling in the garage doesn’t count. Not only is a cold start hard on the motor, but if you aren’t running it under load up to full operating temperature, moisture condenses out of the air into places water doesn’t belong. If you don’t plan to actually take the bike for a ride to cook off moisture and recharge your battery from that cold crank it took to get her going, don’t even fire it up.
Don’t drain your tank
Unless you’re getting your bike “museum-ready” to put it up for years on end, you’ll have better luck with a full tank and a quality fuel stabilizer additive. An empty tank is vulnerable to corrosion and dried out seals, while a tank full of treated gas keeps everything fresh. If you have a carbureted bike, be sure to turn the petcock off and drain the carb bowls. However, if you don’t trust your old petcock or the needle valves in your carbs, address those issues first! Should fuel leak past both and overflow onto your bike (or worse, into your motor) it can create more problems than a tank full of stabilized fuel prevents.
Don’t remove your battery
Why pull the battery if you don’t have to? Sure, if there isn’t a power source where you store your bike, you’ll want to take your battery inside and hook it up to a tender. But if you can plug in a battery maintainer near the bike and your battery is healthy enough to take a charge, removal really isn’t necessary. Just be sure you use a reliable “float” charger/maintainer that reads feedback voltage from the battery and tops it off as needed, rather than a “trickle” charger that blindly feeds a small amount of current to the battery nonstop. The terms are often thrown around interchangeably, but a straight trickle charger can overcharge and waste your battery. (Worst-case scenario? Battery acid on your bike. No bueno.)
Don’t put off that oil change
Don't store your bike with old oil. Your engine will thank you. Here’s why you shouldn’t wait to change your oil until spring when it’s time to ride again: Combustion gases gradually seep past your piston rings and get trapped in your oil, forming carbonic and sulfuric acid. It’s no big deal when the motor is run regularly and the oil is changed at recommended intervals, but if you’re creeping up on time for an oil change, why let acidic oil go to work on your bearings over the winter? Change it now, keep your motor happy.
Don’t store a dirty bike
The same way acidic oil can eat away at engine internals, road grit, grime and bugs that have found their final resting place on your motorcycle will take a toll on clear coat, anodized aluminum, polished metal finishes and even stainless steel if left to cement themselves on surfaces for any length of time. And if you’re unfortunate enough to live somewhere they salt or brine the roads, that stuff is kryptonite to metal and rubber parts alike. Giving your bike one last good wash and wax will help keep its finish factory fresh
Don’t use a tarp or cheap cover
A heated garage and indoor dust cover is the gold standard for winter motorcycle storage, but we don’t all have access to such fabulous accommodations. posh. A storage unit can be an economical solution (especially when split with sisters), but not all have power to run a battery tender, and the cost can get expensice. Sometimes, a quality weatherproof motorcycle cover is your next best option. Just make sure you invest in one that is tried and true, 100 percent waterproof and vented. A cheaply made cover that traps water, doesn’t stay secured, or chafes against paint is actually worse than nothing at all.
Don’t overinflate your tires
Riders do all sorts of voodoo in the name of preventing flat spots or rubber breakdown. Flat-spot paranoia is a holdover from the bygone days. Modern motorcycle tires have superior rubber compounds and construction putting this issue pretty squarely in the rearview. As for the alkaline nature of concrete “eating” rubber, that's pretty much a myth too. If it gives you the warm fuzzies to put cardboard, plywood, or carpet squares under your tires, it certainly won’t hurt. But don’t overinflate your tires to “compensate for the weight.” Many riders prefer to put their bikes up on front and rear stands, lifts or dollies, which offer the added benefit of standing the bike upright, taking up less space in the garage.
Don’t think motorcycle thieves take winter off
While it’s true that motorcycle thefts spike in summer, that doesn’t mean thieves take the winter off. Even the four slowest months of the year still account for 25 percent of all motorcycles stolen year round. Then take into account riders who store their bikes remotely and may not discover and report the theft until spring, this number could be even higher. Don’t spend the money and effort to winterize your bike properly only for someone else to reap the benefits of your well kept machine.