Why you need to winterize your motorcycle and why it's easier than you think

Why you need to winterize your motorcycle and why it's easier than you think

Why you need to winterize your motorcycle and why it's easier than you think

Save your complacency for the comments section, because winter isn't the only reason cyclists might park their bikes for an extended period of time. Maybe you're leaving for work, have surgery scheduled, or are serving a prison sentence. Whatever the logic, there are steps you need to take to ensure that your motorcycle's free time doesn't make it numb when you get paroled.

Protect your petrol

When it comes down to it, there are only two things you really need to worry about to keep your motorcycle safe this winter: the gas in your tank and the battery under your seat.

From a declining octane rating to the complete clouding of your fuel system, gas is the biggest threat when it comes to long-term storage, and depending on the conditions you live in, it could start to go bad in as little as a month.

Here's what happens: The lighter molecules in gasoline (including the octanes that prevent detonation) evaporate, leaving behind denser, heavier hydrocarbons. As the thinner substance flashes, the remaining fluid oxidizes and thickens further. To make matters worse, most of today's gas contains ethanol, which has the unique ability to absorb moisture from the air. It's a neat trick, but when has water in your tank ever been a good thing?

If you have a carbureted motorcycle, you can drain the carbs and tank and store it dry, but there's no practical way to extract all the gas from a fuel-injected motorcycle, so the best option is to do the opposite. Fill the tank (if you can find ethanol-free gas , that's a plus) and add a quality fuel stabilizer, which will slow oxidation and help prevent the ethanol from doing its job for up to a year.

Stabilizer is the most important thing you can do to protect your motorcycle during long-term storage, and it's as easy as pouring the recommended amount into a full tank of gas, whisking it around to get thorough mixing, and then running the motion to push the processed fuel through the system.

Adding stabilizer to a full tank is important because it reduces air space in the tank and keeps the bare metal submerged so it doesn't rust. It also means you have the full range of the bike at your disposal once it's warm enough to ride again.

Connect the battery to life support

The next most likely thing to discharge when your motorcycle is parked is the battery. Most motorcycles rely on lead-acid batteries and have the unfortunate tendency to self-discharge when idle. As the battery discharges voltage, the cells begin to sprout lead sulfate crystals.

Sulfation is a normal part of the chemical process that turns lead, lead oxide and sulfuric acid into electricity, but the crystals usually dissolve when the motorcycle is running and current flows into the battery. If your motorcycle sits still long enough, the sulfation may become so extensive that the battery cannot be reactivated.

Luckily, it's easy to avoid an unresponsive starter button, a useless brick of hazardous waste, and the $100 cost of a new battery. Connecting your battery to a smart charger, also known as a maintainer, float charger or tender, will keep it properly charged and keep sulfation at bay. And if you keep a cable connected to the battery, connecting the tender is a breeze.

Please note that not all chargers are suitable for long-term storage. It's important to use one that turns off once the battery is charged and only supplies power when needed. Old-school constant-rate chargers and trickle chargers put out an uninterrupted stream of electrons, then overcharge your cells if left connected. If this is the type of charger you have, it's best to connect it to the battery for a few hours once a month. If you don't have power where you store your bike, take the battery out so you can bring it inside and connect it to life support.

And if your motorcycle uses a modern lithium-ion battery, you won't have any problems. The self-discharge rate of lithium ions is so low that all you have to do is disconnect the negative terminal of the battery. No maintenance required.

In case you're wondering, regularly starting the motorcycle to "push the fluids and charge the battery" is not a good idea. For starters, starting occurs when the engine is most susceptible to wear (especially if it is very cold) and running the motorcycle introduces moisture (it is a by-product of combustion) into the engine oil and internal parts of the exhaust which will remain at unless you run the bike long enough to bring it up to operating temperature.

That's it, unless you want extra credit

OK, so with just a few minutes of effort you've safeguarded your gas and battery, and honestly, that's all you need to do to make sure your bike will start once the snow melts.

However. As good stewards of our motorcycles, there are a few other things we can do to keep our bikes well-preserved during winter storage.

• Give the bike a thorough bath to remove dirt, dead bugs and corrosive junk. Follow that up with wax for paint, a silicone detailer for plastic parts, and a light coat of WD-40 (applied to a rag and then wiped clean) on chrome, polished, or anodized metal items to protect them from corrosion.
• Clean and lubricate your chain. Feel free to go heavy on the lube. The idea is to completely coat the links so they don't rust.
• Unless you like the idea of ​​scribbling designs in the dust in the spring, you'll want to put your bike under a cover. An old sheet will do, but cotton tends to get moldy and might attract rodents, so choose something synthetic and breathable so it doesn't trap moisture.
• If rodents are common in your area, it's smart to seal the muffler and airbox. A bit of heavy plastic stretched over the openings and secured with a rubber band or zip tie will keep the critters out and prevent moisture from penetrating and corroding the exhaust internals and engine tops. If you want to fog up your cylinders, do it. But it's a PITA on most bikes and useless unless you live near the ocean where the air is especially humid and salty. You can also fog the inside of the gas tank to protect the metal from corrosion if you choose to store it dry.
• As for fluids, replace your coolant if it is more than two years old to ensure you have adequate protection from freezing and corrosion. And if your oil is more than halfway due for a change, go ahead and change it now. But if the coolant and oil are relatively cool, they will be fine for the winter.
• Finally your tires. Inflate them and forget them! Seriously. Rather than worry about flat spots this winter, transfer that concern to tire pressure during the driving season, because the vast majority of people don't check their pressure often enough, and rolling on a flat tire is one of the worst things you can do to the handling of your motorcycle and tire wear.

With all that, your bike should be in great shape for its winter nap. Then, to reiterate, drain or treat the fuel with a stabilizer and connect the battery to a tender. Anything you do beyond that is extra credit and will help your bike come through winter hibernation in better condition.

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