Bike Storage

[Legion1440]

Hey all....This is my first year owning a bike, and was wondering if there were any steps I needed to take before storing my bike for the winter? Thanks in advance for any help.

[bigred875]

-put stable in tank
-top off tank
-run engine for the stabil get into the carb/FI
-buy a battery tender for your battery
-try to get the tires off the ground - preffereably with frt and rear stands...if you are too cheap to buy stands get some thick carpet under the tires..a couple layers...

[Legion1440]

Awesome, thanks for the info

[bigred875]

you bet

[LuvDog]

How anal do you want to be about winter prep and storage?

I'm with Red... and that's all I do for storage... of course I'll try to get out and ride during the winter if the weather breaks.

Other things you may want to do if you're putting it away.

Wash and wax the bike and dry thoroughly.

Change the oil

Fog the cylinders

Block off the airbox and exhaust with rags so mice don't make nests

Clean and wax the chain

and most important... change the blinker fluid

[Legion1440]

I'm not gonna get too anal about it. I was gonna wax the bike anyways, and I just got the oil changed a few days ago. If I do a lot more riding I will probably change it again before I put it away. I'm a total newbie, so can you tell me what you need to do to fog the cylinders? Sorry to be a pain, but I none of my friends do anything with their bikes and always have problems come spring.

[LuvDog]

You can get fogging oil at most shops that also sell watercraft... it's used a lot in marine storage applications.



You pull the spark plugs and shoot some fogging oil into the cylinders... not much to it.

[gmdboston]

Stay tuned, We'll be doing a Winter prep seminar soon, and I have heated storage availlable.

[FireFly]

If you are planning on storing a bike indoors for the winter, is it neccessary to fog the cylinders? Also, if you store a bike in a shed that isn't heated, is it worth it to fog the cylinders? THanks
P.S. Peter, I read somewhere, somthing about applying some oil with a finger around the fork seals during storage prep. Is this something you would recommend? Is it a good idea and what kind of oil should be used?? ANy of your expertise would be Greatly appreciated. Thanks