Storing Your Motorcycle for Winter

• Winterising your bike.
• Storing your winterised bike.
• Caring for a little-used bike during winter
• Return to the moto page.

David Svoboda's Guide to Storing Your Motorcycle for Winter

From: svoboda@rtsg.mot.com (David Svoboda)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Winterizing My Bike
Date: 13 Sep 1994 23:48:29 GMT
Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group
Message-ID: <355dod$93e@delphinium.cig.mot.com>
References: <34tfia$emj@newstand.syr.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: corolla18.rtsg.mot.com

It's a little soon to be contemplating storage, upstate or no!

This is a file I hand out to all my beginner-motorcyclist friends (all my friends ride motorcycles, or want to, don't yours? :-) I distilled it from a bunch of sources, and it's what I do to winterize my bikes.

Storing Your Motorcycle for Winter

The main problems you are likely to encounter with winter motorcycle storage are a dead battery, congealed fuel, oil corrosion, tire rot, and security. If the motorcycle is stored in a wet, salty environment, such as outside in a parking lot or near an ocean, rust and paint corrosion is also a problem. Most of these problems can be avoided by spending a few hours preparing the motorcycle for storage.

The tools and supplies you will need include rags, screwdrivers (slotted and Phillips), a spark plug wrench, spanners or a socket set, a trickle battery charger, distilled water, four or five quarts of oil, a new oil filter, an oil can with oil in it (the kind with a trigger for squirting out the oil), a can of chain lube, a bottle of fuel stabilizer, a can of WD40, a small piece of 1/2" plywood or similar, some plastic tubing, a chain and lock, and a tarp or motorcycle cover. Some of these tools should be in a tool roll under the seat. The steps to do this winterizing are as follows:

1. Find a secure, dry, heated if possible, out of the weather shelter for the motorcycle to sit unobtrusively for several months. Make sure water is not likely to drip on the motorcycle. Note that small animals can nest in places in a motorcycle if given the opportunity and can cause a malfunction and/or crash in the spring.
2. Change the oil and filter. Used oil has acids which can corrode engine parts. Besides, in the spring you'll want to ride, not do maintenance. You can do this step before you get the bike to the storage location, but don't go more than 100 miles or so on the fresh oil.
3. Wash the motorcycle thoroughly and wax the painted parts. I use cool water and dishwashing detergent for washing. Oil all the moving pivots, like lever and pedal pivots. Stay away from the steering head, wheel bearings and brake pads with the oil. Tighten any loose bolts or screws. Replace any missing fasteners.
4. Clean and lube the drive chain if you have one. This should be done on a warm chain, so ride the bike around first. You can clean the chain by centerstanding the bike, and spraying WD40 on the warm chain, holding a rag below where you are spraying to catch the sludge. Turn the back wheel (bike in neutral) as you go along. Once you get all the way around, apply the chain lube (available at bike shops) to the chain, working along by turning the wheel. This operation should actually be done every 200 miles of riding, or every time the chain looks dry.
5. Gasoline gums over time, which can cause various fuel system components to need cleaning. To avoid this, buy a bottle of fuel stabilizer ("Stabil" is available at K-mart). Dump half the bottle in the tank and fill the tank completely with gasoline. (This means on the centerstand). Run the engine for a minute or so to get the stabilizer in the carburetors. Alternatively, you can remove the gas tank, dump all the gas out, put a half of a pint of engine oil in the tank, swish it around in there, dump it out, and keep the tank inside your house for the winter. The full tank or the oil coating will keep the inside of the tank from rusting.
6. Drain the carburetor floats. The carburetor is the doohicky behind the engine cylinder(s), and on the bottom of it you will find the float bowl. There is a screw at the bottom of the float bowl and a little nipple, often with a drain hose attached. The purpose of the float bowl is to give the engine a stable gasoline reservoir and to allow water and dirt to gather at the bottom and not be ingested into the engine. If there is no hose there, attach one temporarily, because gasoline will drain from the nipple. Be sure the petcock on the gas tank is in the OFF position (or RUN on a Kawasaki). Take a suitable screwdriver and loosen the screw until gasoline drains out. If the petcock is in the OFF position, it should stop after a cup or so of fuel drains out. Tighten the screw (don't strip it). This operation removes the main source of potential fuel gumming from the engine. If you don't do this, you will need to ride the motorcycle around for a few minutes (enough for the engine to warm up) once a month over the winter. That's what I do with the Rat Bike. (That's my old KZ550, now deceased.)
7. Take your oil can and your finger and spread some oil all over the upper metal-colored part of the front forks. Then hold the front brake and bounce your weight on the front of the bike to work the front suspension. There is oil inside the forks and a rubber fork seal which seals the sliding parts so the oil stays inside. This operation will keep the rubber from drying and protect the exposed metal slider.
8. If you are ambitious, you can prevent some possible cylinder corrosion this way:
   • Remove the spark plug(s). (This involves removing the plug wires and unscrewing the plug with a plug wrench. Don't mix up the wires if you have more than one cylinder.)
   • Squirt a teaspoon or so of engine oil (or 2-stroke oil if you have some) in each plug hole.
   • Use the starter to turn the engine over a couple seconds to distribute the oil.
   • Clean and gap the spark plug(s) while it's (they're) out.
   • Replace the plug(s). Do not strip them. Hand tighten, then 1/4 turn more.
   • Re-connect plug wire(s).
9. If you have any other scheduled maintenance to do, do it now. In the spring you'll want to ride, not wrench. If you need help with anything, ask me.
10. Remove the battery from the motorcycle. Fill it with distilled water up to the marks. Take it home with you and charge it on a trickle charger once a month. If you do not do this you will have a permanently degraded battery in the spring, if not a permanently dead one.
11. Put the motorcycle in its storage location on the centerstand. Lower the tire pressure to 5 or 7 psi on both tires. If the motorcycle is resting on concrete or other potentially damp surface, you should get the front tire off the ground either by placing a piece of wood under it (not so high as to make the rear tire touch), or by putting something under the engine case of the proper size to lift the front.
12. It's often a good idea to chain the motorcycle to something, Motorcycles are very easy to steal, and sitting over the winter makes them attractive. Get a motorcycle cover to keep the dust and eyes off. Motorcycle covers get stolen, too (ask me how I know), so the chain should secure that as well.

