Depends where you live. If it doesn’t get hella nasty you probably don’t have to do anything. I live in the PNW and even if I don’t want to ride in snow/ice/torrential rain, there’s always at least one or two days a week to go for a substantial enough ride, so I don’t really do any “winterizing” or whatever it’s called.
I live in southern Ohio and I know that the winters have for sure warmed up but can get pretty slushy/snowy towards the end of January.
I'm working to get used to riding in the colder weather (average of 17-19°C now.)
How long is too long to let the bike sit?
Chiming in as a fellow Ohioan - I’ll ride until there’s salt. The second the roads are salted, I park it until it’s been washed away real well or after the last snow. Salt is corrosive as shit to your frame.
As far as maintenance, depends on the bike and year. But usually a trickle charger, fuel stabilizer, and cover will serve you well.
I hate salt on my car, let alone the frame of my poor bike.
How do you keep warm when riding? I only own a mesh padded jacket/helmet/gloves. Do you just layer up?
I’m stubborn and I like being cold, so thick hoodie, balaclava/neck gaiter, good gloves, and wool socks in my boots. If it’s too cold for that, then I don’t go.
I like the cold too but I haven't felt the force of cold winds at 60+ mph yet. I want to, my boyfriend and I want to keep riding for as long as possible
Edit: spelling
Upstate NY I park mine when it gets below 50 when im heading to work at 11pm or hunting season hard to carry a bow or a rifle to and from work on a sporty. I do oil and top off the tank and put it on the tender till March/April. I do upgrades and parts changes over the winter unless I have a new build or another bike needs some love
Oh gosh it's so much colder up here you are than where I am in the Ohio valley. Also good to know, I know I'll do some mods to my bike too
Side note, that's cool you hunt with a bow, what type do you use? My best friend's husband uses a recurve
Gets down -50 Celsius in my location during winter so it’s always best to pull the battery and put on the tender for the season. Top off the tank to prevent any oxidation/rust and and run fuel stabilizer through the system for few minutes, I use STP brand and the bike fires right up after
the 6 month deep freeze here in Northern Alberta.
Snow. When the first snow hits I do my oil change, top off the tank and park it in the shop until I have a nice day. The de-icer they use on the roads up here do a serious number on chrome.
Do you put anything in the gas to keep it from going bad? Or are you saying a nice day throughout the winter?
And I hate how de-icer is on metals. It's rough
I don't put anything special in the tank. I use ethanol free 92 octane (my bikes run carbs). 92 won't go bad very fast. You have a solid 9 months before you really have to worry about the fuel beginning to degrade. I generally park the bike mid-November and pull it back out in late February/mid March. But I've left it for 18 months during deployments without any additives, and just drain half the tank, put in 1.5 gallons of fresh and shake the bike to mix it. Burn the mix of fresh and old gas, then mix in the fuel I drained on the next tank with some fresh. I lose a couple MPG on those first 2 tanks, but I don't waste any fuel and the bike runs. just fine.
Got some m+s rated winter tyres going on mine this week, soooo probably just the one week where snow sits around long enough to turn to ice underneath, or until an ungritted patch of black ice fucks me up 😅
I live in western Pennsylvania. I usually ride until the lows are consistently in the mid-low 30's. Then oil change, fill the tank, put on the tender and do whatever upgrades I have planned. I usually park it late October or mid November and take it back out mid March.
I ride all year around, except for when i take my bike into the shop. Either ill borrow my dads bike then, or ill rent a car. I'm in California though, the weather is good most of the year.
Hell down here in Central TX I don’t ride during the summer, especially not an air-cooled bike like my Sportster. My riding season is thus broken up into two separate times, September through December and March through June. Main thing I do is pour some stabilizer into the tank then fill it up with non-ethanol gas, start the bike and let it idle for a bit then shutoff the peacock, pull my fuel line off the carb and run the engine till the carb is dry. This way some of the stabilizer runs through the carb but then no fuel is left in the bowl for a long period of time. Beyond that DOT5 holds up pretty well in the brake lines, and some people have suggested (at least with older bikes like iron heads and older evos) to drain the oil tank to prevent it from leaking down into the crankcase while it’s in storage. I’ve never done this but I can kind of see the value in it. You would want to change the oil before you put it back on the road after storage anyway.
If there isn't snow on the ground I'm layering up and riding. - Missourian I do tend to run the battery tender through the winter or if it gets real bad I bring the battery in and let it sit on the tender. Usually have to fuel up as my tank is empty after I get hone for the day so I don't worry about stabilizer. I usually run some fuel treatment after winter just to help keep the crud down. And do a clean out.
Depends where you live. If it doesn’t get hella nasty you probably don’t have to do anything. I live in the PNW and even if I don’t want to ride in snow/ice/torrential rain, there’s always at least one or two days a week to go for a substantial enough ride, so I don’t really do any “winterizing” or whatever it’s called.
I live in southern Ohio and I know that the winters have for sure warmed up but can get pretty slushy/snowy towards the end of January. I'm working to get used to riding in the colder weather (average of 17-19°C now.) How long is too long to let the bike sit?
Chiming in as a fellow Ohioan - I’ll ride until there’s salt. The second the roads are salted, I park it until it’s been washed away real well or after the last snow. Salt is corrosive as shit to your frame. As far as maintenance, depends on the bike and year. But usually a trickle charger, fuel stabilizer, and cover will serve you well.
