How to Properly Winterize Your Motorcycle

When the weather becomes too cold to keep riding and you are ready to put up your motorcycle for the winter, keep in mind these easy steps to make sure your bike is in tip-top shape come spring. Winterizing your bike is a simple process, but not as simple as just throwing it in the garage and forgetting about it for 5-6 months.

The first thing you should do when its time to put the bike up is clean and lubricate the chain and other areas of the bike. Make sure you lube all exposed metal with a light coat of lubricant so there is no chance of rust during the winter.

The next step is to change the oil. Make sure you run the bike to warm up the oil and burn off any condensation that is in the system. Used oil will become acidic and break down when not in use over longer periods of time. Changing the oil right before you put the bike up is an essential part of maintaining your motorcycle. The old acidic oil will eat into your softer metals and cause leaks come spring! Do not run the engine after changing the oil. You want to keep it as fresh as possible. There is no need to change the oil filter until you change the oil again when you de-winterize your bike. (there will be another article on this topic as well)

One common misconception about winterizing a motorcycle is to drain all of the gas out of the tank. You actually want to fill it up as much as possible. If you drain it all out, then there is now air in the system which will cause rusting of various parts in your motorcycle. Fill the tank up and put in a fuel stabilizer, which you can get from most any auto parts store, to keep the fuel good until spring time riding season.

The battery is the next item in line. They will self discharge and the cold weather over time will drain your battery even faster. You can get a small battery tender made for motorcycles very cheap. This will gently keep your battery charged throughout the winter for an easy start come spring.

Your tires will develop flat spots if they sit in one spot for months on end. If you have them available, use front and rear stands to elevate the bike off of the ground so the tires are no longer touching. If you do not have stands available, you can simply move the motorcycle if you have the room. You can get a set of stands fairly cheap though, so that is the recommended method. If your are lucky and your bike has a center stand built in, then that is a good way also.

If you live in very cold climates, make sure your anti-freeze is up to its correct levels. You do not want things freezing which will expand and contract various items causing cracks and breakage.

Are you in an area where rodents are prevalent and love to crawl into any area of a vehicle they can? Tape up or get rubber plugs for the air box and tailpipe! There is nothing like starting the bike up for the first time to the smell of burning critters in your exhaust pipe! Not to mention it is no good for the machine.

Once all of these steps are done, you should then clean again! And do a good once over the bike to make sure everything is as it should be.

Come spring time, your motorcycle will be happy, as will you!