Winterize — what are your plans?

[Johnny Fuel]

I just got my Tenere late this summer. I live in Wisconsin, so it's not too early to think about plans for winter storage. Normally I remove the batter and keep it in my basement. Then I fill the gas tank up to the top, and add a little STA-BIL fuel treatment. Then I run the engine a minute or so to make sure the STA-BIL gets into the engine. That's it.

 

Any other thoughts?

 

[ADVUSA]

9 minutes ago, Johnny Fuel said:

I just got my Tenere late this summer. I live in Wisconsin, so it's not too early to think about plans for winter storage. Normally I remove the batter and keep it in my basement. Then I fill the gas tank up to the top, and add a little STA-BIL fuel treatment. Then I run the engine a minute or so to make sure the STA-BIL gets into the engine. That's it.

 

Any other thoughts?

 

Get the weight off the tires.

 

[TimmyTheHog]

18 minutes ago, ADVUSA said:

 

new age rubber doesn't get flat that easily...that being said, do store them higher pressure then typical riding pressure.

But make sure do not go beyond what the tire maximum allowable pressure on the sidewall/manufacture specs.

 

There isn't much to do with the modern bike especially being fuel injected and all.

I am anal so I also clean & lube my chain before storing.

I USED to change my oil before storing as I used to put on miles with my other bikes. Nowadays if I put on less than 5K KM, I just leave it until the spring.

[John Beard]

Wondering if you are planning to fog the engine? I'm looking at the manual and it is written in a generic way, like they put the same instructions into the manuals of different bikes. Also, removing the spark plugs is mentioned but it is not clear whether this is in addition to fogging through the air intake, or should be done if NOT fogging through the air intake.

 

Does the T7 engine need to be fogged? I'm well north in Canada, so unfortunately sooner than later the bike will be put away for several months until spring rolls back around. 

 

Lastly do you keep the seat off and bring it inside, or leave it on the bike? I'm thinking of bringing it inside and covering the seat area with plastic. 

[OU812]

I'm thinking 2 more weeks at most then 6 months hibernation, I'm lucky as I have a heated garage so I can  pick at it during the down time, I plan to top up with fuel, add stabil, run around the block then pop it up on center stand add the battery tender. 

  

[whisperquiet]

I live in Southern Illinois and it has been rare when I can’t ride a motorcycle at least every two weeks year round.  So, I ride year round with the proper riding gear.  

[Johnny Fuel]

1 hour ago, whisperquiet said:

I live in Southern Illinois and it has been rare when I can’t ride a motorcycle at least every two weeks year round.  So, I ride year round with the proper riding gear.  

Do you worry about salt on the roads damaging your bike?

[Canzvt]

So living in the Edmonton area we get 5+ months of winter, and 2 months of shoulder season crappy riding weather. I'm lucky enough to store all my road bikes in a heated (albeit just above freezing) garage. I fill up the tanks with non-ethanol gasoline (Shell Premium), tip in the correct amount of fuel stabilizer, run the engine for 10 minutes, change the oil and hook them up to a battery tender. One of my bikes is going on 15 years treated that way without so much as needing a new battery. Dust them off in the spring, check the oil, and tire pressures and hit the button. Away they go.

 

BTW, this only applies to Fuel Injected engines. For carbureted engines, you should always drain/run out the fuel from the carbs.

 

I've never fogged an engine I plan to use the next season. I've fogged plenty where they were going to sit for more than a year though. It is a good idea if they are going to sit for awhile. I would think it is also a good idea if they are being stored in a high humidity (coastal/great lakes type) environment as well. High humidity sea air can be hard on steel/iron. Most of the new bikes don't run iron cylinder liners anymore though, so fogging really only puts a film on the piston/liner to minimize friction on start-up. If you are running an older engine (car/bike/marine) then I would definitely fog it if you plan on having it sit for over 12 months. That being said, it won't hurt anything when done properly.

Edited October 12, 2020 by Canzvt

[whisperquiet]

37 minutes ago, Johnny Fuel said:

Do you worry about salt on the roads damaging your bike?

Yes,  and will wash as needed if possible.  A lot of the back roads are cindered and not salted.  Luckily, the last several winters have been mild with less than 12" of snow total in winter.

Edited October 12, 2020 by whisperquiet

[qInvention]

in winter, I apply Scottoiler 365, but I'm not too worried salt will damage the T7. I even rode my Harley in wintertime. (washed it regularly though). And in Luxembourg, they don't pour salt on the road... they try to cover it in salt.

Edited October 13, 2020 by qInvention

[r2r]

  I've never winterized my bike as I usually do this ...

 

 

[marktbike]

I plan to ride as much as I can. But then, living in Sicily I'm no hero... 

