My unwinterized Harley is sitting in the garage corner. I’m sitting here wondering how bad things will be this spring if I don’t get out there and winterize the bike. Here is what I know.
As a general rule, When you don’t winterize your motorcycle, it will not start easily come spring time. Broken down fuel causes carburetor and injector issues, tires dry rot or crack, your battery goes dead, and important lubes on parts like your chain go dry when you do not properly winterize your motorcycle.
There is a lot that can go wrong with an unwinterized motorcycle. If you’re looking for the quick fix to each of the problems, check out the table below. Continue reading if you desire a more detailed explanation of the problem and the solution
| Cause | Problem | Solution |
| Leaving fuel in your bike | Gums up your fuel system | Treat the fuel with Stabil |
| Leaving the bike outside | Causes the tires to crack | Bring the bike inside |
| Flat spots on your tires | Creates vibration on the first ride of the year | Life the bike off the floor or move it every 30 days |
| Not lubing your motorcycle chain | The chain and sprockets will wear faster | Lube chain as part of winterizing |
| Leaving the bike outside | Plastic and rubber grips crack | Bring the bike indoors |
| Pitting Chrome | Creates unsightly bike | Polish the chrome before storage |
| Not Changing the Oil | Makes the oil gummy come springtime | Change the oil before winter storage |
| Not keeping battery charged | Dead battery | Keep the battery on a trickle charger |
Leaving Fuel In Your Motorcycle
When I first started winterizing my street bikes, I would leave the tank empty or near empty. The thought was to make it easy to add fresh fuel come the next riding season.
What I did not know about this approach was the fact condensation still takes place inside the tank. It seemed to be more extreme when I stored the bike in a building without a regulated temperature. I started filling the tank before putting it away for the winter.
Here is where I found out how bad fuel breaks down and how it affects carburetors and fuel injectors. After 30 days, modern fuel breaks down and starts causing a varnishing inside your motorcycle gas tank. The effect is a gummy type of substance which prevents the internal carburetor parts from operating properly.
Needles and floats will stick. The old fuel will also start making rubber components brittle and eventually crack after a few years. Older bikes will develop vacuum leaks as a few of the lines running from the carburetor dry rot.
Solution:
What do you do about leaving fuel in the bike if keeping the tank fuel creates problems and leaving it empty causes condensation issues?
It’s pretty simple. Fill the tank as you normally would. Add a stabilizer to prevent the fuel from breaking down and varnishing. There are two important aspects to doing this correctly.
First, make sure the tank is almost empty when you go to fill it. In fact, I like to make sure I put the stabilizer into my saddlebag and ride about 5 miles to my local gas station.
Once I’m at the gas station, I measure out the amount of stabilizer needed and put it into the tank before fueling up. This is a best practice because the fuel will naturally mix with the stabilizer as you pump it into the tank.
Remember when I just mentioned riding about 5 miles to my local gas station? Well, there was a reason for that.
The now treated fuel in your tank needs to get down and through your carbs or fuel injectors. If you just treat the fuel in the tank and do not run the bike, you don’t treat what’s left on the bottom end of your fuel system (in your injectors or carbs.)
By riding your bike the 5 miles back home, it ensures that treated fuel will make its way through the entire fuel system, completing this part of your winterization.
Motorcycle Tires Cracking Or Developing Flat Spots During Storage
Motorcycle tires crack from repeated cycles of heat and old age, exposure to the sun, and varying air pressures. The cracking shows a tire that needs replaced and also has a high probability of failure while riding.
From the list above, you can see most of the items causing the cracking mainly stem from leaving your motorcycle outside during the cold winter months. The best thing you can do to care for your motorcycle tires is keep the bike in a temperature controlled building.
For most of us, though, it may be difficult. Even my garage does not have a heater in it (yet.) Still, keeping the bike inside helps take care of your bike’s tires.
For those who live in the north, this simple act of keeping your bike inside will be even more important.
As temperatures in the spring and fall easily fall below and move well above freezing, it takes an extra toll on your tires. Have you ever been to a junkyard or kept old tires, any kind of tires, outside for long periods of time? What did you notice?
The rubber becomes hard and brittle. Aside from the cracking that mentioned above, the composition of the rubber’s compound changes. A motorcycle’s normal tire compounds are soft to provide high levels of traction. As the tire becomes brittle, the compound hardens and will not provide the same level of friction to perform well.
Motorcycle Tire Pressure
Inconsistent tire pressure also wears a motorcycle tire out faster than keeping the proper level of inflation. A motorcycle tire will lose one pound of pressure for every month it sits in storage.
The further north you live, the more important it is to check your pressure even during the winter months. The cold weather also lowers the pressure on your motorcycle tires.
