Winterizing Your Bike

Winterization is a topic that most motorcycle people forget to do. We are past the time of the year when jacket liners have been reinstalled, and have switched to a colder weather jacket. This marks the time of the season when we know that the general riding season is winding down.

Winterizing motorcycles isn’t talked about much, but should be. It seems that everyone generally thinks that they are going to ride all winter, until that one very cold day hits that chases that thought right out of their heads and the bike gets parked with no planning or preparation. Then every spring the shops are dumped on with carburetor cleans that could have been avoided, if some preparation had gone into winter storage.

Two systems are of primary concern here, the fuel system and the battery. The fuel system is by far the most expensive to deal with. Most of the manuals will advise draining the carburetor and the fuel tank prior to planned storage, but in the past 27 years, we haven’t had great success with that method.

There are two problems that typically occur during storage with the fuel system:

 1-Moisture forms in the fuel tank (in the top, above the fuel level) from condensation associated with temperature changes. Rust begins to form, which in turn contaminates the fuel system and causes carburetor issues, not to mention that fuel filters don’t do a real good job preventing rust from getting into the little bitty carburetor circuits.

2- Some of the chemical in the fuel begins to evaporate (all of the chemicals do not evaporate evenly, leaving a green or brown tarnish in the carburetors (and eventually the fuel tank).

It should be noted that fuel in the carburetors (smaller quantity) loses the evaporative chemical much quicker than the (larger quantity) fuel in the tank does. We have cleaned a number of carburetors and sent the bikes home with the same three year old gas in them that they came in with and had no additional problems. Draining the tank and carburetors leaves a film of fuel in both that evaporates and causes a dingy film to be left behind. This film is what causes carburetor problems.

Batteries are the other problem. Batteries normally discharge at a rate of approx 5% per month when just sitting. The charging system on a motorcycle really is more of a “maintenance” system. The motorcycle alternator will never fully charge a low battery, it will only restore what was required to start it. So if the battery is low to begin with, it will not bring it back to full by running/riding the bike. The lower with charge that the battery becomes, the greater a process known as “sulfation” occurs. Sulfating will eventually ruin the battery and require replacement. Using a motorcycle with a weak battery will max out the charging system and eventually damage alternator parts. In light of that, it is best to replace a weak battery that does not respond well to charging, it is generally cheaper in the long run than replacing alternator parts AND batteries. Also keep in mind that most motorcycle charging systems actually discharge at rpm’s below 2,000, so idling the bike for 10 minutes will do nothing for replacing the energy used to start it.

The most fool-proof winterization method that we have found is to start and ride the bike once a week throughout the winter. This helps prevent the battery from getting in a discharged state (along with the use of a 2 amp or smaller charger (starting at $12.95), or Battery Tender starting at $29.95), knocks the moisture that is forming from the roof of the tank (while rocking the bike around), refreshes the deteriorating fuel in the carburetor with a fresh (less deteriorated) dose from the fuel tank, and warms the engine oil and exhaust, removing moisture from them.

Most of us will benefit from the following steps (keeping in mind that there are no guarantees):

1. This late in the year, keep the fuel tank topped off after every ride. If there is no air space, rust cannot form. Repaints are easy to damage with spilled gas, and when attempting to get the tank as full as possible, most of the caps will leak some on the way home, so you will have to evaluate the risk. By doing this, when the cold week comes in, the bike is already full and will require no additional effort to fill. When you get home add a bottle of the BG fuel treatment to the tank and run the bike for a bit to circulate this mixture into the carburetor. We strongly recommend the use of the BG fuel additive for storage. It helps lubricate the interior of the tank to help prevent rust, it prologs the life of the life of fuel longer than anything else we aware of, it cleans the fuel system while also decarburizing the combustion chamber.

2. Start the bike once a week and run it for 10 minutes or so, best to ride it around the block. 30 days is enough for fuel deterioration to begin, 90 days almost always is.

3. Since the bike isn’t getting ridden regularly, either plug a 2 amp (or smaller) charger (watch the car chargers, most are way too big and will overheat the battery) on it once a month for 24 hours, or invest in a Battery Tender ($39.95). The Battery Tender is an “intelligent” battery charger that can be left plugged onto the battery indefinitely so that it is always maintained. Using a regular battery charger in this way will damage the battery. This will extend the battery life and will keep the bike easy to start and preventing it sitting for the remainder of the winter. A Battery Tender can be bought for less than the average price of one battery. A batter tender will save you many dollars over the long haul by not having to buy replacement batteries so often."