Winter is a long, untamed beast here in the northeast and as such, our riding season is cut to a mere five months, six if you’re really lucky. In those 6-7 off months, your ride sits mostly unnoticed, longing for some attention. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do for her while the snow is piling up to your knee. But as spring now approaches (even though it has technically started), your beloved two wheeled machine is once again ready for action…or is she?
Contained in this list are a few tips and steps to get your ride back into tip-top shape. Neglecting to properly prepare your motorcycle for action can leave you stuck on the side of the road or worse.
DISCLAIMER: All products represented in this article are tested and proven to work for the writer. Street N Trail Magazine was not compensated in any way for the use or expression of approval of these products.
1. Change your oil
NOTE: It is recommended that this step is completed BEFORE you put your bike away for the winter months, as the bits of metal and dirt in the oil are not good sitting inside your engine for months.
We’ll start with what’s the most important item on this list. A good synthetic oil will prep your ride for action more than any other bit of maintenance. Oil changes are simple and can be done by anyone. Considering it’s cheaper to change it yourself than to have a technician at a motorcycle shop charge you for the oil and for labor, it’s silly not to change it yourself. Make sure you look for what type of weight your particular motorcycle needs and purchase that type. For me, finding oil is the hardest part of the whole process as it seems that the only places who have oil around me don’t carry the brand I need.
My choice: AMSOIL fully synthetic. I swear by it and I know several other riders that do as well. It’s not super cheap at $11/quart, but your bike doesn’t take that many quarts and as long as you aren’t one to put a ton of miles on your ride, you usually only have to do it once per year. It can be a little hard to locate, but you can order it online. Your local dealer or parts store might also carry it.
2. Stabilize your fuel
NOTE: Once again, this should be done before you put the bike away for winter, but if you don’t then this step is just as important as an oil change.
Fuel stabilizer is cheap. There are several brands, but I like to use Sta-Bil. When used prior to winter storage, it keeps fuel in the tank stabilized for up to eight months. If you use it in the spring, it brings the fuel back up to proper standards. Bad fuel can cause all kinds of performance issues and can even harm the internals of your engine.
3. Clean and lube your chain
A dry chain is a bad chain. Your chain is the piece of equipment that transfers power generated by the engine to the rear wheel, so it’s one of the most important pieces on the motorcycle. Keeping it properly lubricated and maintained is obviously very important. The easiest way I’ve found to apply the lubricant is to put your bike on a rear stand so it’s level and the back wheel is free to spin. It can also be completed without this stand by spraying the chain and moving the bike forward a few feet and repeating the process until you’ve reached the end of the chain.
The best product I’ve come across is the DuPont Teflon™ Chain-Saver Dry Wax Lubricant. It was formerly known as DuPont Teflon™ Multi-Use Dry Wax Lubricant, so you might have come across it in the past and not known it. This is a dry wax so it doesn’t fling lubricant all over your bike and rims as soon as you start down the road. The best way to apply it is to take your bike for a quick spin and get the chain nice and warm. Bring it back in and apply the Chain-Saver directly to the chain. It’s then recommended that you let the bike sit still for about 24 hours to let the wax lube set. It comes out of the can as a normal liquid, but dries into a waxy film that I have found to offer the best lubrication with minimal fling.
The point of warming up the chain is for better adhesion, but this product also cleans the chain as it applies and it works the best on a warm chain. So if your chain is warm and you start spraying, you’ll see the dirt start melting away.
The can is fairly cheap (around $5) and the official website says it can be found at Walmart and Lowe’s but I’ve never seen it at my local Walmart and have only been able to find it at Lowe’s. One can lasts me 4-6 applications depending on how much dirt is on the chain.
Most modern motorcycles use what is called a o-ring or x-ring chain and these “rings” can be damaged by WD-40 so it is not recommended to use this product as a lubricant. The jury is still out on whether it’s good to use it as a cleaner, because it does a great job of cleaning the dirt off the chain. Do NOT use it as your chain lubricant however.