Flat Spots On Your Motorcycle Tires
Motorcycle tires develop flat spots from sitting for long periods of time in the same space. The tire will become oblong and create a vibration and possible riding hazard if not properly addressed.
In the tire pressure section, I pointed out they make motorcycle tires from a soft compound. While the sidewalls are stiff, we mainly concern ourselves about the riding surface of the tire. This is where the flat spot develops.
Motorcycle Flat Spot Fixes
To fix the flat spot, you have two options:
- Move the motorcycle several times during the winter months so the bike sits on different parts of the tire. Remember, thought you also need to be checking the tire pressure. This is a good time to do it, since you’re already moving the bike.
- Put the bike up on a motorcycle jack like this one. This keeps the tires off the ground. We use this jack for all of our motorcycles, because of its ease of use, low cost, and it lets you move the bike just about anywhere.
Not Lubing Your Motorcycle Chain
After some time, even grease and petroleum based materials break down. Your chain will eventually dry out. A dry chain wears out much faster than a lubricated one.
Save yourself some money in the long run with the following practice.
As you prepare your motorcycle for winter storage, take a few extra moments to lubricate your chain. Make sure the lube gets in and around the rollers, as these are the most important parts to lubricate.
Some chains have o-rings which seal off the lube from getting under the rollers. With this style of chain, the roller also keeps some lubricant under the roller for better, longer term wear.
These chains are more expensive but worth the extra cost. They will also help extend the duration of your sprockets as well. Here are a few of the economically priced chains you should look at from Rocky Mountain ATV for your dirt bike. For street bikes, look at these chains from JP Cycles.
Besides oiling your chain before putting your bike away for the winter, check the chain’s lubrication before your first ride for the season. Its redundancy will be a good habit to develop to extend the life of your motorcycle’s drive train.
Motorcycle Grips Cracking
In the section about tires we went over cracking, your motorcycle grips can also start cracking if you do not properly winterize your motorcycle. The repeated warming and cooling cycles make the grips harden, brittle, and start cracking.
You fix the problem with the same solution for tires. Try to keep your motorcycle in a temperature controlled building. If you do not have this, then keeping it in a building is the next best option.
Riders should note that even plastic grips can become brittle and crack too.
Pitting On your Unwinterized Motorcycle’s Chrome
I cannot tell you how many hours I’ve spent in the spring doing a long and taxing polish job on my bike’s chrome. Every year that I don’t do this one practice, I cussed myself.
The chrome on your motorcycle pits or rusts during the winter months as the metal from underneath the chrome plating gets exposed to the oxygen in the air. To prevent this from happening, add an extra layer of protection by polishing the chrome before you put the motorcycle away for the winter.
My polish of choice is Mother’s. I’ve been using this stuff for over 30 years. If it can handle the tough abuse of the trucking world, then it can handle anything your motorcycle will go through.
Come spring time, you may have a quick once over with the polish again to get the bike ready for the riding season. The time you put in during the fall will save you come springtime.
Changing Your Motorcycle Oil Before Winter Storage
Your bike’s oil will become sludgy over the winter. The internal components of your bike collect moisture over the winter as well. It is best to change your oil before putting the motorcycle away.
I can tell you from personal experience, it makes getting back out on the bike in the spring a bit quicker. There have been many seasons that I just want to skip the spring oil change and jump on for a ride during one of the first warm days.
Check out this article I wrote about changing your oil in the fall. It goes into detail on what happens to your oil and what you should look for in an oil for your motorcycle.
Dead or Ruined Motorcycle Battery
If you are like me, every spring I anxiously await when I can open the garage door, uncover the bike and go for a ride.
Also, if you are like me, you may not take the time to maintain your motorcycle battery. Over the winter either remove the battery from the motorcycle or keep it on a trickle charger.
In my case, there is a constant load on the battery and when spring comes, it may be deader than a doornail. In fact, there were several years in a row where I had to buy a new battery. At $80 to $100 a pop, that got expensive.
So save yourself some money and make sure you properly tend to your battery. Here are my two favorite ways to winterize my bike’s battery.
- Take the battery out of the motorcycle completely and store it in a warm, dry place. Preferably, in a climate controlled room. In this case, your shop may not be climate controlled, look for places where you might keep the temp a little more consistent.
For example, you might put the battery on a shelf near the house furnace if it is in the garage.
About a month before the riding season starts, put the battery on a slow charge to bring it back up for your upcoming first ride of the year.
- Put your battery on a tender over the winter. This is the easiest option and best regarding keeping your battery in tip-top shape.
Here is the battery charger I got from Amazon and have used for a few years. It has held up well and pretty durable. Beyond the basic function of charging, it came with an assortment of attachments, so it gets used on many unique items around my compound.
Now that you have the bike winterized, crack open a cold one, grab your phone or computer, and start planning your trips for the next riding season.