Winterizing Your Motorcycle – A Quick Checklist from the Dennis Kirk Tech Team

Photo credit: dchasteen

Despite the relatively warm weather up here in Minnesota, sooner or later the inevitable will happen. Unless you’re lucky enough to live in one of the “year round riding states”, the time will come to put away your iron horse for the winter and begin to long for spring.

The Dennis Kirk tech team has compiled a quick 5-step winterizing check list for your motorcycle to help you get started:

1. Fill the gas tank, this ensures that there is no air in with the gas. Then put some Stable in the tank to keep the tank fresh. Also drain the carb to remove the gas from there.
2. Change the oil to make sure that there is fresh oil and all of the contaminates are removed with the dirty oil.
3. Disconnect the battery and put a battery tender on it to maintain a full charge. This will also help the battery last longer.
4. Check the tires and put them at the recommended psi and place the bike on a lift if possible to help fight against flat spots from sitting all winter.
5. Give the bike a good wash and wax job. This will help keep the rust at bay, and the bike will look nice in the spring.

Of course, everyone has their own methods and practices for winterizing their motorcycles, and as the years go by, more methods are learned and tweaked to work out the best process for the individual. Tell us about what you do to winterize your bike each winter? Anything to add to our checklist, post your ideas in the comments below?