Why winterize a bike ? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Why winterize a bike ?

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Ghostrider619

Well-known member
Hey guys, as winter is approaching i was thinking about winterizing my bike soon. This is my first season, I looked up some videos online about wintering a motorcycle however I don't really have the $$ and knowledge/ tools to take apart my motorcycle to clean the float bowls and other parts. My bike is carburated, I was only thinking of putting putting fresh oil & fuel stabilizer and starting the bike in my garage 2 -3 times each week for a few minutes to keep the charge on my battery during the winter. Is this going to work ? Thanks !
 
Ghostrider619 said:
Hey guys, as winter is approaching i was thinking about winterizing my bike soon. This is my first season, I looked up some videos online about wintering a motorcycle however I don't really have the $$ and knowledge/ tools to take apart my motorcycle to clean the float bowls and other parts. My bike is carburated, I was only thinking of putting putting fresh oil & fuel stabilizer and starting the bike in my garage 2 -3 times each week for a few minutes to keep the charge on my battery during the winter. Is this going to work ? Thanks !
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Relax, it's not that difficult. Put some fuel stabilizer in a full tank of gas. Turn off the fuel at the petcock. Start the bike and run it until it stalls and you will have effectively drained most of the fuel from your carbs. Most importantly, get a battery maintainer (on sale this week at Canadian Tire for $29.99) and install it on your battery. If the bike is in a cold garage spray a film of light oil (NOT WD-40) or Rust Check on exposed metals and chrome. Cover it up with the battery maintainer plugged in and forget about it until next spring.
 
@Roadghost why not wd40? I haven't done it, but my boss at work says he's done that for the last 20 years.

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Add fuel stabilizer to a half empty tank then the fuel to mix it. Run it a bit to get it thru the carbs, top up tank and park it. Batt tender or charge it every month.
 
Riceburner said:
Add fuel stabilizer to a half empty tank then the fuel to mix it. Run it a bit to get it thru the carbs, top up tank and park it. Batt tender or charge it every month.
Click to expand...

Done this on all my carbed bikes. The only petcock I know of is my dog's.
 
Ghostrider619 said:
Hey guys, as winter is approaching i was thinking about winterizing my bike soon. This is my first season, I looked up some videos online about wintering a motorcycle however I don't really have the $$ and knowledge/ tools to take apart my motorcycle to clean the float bowls and other parts. My bike is carburated, I was only thinking of putting putting fresh oil & fuel stabilizer and starting the bike in my garage 2 -3 times each week for a few minutes to keep the charge on my battery during the winter. Is this going to work ? Thanks !
Click to expand...

There's no need to take anything apart. Whatever youtube videos you watched were over complicating it.

- Add fuel with stabilizer (let it run for a few mins to get mixed fuel through to the carbs)
- Do an oil change
- Install battery tender
- Don't touch it until spring.

This has been covered 1000 times on this site, and there are multiple threads on the subject active right now.
 
YZFer said:
do not start your bike 2-3 times a week. just let it sit.

Add fuel with stabilizer (let it run for a few mins to get mixed fuel through to the carbs)
Do not do an oil change until the end of winter
Install battery tender inside your house
Click to expand...


Short and sweet and to the point

only thing is I don't bring the battery in, I leave it in the bike and the tender is on all winter, set it and forget it.....no garage is not heated, 3 winters now on the YUASA battery like this and no issues at all, even the Walmart battery has held up for 2 winters now, this will be it's third
 
I have a motormaster battery with a date stamp Mar 08 that still good. All I do for my battery tender(2 amp) is plug it in for a few days here and there.
 
I thought it was better to change to fresh oil while storing it so the acidic oil dont cause damage to the engine while storing.

YZFer said:
do not start your bike 2-3 times a week. just let it sit.

Add fuel with stabilizer (let it run for a few mins to get mixed fuel through to the carbs)
Do not do an oil change until the end of winter
Install battery tender inside your house
Click to expand...
 
Ghostrider619 said:
I thought it was better to change to fresh oil while storing it so the acidic oil dont cause damage to the engine while storing.
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This is an arguable point. I like to have the oil changed so that when the nice weather is here, I can just ride.

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Ghostrider619 said:
I thought it was better to change to fresh oil while storing it so the acidic oil dont cause damage to the engine while storing.
Click to expand...

It is, but some people don't see the value in that. There's an argument on the other side that the new oil will pickup moisture during the winter months, but that's really only an issue if the bike is started but not brought up to full operating temperature...which is why it IS recommended practice to never start the engine during the winter unless you plan to go for an actual ride, and one long enough to properly bring the engine and drivetrain up to temp.
 
add fuel stabilizer
change oil or not (not a big deal)
battery tender or trickle charge once a month

make sure the fuel tank is full (or risk rust inside the tank, which is a whole new can of worms) im surprised that several posters missed this one...
 
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Joe Bass said:
@Roadghost why not wd40? I haven't done it, but my boss at work says he's done that for the last 20 years.

Sent from a Samsung Galaxy far, far away using Tapatalk
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Because WD40 has a very powerful solvent in it diluting the oil. The solvent evaporates almost immediately, just like contact cleaner and leaves behind the thin film of oil. The problem is that stuff will displace any other water-based liquid it comes into contact with (hence WD= Water Displacer) which is very harsh on a lot of things and so WD-40 is far from optimal for a lot of applications, like chain lubrication, anything to do with rubber, firearms etc.
 
Dont spray anything,nothing is going to rust all thats going to happen is your going to have an oily mess.Never had a bike rust in 25 yrs.
Some people really over think this.
 
qwikz said:
.Never had a bike rust in 25 yrs.
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Want to see pic of some rust on my bike?

I'm guessing the previous owner did a little winter riding, same as I might. I'll give the metal bits a quick spray with some Rust Check - it washes off easily in the spring, not a big deal.
 
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starboy869 said:
I have a motormaster battery with a date stamp Mar 08 that still good. All I do for my battery tender(2 amp) is plug it in for a few days here and there.
Click to expand...

The battery is 7 years old and close to retirement. I would suggest shopping while you can do it leisurely.

Also if you buy a new one check the date stamp. One shop (NAPA) pulled one off the shelf and it had whiskers. They noticed the date and refused to sell it to me. Not everyone is that decent.
 
nobbie48 said:
The battery is 7 years old and close to retirement. I would suggest shopping while you can do it leisurely.

Also if you buy a new one check the date stamp. One shop (NAPA) pulled one off the shelf and it had whiskers. They noticed the date and refused to sell it to me. Not everyone is that decent.
Click to expand...

+1
yup, i was thinking the same thing. your battery is likely close to pfffing out soon. changing it out before the new riding season may save you from getting stuck somewhere when you don't expect it.
 
you can just take out your battery if you dont have a trickle charge

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