Winter Storage

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Edacio
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Location: Amherst, Ohio

Winter Storage

#1 Unread post by Edacio »

I am a new rider and I live in Ohio and with Ohio weather the riding season could end tomorrow with snow or six weeks from now.

I will need to store my bike this season and I wanted to know if there is anything else is need to do besides:

Covering the bike
finding a warm and dry place

Is there anything mechanical that I need to do to the bike for winter storage?

Someone told me to take the battery out and keep it in the house.

I have a 1986 Yamaha FJ1200
There are a few things man was never meant to know... for everything else there is Google...
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dr_bar
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#2 Unread post by dr_bar »

If the bike is stored in a dry place, ie garage, then the following is what I'd do.
  1. Change the oil and lube any parts that need it.
  2. Wash and dry your bike.
  3. Fill the gas tank after pouring in a gas stabilizing agent.(Filling the tank prevents condensation that can and will rust the tank.)
  4. If you don't have one, get a battery tender and connect it to the battery, (This is a trickle charger and will maintain the battery over the winter and won't over charge it.)
  5. A dust cover wouldn't hurt either at this point, (This keeps the looky loos from playing finger paint in any dust on your paint job. They can be aquired fairly cheap at WalMart, as much as I hate the place.)
If I've missed anything important someone will surely chime in and correct me...
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bennettoid
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#3 Unread post by bennettoid »

Get a snowmobile suit and keep on riding.
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Pongo
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#4 Unread post by Pongo »

dr_bar wrote:If the bike is stored in a dry place, ie garage, then the following is what I'd do.
  1. Change the oil and lube any parts that need it.
  2. Wash and dry your bike.
  3. Fill the gas tank after pouring in a gas stabilizing agent.(Filling the tank prevents condensation that can and will rust the tank.)
  4. If you don't have one, get a battery tender and connect it to the battery, (This is a trickle charger and will maintain the battery over the winter and won't over charge it.)
  5. A dust cover wouldn't hurt either at this point, (This keeps the looky loos from playing finger paint in any dust on your paint job. They can be aquired fairly cheap at WalMart, as much as I hate the place.)
If I've missed anything important someone will surely chime in and correct me...
All that and....

Make any repairs necessary before storage...'cos it'll get forgotten in the spring.

If you have carbs...switch off fuel petcock and run engine till carbs are dry, after that...

Remove spark plugs and put about 1 tablespoon of clean engine oil into each pot... leave the plugs out but make sure they are grounded and crank the engine a couple of times, if you have a kill switch/engine stop switch make sure it is off when you crank it. Replace the spark plugs.

Try to store bike with both wheels off the ground.

Best to store out of sunlight even if under a cover.

Never store a battery on concrete as that will damage it.

I'm sure there will be more tips.

Good question Edacio.
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