How to winterize a motorcycle

When the first snow falls, the question "how to winterize a motorcycle" gets brought up all over forums. For those lucky people in the south, enjoy your winter, but for a lot of riders who enjoy all four seasons, it is a good idea to winterize your motorcycle, or store it properly. Although there is no exact way to store your bike, the following guidelines will assist you in assuring that you will have a running bike come spring time.

1. Decide where you are going to store it. In a garage or covered location away from the harsh elements is best. If you don't have a garage, ask your biker friends if they have space or check your local dealership to see if they offer winter storage. Keeping your bike away from the elements will drastically increase the life of rubber parts especially.

2. Change the oil and filter. While you are at it, now would be a good time to do any of the maintenance that you have been neglecting during the riding season.

3. Fill your fuel tank and add a fuel stabilizer. Generally you add one ounce of stabilizer per gallon, but follow the manufactures recommendation. Two brands that I recommend are SeaFoam and Stabil. Both are available at any auto store. If you have an older bike, you will need to drain the carburetor and fuel lines.

4. Connect your battery to a trickle charger or tender. Some people remove the battery from the bike and store it indoors, but I choose not to do this. If you don't keep your bike on a tender, the life of your battery will be drastically shortened and you will most likely not be able to start your bike come spring time.

5. Fill both front and rear tires to the maximum recommended pressure.

6. Clean and wax bike thoroughly. If you are extra particular, spray the bike down with a light layer of WD40. Cleaning the bike and putting a protective layer on it will protect it from corrosion and rust.

7. Park the bike on a 1/2" layer of plywood or jack it off the ground. This keeps it off the frozen ground and prevents it from getting flat spots on the tires. Cover it up with a motorcycle cover or sheet and you're done.