By: Jack Riley
Many of us live in areas not conducive to riding a motorcycle rear round. I know there are die-hards out there who will ride in anything, all year, I used to be one of them, rain, snow, negative temperatures, you name it. Today, however, I prefer to ride my motorcycle when the conditions are more favorable. I enjoy riding more when there are less hazards and warmer temperatures. This means that every year, just like thousands of others, I roll my motorcycle into its winter nesting place, the back of my garage.
Storing a motorcycle is not as simple as rolling it into the back of a garage though, at least if you want a effortless start to the new riding season. It doesn't have to be hard either. Just a few steps and you can insure that your motorcycle will be ready when you are.
The first and most important step would be care of your motorcycle battery. Over time motorcycle batteries slowly discharge. You might have experienced the effects on your battery after your motorcycle sat for just a week or two. Imagine if you left it alone for an entire winter. Your battery would surely be dead and depending on its age and condition before storage, it might not ever take a charge again. Buying and installing a new battery in your motorcycle on the first day of good riding weather is an easily avoidable situation. Keep your motorcycle battery charged.
In the past one would have to charge the battery periodically during the storage period. Today we have battery chargers that offer a low rate of charge only as needed by the battery. These battery chargers shut off when a full charge is reached as to avoid overcharging and damaging the battery. Most of these battery chargers supply a 'pigtail' that can be permanently attached to your motorcycle battery, thus making it easier to connect the battery charger. So convenient that you easily could, and should use the battery charger year round.
The second sign of a long stored motorcycle is the deterioration of the fuel. Like batteries discharging, over time fuel will become 'stale' and creating a gum and varnish buildup. Not just the fuel in the tank, but in the entire fuel system. To avoid hard or impossible starting of your motorcycle (and poor running if you do get it started) due to stale fuel, removing or treating the fuel in your motorcycle is a must. Draining a fuel tank is a real drag, and getting all of the gas out of carburetors is not much better. Fortunately there are fuel additives available today that will halt the negative effects of aging gas, perfect for your stored motorcycle.
Congratulations! You've tackled the two most important steps in storing your motorcycle. Check back for Part II where I discuss commonly overlooked storage details and talk about bringing your motorcycle out of storage.
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