Be extra cautious for a while. Your riding skills are rusty, and drivers aren't accustomed to seeing motorcycles on the road yet.

Dave Svoboda (svoboda@ranger.rtsg.mot.com)  | I think God's got a sick
90 Concours 1000 (Mmmmmmmmmm!)              | sense of humor, and when
84 RZ 350 (Ring Ding) (Woops!)              | I die, I expect to find
78 CB400T Hawk (Baby Honda)                 | Him laughing...
AMA 583905  DoD #0330  COG 939  (Chicago)   |         - Depeche Mode

Storing your Winterised Bike

Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: be625@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (John Stephens)
Subject: Re: Winter Worries
Message-ID: <CyCMvK.1Jp@freenet.carleton.ca>
Organization: The National Capital FreeNet
References: <38h1qp$qkb@news.halcyon.com> <38ffe9$ras@news.iastate.edu>
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 20:42:56 GMT

I have a 94 VFR750F that I am planning to store in an unheated garage (under a motorcycle cover). Where I live it gets very cold ,and it snows quite a bit in winter. Assuming I winterize the bike for storage (drain the carbs, fill the tank and add stabilizer, and so on) do I have anything to fear by not having it in a heated garage?
I will pay to store it in a heated garage if an unheated one is a bad idea...so is it a bad idea? Any advice?

In a previous article, gunnerso@chinook.halcyon.com (Eric Gunnerson) says:

There's a company that advertises in the backs of magazines that makes a fully sealed plastic bag (for want of a better term) to put your cycle in. It includes dessicant (to absorb moisture), and should work well.
--
Eric Gunnerson <gunnerso@halcyon.com>
There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over.

I bought the BAG last year and was very impressed with the whole kit. It included the bag (5 ft X 6 ft X 15 ft) plus the dessicant, ropes to tie the bag and a piece of wood for the centrestand. It worked A1. My only complaint is that all during the winter whenever I drove my car in to the garage I see the bike through the clear plastic and become depressed because of the cold weather.

I keep my bike in an unheated garage which dropped to -30 C and had no problems. Once Spring arrived I took the bike out of the bag, changed the oil, and off I went. With a clean bike. There is no need to spray as the air is kept dry inside the bag.

