Winterize Your Motorcycle or ATV for Storage

Picture provided by Jassen, of Creative Commons, Flickr

Picture provided by Jassen, of Creative Commons, Flickr

Feel that crisp air? Autumn is here and winter is right around the corner. While we might have a few more weeks of beautiful weather left, winter is approaching. It’s time to think about winterizing the vehicles that you will be putting into storage.

At Windmill Storage, we absolutely have units available with freeze protection (we know how cold Montana winters can be!). However, there are other units on our property that do not have climate control.

Either way, your motorcycle or ATV will need to be winterized for optimal storage—and an easy Spring start-up!

We’ve compiled a short list of must-do’s. There are other steps you can take—but this checklist is a great place to start.

  1. First things first, wash that bike! And after you’ve given it a nice bath, dry it well. You might even try using a leaf blower to make certain that you get the water out of all the nooks and crannies. Wax your paint and apply WD-40 to the exposed metal surfaces. This will help prevent paint and metal corrosion.
  2. Lube your moving parts. This includes cables, controls, and chain drives.
  3. Use fuel stabilizer. You can pick some up at any local automotive store and some gas stations. The appropriate amount with a full tank of gas will keep your fuel from gumming and going bad.
  4. Use a battery tender —or— pull the battery out.
  5. Put anti-freeze in the coolant system! Hello, Montana winters!

And, if you can swing it, you might use stands to hold your bike or ATV, just to prevent flat spots on the tires.

Putting your motorcycle or ATV into storage correctly makes for a much more enjoyable Spring!

 

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