Time To Winterize Your Sportbike

I woke up this morning to 5 inches of snow!! Yuck.

 Unfortunately for those of us who don’t have year round riding season, it’s time to start thinking about winterizing our sportbikes. There are many things you can do to help ensure sure your ride makes it through the winter. Here are a few basics to make sure your sportbike is as good next spring as it is now.

　

• First off, give your bike a good cleaning to remove any contaminants and prevent scratching from any cover you may use.

 

• Top off your fuel tank and add the right mixture of a fuel stabilizer such as Sta-bil or Seafoam. Be sure to run the engine long enough to ensure the stabilized fuel runs through the injectors or carbs. It’s debatable whether or not to drain the carbs on carbureted engines. It depends on the length of storage, unless you plan on storing your bike for more than 6 months, I really don’t think it’s necessary. The fuel stabilizer will take care of short term gumming or clogging issues.

 

• Change your engine oil and filter. It’s not a good idea to leave contaminated oil in over the winter as it can be harmful to the engine parts.

 

• Put your bike on a center stand to take the weight off the suspension and to avoid flat spots in the tires. Its also a good idea to put a piece of carpet or cardboard under the front tire, rotating it occasionally. 

 

• Removing the spark plugs and adding a fogging oil is good for longer term storage. Just be sure to crank the engine a few times to get a good coat on the cylinder walls.

 

• Clean and lubricate the chain,cables, and all other lubrication points on the bike (check owners manual so you don’t miss any).

 

• Check and top off all other fluids, if your bike is liquid cooled make sure your antifreeze is full and not diluted with water to prevent freezing.

 

• Disconnect the battery and keep it on a battery tender. Make sure your not using a charger that doesn’t monitor the volts, you don’t want to overcharge your battery. Top off the cells with distilled water if needed.

Personally, I like to start my bike twice a month and run it through the gears while on the stand. If you do this however make sure you run the engine long enough to bring it to normal operating temperature, if not you may be doing more harm than good.

Again, these are just some general tips, for info more specific to your bike and situation you can check with your local dealer or bike shop. There are some good forums on the Internet you can check out as well.

What are some things you do to winterize your sportbike? Leave your comments below.

Thanks!  

Ride Safe.. Ride Smart.. Ride Sane..