Hitting the open road provides the ultimate freedom when you do it on two wheels with a roaring engine underneath you. While every motorcycle enthusiast has their own version of the perfect bike, they’re all the same when it comes to wintertime storing. Here are four ways to prep your motorcycle for a long winter nap.
While you may be tempted to wait until spring when you’re ready to ride again to change the oil on your bike, think again. Oil is there to pick up dirt and loose debris within your motor. You don’t want to leave dirty oil in your bike while it sits over the winter. This is because the components found in the dirty oil will start to corrode the internal engine parts
Before you put your bike away for those chilly winter months, it’s a good idea to consider how you’re going to store it. Ideally, you should be storing your bike with its tires up off of the ground. This isn’t always available for most drivers. Instead, you should put your bike at the center kickstand mark. Opt for moving your bike around once a month to take the pressure off of the tires so you don’t get flat spots. If you plan on doing some motorcycle tire mounting in the spring, you won’t need to worry about how you store the bike tires.
Any small amount of moisture that gets on the surface of your bike for an extended period can cause rust to occur. To prevent moisture from being on your bike, it’s a good idea to give it a nice wax job before storing it for winter. Be sure to apply a solution such as WD-40 to the exhaust to prevent corrosion. Additionally, stuffing a towel or something similar in the exhaust pipe can keep unwanted pests out of your exhaust pipe during storage.
One of the best ways to ensure that the gas in your bike stays good throughout the winter months is to use a fuel stabilizer. This simply mixes with new gas in the bike. Let it run for a while or go for a decent ride and let the new gas with the fuel stabilizer flow through your engine. This will protect the gas from leaving brown gunk on places like your carburetor.
Keeping your bike in great condition means taking care of it all year round. Just because you don’t ride your bike in the winter, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be taking proper care of it. You should be employing the four tips above to ensure that your motorcycle makes it through this winter without any unexpected damage.
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