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post season storage prep?

  • Thread starter Thread starter 60ratrod
  • Start date Start date
6

60ratrod

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So being one of the members on the west side of the cascades here in Washington state, my riding season is coming to a close in about a month or less. And being a newer rider, I'm not gonna commute 25-30 miles one way in the rain and cold to/from work. So aside from draining the carbs and adding fuel stabilizer and either getting a battery tender or disconnecting the battery, what else should I be looking to do to store Sarge and Shelah for the winter, nestled comfortably in my garage while Inmate the 2nd sits in the driveway (2007 silverado 1500 ex cab z71)?

During this off season when I am home and not in Virginia for schooling, I will be painting the tank and plastics, as well as taking a good hard look at the transmission, replacing all the o-rings in the carbs, and checking the valve clearances
 
You are going to get MANY different opinions on this. I can only offer what has worked for me, here in oHIo, where the bikes get parked for about four months.

I do NOT drain the carbs. I will add about double the recommended dose of Sta-Bil, drive the half mile to the gas station and top off the tank, then go "around the block" to get the treated gas through all the carb passages. The size of my "block" will depend on the temperature that day. It might be a total of about a mile back to the house or it might be as much as 20 miles.

I usually try to do an oil change so fresh oil sits in the bearings.

I park the bike on the center stand, connect the battery tender, cover it with a sheet, then ignore it until it's time for the next ride or I need to do some other maintenance on it.

It remains in "ready to ride" condition, basically only needing a quick tire pressure check before hitting the road.

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Same basic approach as Steve's. I make a point of keeping any steel fuel tanks completely full, so there's no surface for condensation = no rust. (Goldwing's tank is plastic; not much concern there).

I make a point of not washing / detailing a bike before winter. It's tough enough to look at nice bikes parked all winter while I back the car out into the snow, month after month; the nicer they look, the longer the winter seems. That, and I'm less reluctant to take a bike out when there's an unusually tolerable winter day and I feel like riding. However, I do make sure all chrome is freshly waxed before it gets too chilly -- special attention to any chrome exhaust.
 
Lose the battery tender, the battery will last longer without it. Just charge it up once in a while, if it's an AGM battery you don't even need to do that.
 
Clean everything, then a good wax job. Got a chain clean it and relube it or what ever (want to protect it from rust while it is sitting). Fill the gas tank and use some Stabil or something of that nature. You can either drain your carbs or leave them alone, just make sure they get a good dose of Stabil in them. Once done with that, put it on its center stand (if it still has one) and block up the front to get the front tire unloaded. If your bike is going to in storage for a few months I would pull the spark plugs and use a oil fog in the cylinders ( turn the motor over by hand at least once a month for the rings sake) As for the battery, I pull mine out and keep it in a decently warm room and apply a battery tender to it once a month for a couple hours. Buy a good bike cover and cover the bike until the weather warms up again. Now remember this type of storage is for bikes that won't see daylight for a few months. Here where I live, we can ride just about every month and some others ride when the weather is decent enough to avoid frost bite lol. So kind of use the guide lines everyone has posted and figure out how you want to winterize your bike.
 
Well I don't have a battery tender yet, so I might just skip that and keep it disconnected since my garage only drops down to 40-50 degrees since the heater and water heater are in the garage. And I planned on adding fuel stabilizer and topping the tank. These are unfortunate but good things to know. Now, should I look at doing tires during the off season during one of the rare good days I get or wait till spring?

And sorry to depress you trevor. But since you aren't very far from where I am on your side of the border, you know too well what our winter months look like
 
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On my bikes with tank liners, I drain the tanks and carbs, Those without liners I fill to the top and add Stabil and drain the carbs. I have all AGM sealed batteries but I still use the tenders. Just be sure your tender is an automatic shut off type. They will only charge IF the battery drops something like 5% charge and then shut off once restored.
 
chuck hahn said:
I have all AGM sealed batteries but I still use the tenders. Just be sure your tender is an automatic shut off type. They will only charge IF the battery drops something like 5% charge and then shut off once restored.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that "battery tender" can have several meanings. For one, it is a registered trademark for a line of battery-maintenance products. It can also be meant generically, as any of several battery-maintenance devices. Some are manual, requiring you to monitor the battery and remove the charger yourself. Some are called "automatic" chargers and will reduce the charge level from "full" to "low", but it still keeps charging the battery and can overcharge it. The best ones are "battery maintainers", which will turn OFF when full battery charge is acheived, then will monitor the battery voltage and turn ON again only if required.

The Battery Tender in the link above is one of those "maintainers", but so is the Schumacher battery maintainer you can get at Wal-Mart for about $16. If you have an aversion to shopping at Wal-Mart, you can get the same unit at Sears, with the "Die Hard" brand on it, but you will pay about double the price.

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I used the term TENDER in a generic sense Steve..he knows what they are. And i did mention the auto shut off ones that shut off and on from monitoring the charge level. Schumacher makes good products.
 
chuck hahn said:
I used the term TENDER in a generic sense Steve..he knows what they are.
Click to expand...

I figured that you were, Chuck, but I'm reasonably sure that he is not the only one that is going to read this.

Just providing a few more details to show what is out there.

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Well I don't have a battery tender yet, so I might just skip that and keep it disconnected since my garage only drops down to 40-50 degrees since the heater and water heater are in the garage.
Click to expand...

If it's an AGM battery, then there is nothing to do as the self-discharge rate is too low to worry about.

If it's a conventional flooded plate battery, you should top off the charge about once a month to avoid discharging the battery too far. Deep discharges reduce the life of the battery.

It's actually better to store the battery in the cold than some place warm. Self-discharge happens more slowly in cold temps, prolonging the life of the battery. You want to keep it from freezing, obviously. But the freezing point of a mostly charged battery is well into arctic temps. The full scoop is here if you're interested: http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/carfaq4.htm#freeze_points
 
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