Winter Maintenance Series-Part One: Winter Preparation
Nov 19 '00
We got our first snow of the season this week. On Friday night I saw one brave soul creeping through a corner on an old Honda amid the flurries. But that was the first bike I'd seen on the road in a week and soon even it will be stored away until spring. The automotive illustrator (and motorcycle enthusiast) David Kimble once remarked "the problem with a motorcycle is that their natural position is horizontal." Nothing makes that point like the ice and slush of winter roads.
Winter is the most accurate barometer I've yet found for sizing up how long someone has been riding a motorcycle. If your coworker takes lunch at an odd hour so he can rush home to watch CHiP's, chances are he is going through bike withdrawals. But as the seasons go by, you can actually start to look forward to winter. If you can't ride or keep the bike out of your mind there is only one thing to do: Get some quality time in the garage.
At the very least you should protect your bike from the damage winter can do. It only takes an afternoon and a $20 investment to winterize a motorcycle, and it doesn't require a lot of mechanical ability. If you change your own oil you can handle this.
The first step is real easy: Fill up your gas tank. Aside from not having antifreeze in your cooling system, the greatest threat from winter weather is the condensation that will occur in any closed space with an air pocket. And no part is more vulnerable than your gas tank. The water that forms in a partially filled tank will collect at the bottom and the gasoline raises the acidity of the water. Put this together on bare metal inside your tank and you can ruin a $500 gas tank in two winters. Less air in the tank means less condensation, so squeeze in every drop you can.
You might also want to pick up a bottle of Stabil for your winter fill up. This is a neat product that keeps gasoline from breaking down and forming varnish deposits when you have your car or bike in storage. It works wonderfully and I can't recommend it enough, especially if your bike has fuel injection or EPA laws require the use of oxygenated fuels where you live. But the most important thing is to make sure the tank is topped off before you put it away for winter.
And before it cools down from your ride to the gas station, make sure you lube the drive chain if your bike has one. Rust can destroy a $100 chain while your bike sits through the winter if you don't.
Now you're ready to get down to work. Even if you're not due for a change yet go ahead and drain the oil out while the engine is still warm. Oil develops acid compounds as it goes through the engine and flushing these out before you put it away is a good idea. But this oil change will be a little different. Normally I only recommend using oils developed for motorcycles like Golden Spectro or Motul. But because of the condensation that will happen inside the engine, the oil you put in now should be drained and replaced when its time to ride again in the spring. This means you can be cheap and not feel guilty about it for a change. The generic 79 cent a quart oil will work fine. And it's not a bad idea to overfill the engine with oil. This will submerge the most vulnerable parts (the bearings) in oil, preventing them from being corroded. But if you do this you must drain out the excess oil before starting the engine. Too much oil can do as much damage to an engine as no oil, and it can do it just as quickly.
(And a word about oil filters: The best oil filters I've ever seen for a motorcycle, and the only ones I've used for the last ten years, are the NAPA Gold series. These are made by Wix and have in some cases three times the filter area of other brands. They are available for most bikes but if yours isn't covered, spend the extra money for an OEM filter. I wouldn't use a Fram/Purolator/etc. for an ashtray.)
The easiest way to be sure your antifreeze is ready to get your bike through the winter is to drain out the old stuff and install a fresh batch. This is something you should do every year anyway. Even if won't freeze, coolant does have a chemical breakdown over time and this causes corrosion on aluminum. A gallon mixed will give you enough to take care of your bike and keep a jug in the trunk of your car. And if you want to prevent deposit buildup in your cooling system it is as simple as diluting the antifreeze with distilled water.
If your bike has carburetors you should drain the gas from the float bowls. There is a float bowl on the bottom of each carburetor and there will be a small screw either at the bottom or sticking out from the side of the bowl. Remove the screws and let the fuel drain out. The bowl area is so small that condensation isn't a problem to worry about. But if you keep the gas in it will eventually create a varnish that will clog the tiny passages ("jets") and require disassembly to clean.
All that's left to do is to take care of your battery. If you leave it in the bike and walk away you'll be standing in line at the parts counter in the spring. Storing it in a warm place will help. But the best solution is to invest in a Battery Tender. This is a charger designed to keep a battery at peak condition while in storage. At $45 it isn't cheap, but it has kept my battery going for three years so I figure it has paid for itself twice so far.
If your bike has a cable operated clutch you'll want to make sure you lube it to prevent rust over the winter, and if you have a sportbike you should also remove the exhaust canister and the pipe that connects the canister to the header. If it's left on the bike condensation will drain down to the lowest point with rust soon to follow.
And...that's it. If you don't have a garage a tarp will do an acceptable job of protecting your bike from the snow and ice. When spring comes you'll only need to replace the engine oil and you'll be ready to go. You can forget about your bike for the next four months.
If you want to.
Or you can get in the quality time I mentioned at the top.
Still interested?
Stay tuned. I have a series of winter maintenance and care tips planned for the cold months. The next installment will be on Bearing Care and it will be up by December 2nd. If there is anything you'd like to see covered, leave me a comment or drop me an email.
Brian Igo
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