How To: Winterize Your Motorcycle

Keep your bike in shape through the winter months.

As the weather gets colder lots of people put their motorcycles in the corner of their garage and don’t touch them for several months until the weather warms up again. If you live in an area of the country where we have true seasons that happens a lot. Living here in the DFW metroplex is a different story.

Even though we are based in Texas, we still see our fair share of cooler temperatures, including some snow and usually an ice storm or two during the winter. However, our normal weather patterns have us dip into cooler temps for short stints, then warm weather teases us for a beautiful ride but usually only for a day or two. This variance in winter weather means that most people don’t store their bikes all winter. Most of us ride them every month or two as the weather permits throughout the cold season.

Regardless if you plan to store your bike all winter (hibernation) or if you plan to follow the typical Texas weather and just shut it down once in a while we can help you with both. First lets talk through some simple tips that we recommend regardless of how you plan to manage the winter months here in Texas.

These items can be easily implemented if you like to “Do-It-Yourself,” and if you prefer to have some help for whatever reason we are here to help with that too. Remember we come to you and we want to make the season changes as simple as possible.

Recommended winter tasks that are simple to implement:

1. Think about where you will store your motorcycle. Keep your bike away from high moisture areas, especially when you plan on storing it for long periods of time. (2-6+ months)
2. Take your bike out for one last ride. This step is very important!
3. Top off your tank with fresh gas before you get home.
4. Wash your motorcycle well, then dry it completely! Be sure to scrub all the bugs, dirt, and road grime off.
5. Wax the paint and chrome, leaving a thick coat of wax on the motorcycle.
6. Put leather protectant on your leather seat and any other leather parts of your bike.
7. Protect your motorcycle with a cover to help keep moisture at bay if it is stored in a garage. Think about not covering your bike if you store it outside, because covers can absorb water and have higher potential to trap damaging moisture against your motorcycle versus letting your bike breathe. Take Battery and Seat inside if you are storing outdoors.
8. Use a good fuel stabilizer and treat your bike each time you ride and know it will sit for weeks on end. Remember fuel can break down in as little as 4 weeks so keeping a stabilizer in it when its sitting is important.
9. Make sure you run your bike for about 5-10 minutes after adding the fuel stabilizer so that it works its way into the fuel system.
10. Coat fork tubes and fork dust covers with oil to prevent them from drying out over the winter months.
11. Oil chain with chain lube
12. Check the radiator coolant with a Hygrometer to make sure the proper amount of antifreeze is installed. Top it off if necessary. (We recommend replacing radiator coolant every 2 years).
13. Check the air filter and clean or replace it.
14. Check your brake pads, tires, and belt or chain for wear.
15. Install a trickle charger/SAE Lead connector if one is not already installed.
16. Check the tire pressure in both tires to make sure they’re filled to the proper level.
17. Wipe down all rubber hoses with protectant for the winter months.

If time isn’t on your side and you need help with these steps above or just want a professional that is as passionate about taking care of your baby as you are then we have some packages for you to make it simple.