4. Check and charge your battery
One of the most handy tools a motorcycle owner can have is a battery tender. If you live in a place where winters are more than a month long, it’s wise to invest in this technology. There are several brands, but I use the original Battery Tender made by Deltran. They’re about $60, but it’s a wise investment to properly care for your battery. The tender slowly trickle-charges your battery and keeps it topped off or “tended” throughout the winter months. I personally don’t see it necessary to have it on your motorcycle for the entire winter, but I usually put it on about 3-4 weeks before riding season begins to make sure your battery is in proper form. This isn’t a total necessity though and can be thrown on to charge a bike overnight if that’s what you need. It has two lights to let you know if the battery is charging or fully charged. It can also diagnose a bad battery, which can be read by a series of blinking lights.
The added bonus of a battery tender is that it’s not limited to your motorcycle. You can use it on your car, ATV, dirt bike, tractor, and basically anything else that has a traditional automotive battery. It comes with a few options to connect the tender to your battery, including an option for you to semi-permanently bolt the cables to the battery, which is the best option for motorcycle owners who have to remove the seat to get to the battery. These connected cables are about 10 inches long and have just a quick plug-and-play aspect where the user can run the cables from the battery to a place that is easily accessible for connection. There are also traditional clamps for use on other types of batteries.
New technologies have been developed that use the battery tender cable connection to run a cigarette lighter for placement somewhere on the motorcycle. This allows for the use of a USB charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter like you would use to charge your cell phone or GPS in your car.
Once the battery is charged and before you set out, you need to take a reading of your battery’s voltages to ensure that it’s in proper working form. A traditional battery should read between 12.6 and 13 volts when fully charged and resting (bike not running) depending on what kind of battery it is. If it’s close to 12.6 but not quite there, it’s most likely fine. If it’s under 12 then it should be monitored to make sure it’s not starting to go bad. The voltage will drop when the bike is first started (down to about 10.5 volts), but should rise again shortly after that back to around 13.5 volts. Rev your bike to 5000rpm and take a reading of the voltage. Here, it should be between 14.5 and 15 volts. If it’s under that, the battery may be going bad. If it’s above 15 volts, you may have a rectifier or stator problem. You can read about those HERE.
5. Check tire pressure
This is an obvious one. When your bike sits for that long, the tire pressure will slowly decrease. Take a quick reading of the tire pressure and add more air if needed. Proper pressures can be found on a label somewhere on your bike. My label is located on the chain guard, but I’ve seen tire pressure information on the motorcycle information label on the frame. Most sportbike manufacturers place the optimal tire pressure between 35-37psi for both tires. The rear tire should have slightly more pressure in it (up to 42) if the rider often has a passenger.
6. Check coolant level
This might be the most overlooked item on this list, but it is nevertheless very important. Coolant is something that you change and usually don’t worry about for years or thousands of miles. Making sure you have a proper coolant level is very important, especially for those hot summer days. The reservoir is located on one of the sides of the bike behind the fairings. The reservoir usually has two lines visible without removing the fairings that indicate a high and low mark for the coolant level.
If you find that your level is low, it is recommended that you do not just add coolant. A proper flush is necessary and can be a bit challenging and a little messy, but it’s not something that most people can’t handle. No special tools are needed and finding the right coolant isn’t that difficult. Without going through the steps in this article, I just want to say that when flushing your coolant system DO NOT USE REGULAR WATER. Go buy two gallons of distilled water for 68 cents each. Regular water has impurities and other elements that can harm the engine and radiator.
If you aren’t sure which coolant to buy, consult your manual if you have one. If you don’t, check the forums for your motorcycle and read several posts on the subject. This is a subject in which countless questions have been asked on these forums so they are a good place for information, given that you read several posts to parse out the best information from the junk. If you have an aluminum radiator (I would guess that you do), a simple 50/50 mixture of coolant and water will do. Car coolant is fine, granted that it says it’s for aluminum radiators and it’s a 50/50 mixture. I have used the Prestone Dex-Cool 50/50 coolant that is formulated for GM cars. It can be easily found at your local Walmart or auto-parts store.