[Hammerhead]

Here in TropiCanada the riding slows though 'winter' but certainly doesn't grind to a halt. On those crisp January bluebird days there's ice to break in the puddles, no dust & far less traffic in the bush. The bikes are always insured for 12 months at a time. 

[Canzvt]

Well, I guess I ride all year as well, its still a bike!

[DT675]

@r2r, I see you also have a CRF250L in addition to your T7. Curious, do you still find much of a place for it in your riding after getting the T7? (Other than the snow riding!) I find myself just wanting to ride the T7 and... well.. selling the Honda. 
 

 My motorcycle winterizing includes filling the fuel tank with Yamalube stabilizer/ conditioned, changing the oil at some point in the 1st half of the winter (old dirty oil can have corrosive acids in it and really shouldn’t be in it throughout the whole winter), degrease and re-lube the chain, wash/ wax the bike and pull the battery to be stored in a heated garage. However this past spring when I went to start one of my bikes for the 1st time, it made quite some nasty cam chain noise from a lack of oil pressure getting to the cct quickly enough. So this winter I’m planing to keep the clean batteries in the bikes, battery tender charge often and start them up once every month or 2. 

[r2r]

10 hours ago, DT675 said:

@r2r, I see you also have a CRF250L in addition to your T7. Curious, do you still find much of a place for it in your riding after getting the T7? (Other than the snow riding!) I find myself just wanting to ride the T7 and... well.. selling the Honda. 

 

Hi @DT675. I, temporarily, do not have T700 because I sold it few months ago, but I am going to buy another one some day. I bought an older Transalp650 though, to fill the gap in tourist riding after selling T700. Transalp is as heavy as Tenere, so I believe I still can answer your question

 

Everybody has a slightly different needs, but for me  CRF250L and T700/TA650 are  the bikes for different purposes. That's why my CRF stays.

It has just enough power to have a great fun off-road and take small trips in the neighborhood. Comparing to T700 or Transalp it's much easier to handle, to steer , to pick up from the ground. Of course just after I got a Tenere, as it's an excellent bike,  I didn't ride CRF for next 2-3 months and thought about selling it, the same as you. But after the first rapture my common sense slowly came back

Sometimes I need to pack the bike in my camper-like Van and drive few hundred kilometers to ride with my mates - 155kg is better than 210kg. Sometimes I do lonely off-road trips and (maybe just in my head) less heavy bike is more safe to ride alone. I feel CRF250L is much much better for this. And 50-70 HP bike is much much better for touring. So I definitely have to have 2 bikes
BTW, I changed sprockets in CRF from 14/40 to 13/42  so now it is a bit different bike comparing to stock. It still can reach 110-115 kmph, but it has noticeably more torque on low revs. 

 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by r2r

[UtahJack]

Riding in the winter is just like walking in space, you just got to dress for it.

[DT675]

Yup just dress for it 

[UtahJack]

@DT675 

OK, dress for it, and I just figured the use of a little common sense went without saying, but silly me looking around there is nothing common about sense in today's world.

[DT675]

Are you saying you can’t dress your way out of that situation? Lol.  That was from a few of us “attempting” to extent the season just a little bit longer. But when it’s done, it done! 
 

(Btw that pics a little misleading. The snow is actually not that deep yet, more of just an ice break through.  We actually ride quite easily up to about 5”.  It’s pretty common.  But I appreciate your sarcasm anyway) 

[Noel McCutcheon]

On 10/12/2020 at 11:13 AM, r2r said:

  I've never winterized my bike as I usually do this ...

 

 

Class. Though Tenere too big for that!

[GPSAT]

I am gonna try something a little different this year... I only run engineered fuel in all my chainsaws and small engines. Engineered fuel does not break down so I will buy a gallon of 4 stroke engineered fuel, drain the tank on my bike and dump the gallon of engineered fuel into my bike, run it for 15-20 mins then shut it down for the winter. Of course an oil change before storage is a must. Battery tender every month or so to keep the battery topped up. I have an unheated garage with -50 C weather.

[DazR]

Well winterizing here in Oz just means more riding as its not too hot to wear all our riding gear.  Feel sorry for you poor buggers as we dont really get anything like your winters.  Mind you the scenery over there in the snow country looks magic.

[NvNick]

GPSAT, i use VP sef in all my small engine equipment as well as my wife's bikes that get ridden once every couple of years and everything starts right up when needed. Its expensive fuel but worth it to me. And to add i have the bikes on battery tenders that are on a timer that comes on for 2 hours each day, one bike is now 7 years old with the original battery. 

Edited November 9, 2020 by NvNick

[norton73]

What's this "winter" you are talking about?