Winter Storage

Any tips for winter storage...

During the winter months I will not be riding. Any special preparations for the engine during the winter months.

Should I make sure all the gas is out of the tank and fuel lines?

Bicycle will be kept in the basement during the winter months.

Yes drain the fuel and keep the bike dry if stored all winter, lube any bare metal surfaces like your chain and your good to go. Drain the carb too.

Get some of this.
Mix up a gallon and pour some in your tank, go run around the block a few times then drain the tank back into the can but leave some gas in the float bowl. It'll keep your carb from varnishing up plus your gas will be good to use next spring.

Used it in all the equipment at the golf course where I used to work.

If you use Opti-2 it has the fuel stabilizer already in it.

Theres 2 schools of thought on this issue its kind of like which oil is best. Kev if theres no fuel in a bowl or tank theres no gas to leave varnish. Plus with me I just dont like using chemicals unless I have too. When the military stores equipment they DRAIN, when a collecter has a million $ car they DRAIN. I worked for Cherry Hills CC which had 500k worth of lawn equip and their policy was to DRAIN. Keep in mind though these decisions were made by humans at the top and were only their opinions on which was best.

I know what you mean, that's why I USED to work at a golf course. The powers that be ( a management company) decided that it would be better to have contractors care for the course and equipment instead of people that had worked it for years. Granted it was only a 9 hole par 3 but through a LOT of work we had some of the nicest greens in the state of Michigan, really disgusts me to see the condition of the course today.

obviously, drain the gas tank. what i'd do, is spray the tank out with carb cleaner, then keep it somewhere away from humidity. you'll still probably get some surface rust, but it'll clean right out.

take the carb off, drain it, take it apart, and clean the whole thing with carb cleaner, put it back together, make sure it's dry, and seal it in a ziplock bag, and tape it to your handlebars so it doesn't disappear. wrap and tape plastic over the intake on the engine so nothing falls in.

you might want to flip the bike over, or suspend it so the tires are off the ground. this way, when they go flat, they won't start to crack prematurely. if you're really worried about your tires, take them off and put them in garbage bags. (used to do this with race car tires. kept them from drying out.)

the main thing is to get all the gas out, fuel lines, filters, etc.

or, get some studded tires, and some carharrt overalls, and ride it year round.

do they sell electric seat warmers?

dude ride it this winter...no need to store...get a good pair of gloves

I'm inclined to agree with noco lol - I hate "winterizing" as it seems that it's just a guarantee to have a beautiful day and being unable to ride cause my machine is "pickled" o_O

I'd just leave it alone if you possibly can and just take it out and fire her up once or twice a month. Long term storage is one thing, but a single winter isn't going to varnish anything. The oil might settle out of the fuel a bit - but that's nothing a good shaking wont fix.

I've had all sortsa seasonal toys, and this fascination with "winterizing", fuel stabilizers, and basically prepping a machine for "long-term" storage when it's most likely only going to sit for no more than a few months (and I live in Maine BTW) continues to puzzle me.

Fuel stabilizer? geez - it's like 1/2 gallon, dump it out and get new stuff come spring. These "stabilizers" are mostly to combat condensation/water in the fuel, if there's no fuel - it's not a concern. It's mostly BS hype anyway. Drain the bike, carb too and that way should you wish to work on it in the dead of winter you wont make a puddle, if a nice day happens - fill her up and take a spin!


If you DO insist on archiving yer bike, saving it as a time capsule for future generations - there's a product called "fogging oil" used primary in marine engines when they're put up for long storage. Drain the system almost completely empty (w/o any magical fuel "stabilizer"), take the air filter off and while the motor is running - spray small quantities of fogging oil into the intake.

You'll need to rev the motor while you do this as the oil doesn't burn well, just continue to do this till you run out of fuel (about 3-5min worth). You'll see why it's called "fogging" oil when you do this BTW heh. If at any point yer motor refuses to continue running and wont restart - yer done. Drain any residual fuel out of the carb, and if yer real concerned - wipe yer bike down clean and hit it with a spray lube like PB Blaster (like WD40 but far better). It'll be a mess to clean come spring - but you defo won't have any surface corrosion.

Having said all that - I still wouldn't (and don't) bother. A single season isn't long enough to hurt yer machine in any way. Don't believe the marketing hype - just remember to play with yer toy once in a while

Now road salt is another prob entirely, but that's an easy prob to fix by just washing the bike heh MY plan for when the winter becomes WAY to hostile to ride is a simple tear-down and rebuild of the whole bike, examining, lubricating, replacing, and/or modifying as I go - what else to do in the long, cold dark?

Yea here in CO we can get some mean winter storms but it doesnt last for more than a week or so, in jan we can have 45 to 50 deg sunny days and on those days I plan on riding. As long as its dry outside I can dress warm. With this friction drive I have if its wet its a no go the urethane wheel just will not grip the tire.