I then put the Dessicant in a large Tupperware container so it will stay dry during the summer. There is an indicator included in the kit which tells you when the dessicant is no longer working. (See "Renewing Dessicant").

In all I would say it is money well spent. It should last at least three years before the dessicant needs replacing.... and the bag could last for many more years

John Stephens
1993 Honda Goldwing

Renewing Dessicant

From: bbrodnax@orion.oac.uci.edu (Bruce T. Brodnax)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Winter Worries
Date: 28 Oct 1994 07:32:09 GMT
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Message-ID: <38q9dp$33o@news.service.uci.edu>
References: <38h1qp$qkb@news.halcyon.com> <38ffe9$ras@news.iastate.edu> <CyCMvK.1Jp@freenet.carleton.ca>

In a previous article, gunnerso@chinook.halcyon.com (Eric Gunnerson) says:

I bought the BAG last year and was very impressed with the whole kit. [snippa'ge]

I then put the Dessicant in a large Tupperware container so it will stay dry during the summer. There is an indicator included in the kit which tells you when the dessicant is no longer working.

Thanx for the product report!

Bruce Brodnax
"I am _not_ crazy! MY BRAIN IS ON FIRE!!!" <tm>

Caring for a little-used bike during winter

From: knee@Glue.umd.edu (Robert S. Fourney)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Bike care in fall/winter?
Date: 28 Oct 1994 10:35:15 -0400
Organization: Project Glue, University of Maryland, College Park
Message-ID: <38r273$lc@worm.eng.umd.edu>
References: <38p8e8$8dl@engr.orst.edu>

Keep a can of gas w/ Stabil mixed in handy. Top off the tank and drain the bowls if you're not real sure you'll be riding it within a week or so (once you get out of the habit it requires a much nicer day to get you back on the bike--in her case if it sits for a week it will require a special event to get her back in the saddle.)

Keep the battery charged. A charged battery won't freeze in MD, YMMV.

DO NOT start up the bike and let it idle if you can't ride. You get the oil warm enough to get lots of things condensing in it, but not enough to blow out all the combustion by products. Either ride it or let it sit and charge it. If you try to start the bike and it won't start, make sure the battery gets charged fully before nightfall or take it in the house. No need to troubleshoot two problems at the same time.

Although the winters here are in the same "oil chart range" as the summers, I use the heavier allowed oil (20W50 for my CB750K) in the summer and lighter (10W40 in my case) for the winter. This gives me easier starts and I figure that the type of riding is much different. In the winter it's to and from work and maybe a couple of hours on a weekend vs. the summer tour type ride of many hours at higher revs.

Make sure the air cleaner is clean and that you have the correct heat range plugs for the colder weather (I'm going 1/2 range hotter this winter, which is called for below 41 deg F in my bike) Any tendency of the plugs to foul will be made worse with the cold and increased choke times.

I agree that you have a nice bike, but that little bikini fairing may leave a bit to be desired in the cold. You may want to check out a plexifaring (tm) type product that goes on and off quickly for use on the colder days.

Enjoy!

Bob Fourney

From: pooder@calvary.rchland.ibm.com (Don Fearn)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Winter Storage
Date: 2 Nov 1994 17:11:37 GMT
Organization: IBM Rochester MN
Message-ID: <398h89$164m@locutus.rchland.ibm.com>
References: <396d13$n7p@news.iastate.edu>

In article <396d13$n7p@news.iastate.edu>, partee@iastate.edu (Jonathan F Partee) writes:

[ . . . ;^) ]
On the other hand, you can just do the following and save money:

Preparing the Motorcycle for Storage:
(* means very important)

• (*) Change your oil. Nasty acids build up in old oil and that can eat away vital engine parts.
• Wash it.
• (*) Go for one last ride long enough warm up the engine (thereby circulating oil) and dry off the bike (assuming you washed it).
• While on your ride, stop by the gas station and fill up with gas and inflate your tires to the recommended pressure. (YMMV, see below)

Good advice, Johnathan, but move #1 after #4. You want the oil to be _absolutely_ unused before storage. Turn your motorcycle engine over a few times after changing the oil, but DON'T start it until next spring.

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