How to store a motorcycle for winter: checklist

Before you start

Pick a dry day and give yourself an afternoon. You need bike wash and rags, chain cleaner and lube, fuel stabilizer if your manual calls for it, a battery maintainer suited to your battery, a tire pressure gauge, a multimeter, a breathable cover, and something to plug the exhaust and intake. Paddock stands for both wheels help, but are not required.

Read the storage section of your owner’s manual first. It decides the two questions riders argue about most - what to do with the fuel and when to change the oil - for your specific bike. Where it disagrees with anything here, the manual wins.

In the Northern Hemisphere this is a September-to-November job. In the Southern Hemisphere, the same window is March to May.

Clean first, then fuel and oil

Storage starts with a wash because anything left on the bike keeps working on it for months. Road salt is the worst of it, but brake dust on the wheels and grime around the fork seals do their own slow damage. Wash it, dry it properly (a short ride or a blower helps get water out of switches and connectors), then clean and lube the chain while you can still turn the rear wheel easily.

Fuel is where manuals genuinely differ. The two common approaches are a full tank with stabilizer, which leaves less air space for condensation, and a drained fuel system. Which one fits your bike depends on the fuel system and the manufacturer’s advice, so follow the manual. If you use stabilizer, mix it in with fresh fuel and get it through the lines, pump and injectors or carburetors, as the stabilizer’s instructions describe; stabilizer cannot protect fuel it has never reached. On a carbureted bike, fuel left standing in the float bowls can leave varnish that blocks the small jets, which is why many manuals say to drain them.

On oil, the question is timing. Used oil carries combustion by-products that you may not want sitting in the engine all winter, which is why many manuals recommend a change before storage. Some riders change it in spring instead, so the new oil also covers the months of standing. Check your manual’s interval: many give a time limit as well as a distance, and that clock keeps running while the bike is parked. Check the coolant level with the engine cold while you are there.

Battery, tires and cover

A battery left connected to the bike through winter is a familiar spring failure. Batteries self-discharge over time, and alarms, clocks and some control units draw current even with the ignition off. A maintainer keeps the battery topped up, but it has to match the chemistry: lead-acid, AGM and lithium starter batteries charge differently, and the battery maker’s instructions say which modes are safe. If you cannot leave a maintainer connected, remove the battery, store it somewhere cool and dry, and measure it every few weeks. A 12 V lead-acid battery that reads around 12.4 V or less at rest is no longer fully charged and wants charging.

Tires lose pressure while parked, and a tire that stands on one patch of floor for months can develop a flat spot. Set the pressures cold to the manual’s figures before storage, then either lift both wheels on stands or roll the bike to a new position now and then.

A cover keeps dust and knocks off, but the wrong one causes problems. A non-breathable cover traps condensation against metal, connectors and paint. Use a breathable one, and if you can, keep the bike off bare soil or damp concrete. Then plug the exhaust outlet and cover the airbox intake: a warm, sheltered engine is exactly where rodents build nests and chew wiring. Hang a note on the handlebar so the plugs come out before the first start.

Paperwork while the bike is off the road

Insurance and registration rules for a stored bike vary by country, and sometimes by insurer. Some places offer laid-up cover that keeps theft and fire protection while dropping road use; some allow registration to be suspended. Ask before you change anything, because a bike stored without the right cover is still worth stealing.

By bike type

• Enduro and MX: drain or stabilize premix as the manual says, and clean and re-oil a foam air filter before storage so dirt is not left sitting in it. Note the engine hours at storage so hour-based intervals pick up correctly in spring.
• Chain, belt or shaft: a chain gets cleaned and lubed after the wash. A belt needs no lube; check it for cracks. A shaft drive gets a look for final-drive oil seepage before the bike goes away.
• Electric: follow the manufacturer’s storage procedure. Many specify a storage charge level below full and a periodic check, and some bikes have a separate 12 V battery that needs its own maintainer.
• Scooters: the same fuel, battery and tire steps apply. Small scooter batteries discharge quickly, so a maintainer or a removed battery matters even more.
• Cruisers and heavy tourers: lifting a heavy bike onto stands can be hard; rolling it to a new spot periodically and keeping the pressures up is the practical alternative.

When to call a mechanic

Get help if you find a fuel leak, a coolant leak, or oil where it should not be while preparing the bike. The same goes for draining carburetors or a fuel system if you have never done it, and for any electric bike storage step the manual reserves for a dealer. Fuel and electrics are not places to learn by trial.

Set the spring date now

The end of storage is easier to handle if it is already scheduled. Log the pre-storage oil change and battery work in Garagely, and use service reminders to set a time-based reminder, counted in months, for when you plan to put the bike back on the road, plus one for battery checks if it is off the maintainer. When that day comes, the spring recommissioning checklist takes it from there.