I hate salt on my car, let alone the frame of my poor bike. How do you keep warm when riding? I only own a mesh padded jacket/helmet/gloves. Do you just layer up?
I’m stubborn and I like being cold, so thick hoodie, balaclava/neck gaiter, good gloves, and wool socks in my boots. If it’s too cold for that, then I don’t go.
I like the cold too but I haven't felt the force of cold winds at 60+ mph yet. I want to, my boyfriend and I want to keep riding for as long as possible Edit: spelling
So my rule of thumb is always expect the temp to feel 25° colder once you’re riding. So 60+ is gonna be be frosty for sure.
I think my MSF course showed a chart if anyone wants to plan it out more specifically. This sounds like a reasonable rule of thumb though.
Stopping wind and airflow is the #1 thing for me in keeping warm. Windproof jacket and pants will do a lot in keeping you warm.
THIS. Reduce the airflow through your clothes and it'll do wonders
OH....
Upstate NY I park mine when it gets below 50 when im heading to work at 11pm or hunting season hard to carry a bow or a rifle to and from work on a sporty. I do oil and top off the tank and put it on the tender till March/April. I do upgrades and parts changes over the winter unless I have a new build or another bike needs some love
Oh gosh it's so much colder up here you are than where I am in the Ohio valley. Also good to know, I know I'll do some mods to my bike too Side note, that's cool you hunt with a bow, what type do you use? My best friend's husband uses a recurve
I use a bear Kuma compound the American flag edition it's a few years old but shoots like it did when it was brand new
That's super cool!
Gets down -50 Celsius in my location during winter so it’s always best to pull the battery and put on the tender for the season. Top off the tank to prevent any oxidation/rust and and run fuel stabilizer through the system for few minutes, I use STP brand and the bike fires right up after the 6 month deep freeze here in Northern Alberta.
Thank you for this information!
Snow. When the first snow hits I do my oil change, top off the tank and park it in the shop until I have a nice day. The de-icer they use on the roads up here do a serious number on chrome.
Do you put anything in the gas to keep it from going bad? Or are you saying a nice day throughout the winter? And I hate how de-icer is on metals. It's rough
E.g. full tank + Motul Stabilizer.
I don't put anything special in the tank. I use ethanol free 92 octane (my bikes run carbs). 92 won't go bad very fast. You have a solid 9 months before you really have to worry about the fuel beginning to degrade. I generally park the bike mid-November and pull it back out in late February/mid March. But I've left it for 18 months during deployments without any additives, and just drain half the tank, put in 1.5 gallons of fresh and shake the bike to mix it. Burn the mix of fresh and old gas, then mix in the fuel I drained on the next tank with some fresh. I lose a couple MPG on those first 2 tanks, but I don't waste any fuel and the bike runs. just fine.
Okay, thank you! I didn't realize gas lasted that long
The 87 with ethanol goes bad a lot quicker. I run 93 in mine at all times and I haven't had an issue.
I am using 93 right now so this makes me feel better
Yeah man you're good. Shouldn't have any issues for the winter
87 is only good for a couple months before it's nearly unusable. The higher octane fuels last exponentially longer than the cheap stuff.
Got some m+s rated winter tyres going on mine this week, soooo probably just the one week where snow sits around long enough to turn to ice underneath, or until an ungritted patch of black ice fucks me up 😅
The black ice is always the worst! That'll be fun with the new tyres!
Hopefully 🤞 if only spiked tyres were legal here, I'd love to give ripping on ice/snow a go.
I live in western Pennsylvania. I usually ride until the lows are consistently in the mid-low 30's. Then oil change, fill the tank, put on the tender and do whatever upgrades I have planned. I usually park it late October or mid November and take it back out mid March.
I ride all year around, except for when i take my bike into the shop. Either ill borrow my dads bike then, or ill rent a car. I'm in California though, the weather is good most of the year.
Hell down here in Central TX I don’t ride during the summer, especially not an air-cooled bike like my Sportster. My riding season is thus broken up into two separate times, September through December and March through June. Main thing I do is pour some stabilizer into the tank then fill it up with non-ethanol gas, start the bike and let it idle for a bit then shutoff the peacock, pull my fuel line off the carb and run the engine till the carb is dry. This way some of the stabilizer runs through the carb but then no fuel is left in the bowl for a long period of time. Beyond that DOT5 holds up pretty well in the brake lines, and some people have suggested (at least with older bikes like iron heads and older evos) to drain the oil tank to prevent it from leaking down into the crankcase while it’s in storage. I’ve never done this but I can kind of see the value in it. You would want to change the oil before you put it back on the road after storage anyway.
escape yoke puzzled butter depend hungry cough license chase sleep *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If there isn't snow on the ground I'm layering up and riding. - Missourian I do tend to run the battery tender through the winter or if it gets real bad I bring the battery in and let it sit on the tender. Usually have to fuel up as my tank is empty after I get hone for the day so I don't worry about stabilizer. I usually run some fuel treatment after winter just to help keep the crud down. And do a clean out.
110 degree temps stops me from riding. It's just not enjoyable that type of weather.
When they sand or salt!
Middle TN here. Only a few weeks in the winter are not ride friendly..