Top Tips for Storing Your Bike for Winter

So its winter, that time of the year when riding your bike doesn’t seem like such a great idea. A good thing to do is to stow your bike until the winter season is over. Storing your bike during winter goes beyond just covering it up; it requires some specific tricks to ensure that your bike is in excellent shape come spring. Check out these helpful tips for storing your bike over winter.

Thorough Cleaning

Sure, nobody is going to see your squeaky clean bike all winter, so why do you have to wash it? A thorough cleaning of your bike will decrease the chances that water spots or dirt can sit on your paint and permanently damage it. Ensure that your bike is well dried and moisture free. Adding a coat or two of wax is an excellent way to prevent moisture and rust.

Change Oil and Filter

Another great tip for storing your bike during winter is to change your oil and filter before storage. Leaving broken down or used oil in it over winter is terrible for your lubrication system. And it saves you the stress of changing your oil before riding your bike when spring comes.

Keep Moving Parts Lubed

Lube any moving parts of your motorbike such as chain drive, cables, controls, fork surfaces, and any other pivot points before storage, this could prevent moisture and rust from building up on them during winter.

Keep It Covered

When it comes to investing in a cover for your motorcycle, it’s best not to be frugal. A quality motorcycle cover will do more than keep off dust but also prevent moisture from settling on your bike and creating rust or corrosion. Ensure you use a good motorcycle cover whether you are storing it indoor or outdoor.

Occasionally Rev Up Your Engine

A significant problem with stowing your bike away for winter is that condensation in the air can find its way into the exhaust pipe, and cause rot. A great way to evade this is to start your engine occasionally to give it a good warm up. This will also ensure that your bike is in good shape by spring.

Theft Proof Your Bike

This is vital if you are storing your bike outside. Don’t forget that your bike is at risk of theft. Take necessary security measures to protect your bikes such as using a good motorcycle cover to conceal it from view, fitting in alarms, and securing it with a heavy lock and chain. If you are storing your bike in a garage, make sure that your garage is burgle-proof.

Here Are Some Other Great Tips;

• Fill up your fuel tank before storage. This is very helpful when you need to warm up your engine.
• Make sure your bike is fully insured in case of theft. Your bike is as prone to theft in winter just like every other time of the year.
• Winter is not an ideal time of the year for batteries. Your bike’s batteries may self-discharge when inactive over time. An excellent way to solve this is to trickle charge your batteries.
• Ensure you have an adequate level of anti-freeze in your coolant system to avoid problems when spring comes.
• Storing your bike over winter puts a lot of pressure on your tyres and may result in flat tyres. You can prevent this by using paddock stands, or over-inflate your tyres, to keep them safe all through winter.