Winter Motorcycle Storage
Winter motorcycle storage isn’t something that us Brits have to worry about too often. Frankly our winters are as weak as those coffee sachets you get when you check into your hotel room on a business trip (the last two winters excepted, of course).
But not everywhere is as lucky as us to have such pathetic cold seasons, and riding a motorbike in the winter months in some places on the planet would be madness. There is also the chance that we’re on the verge of Britain becoming an actual cold place in the winter, which would make the following suggestions suddenly more relevant. Ever the pragmatists, the Get On crew have collated and curated all the advice there is on how to put your bike into hibernation and dished the good stuff out below.
- Fuel Stabilizer - Fuel has a shelf life just like everything else, and if left to stagnate for too long it’ll turn nasty and just damage your engine when you run it again. For this reason you want to invest in some stabilising fluid and add it to the tank before taking the bike out for a last spin so it can work its way around the engine.
- Cleaning - Even without the corrosive grit that ends up on your bike in during Winter riding, the road can kick up some nasty stuff onto your bike, so the first thing to do before tucking her away for the winter is to get your washing kit out and get the dirt off! – make sure to lubricate the chain and moving parts after you do this to protect from rust, and use WD40 on all the other parts of the bike that could corrode.
- Tyres - It’s a good idea if you’re going to give your bike some downtime to get the weight of the bike off the tyres, so invest in some stands if you don’t have any. It’s also a good idea to inflate them with nitrogen rather than oxygen to slow down the degradation of the rubber.
- Exhaust(s) - Notorious for rusting when not used, these babies will need protecting for sure. WD40 sprayed into the ends before covering them with plastic bags should do the trick here – make sure to cover the exit holes as well as the exhaust its self. Nearly there now.
- Battery - Time to get that battery out and on the charge – if left you could end up needing a brand new one on the other side and it doesn’t use much electricity keeping it topped up over the season. A full charge once a month should keep it fresh enough to give you a good performance when the warmer months come back.
- (optional) Change the oil - We have talked about checking the oil on a motorcycle before, but if you’re not comfortable with changing it then it’s not a massive deal. Do make sure to get it changed before you start riding again. Your nearest dealer will be able to reccomend a good service centre if you don't have one already.
Again, some of you may never need to store your motorcycle in winter, but we felt that you should have this quick guide to hand if you ever did need to!
Have you ever over-wintered your bike before?
Image courtesy of Sherlock77 on Flickr
