Posted by Polar Pilot on December 15, 2001 at 22:14:08:
In Reply to: cold weather storage ? posted by michelle on December 15, 2001 at 18:25:33:
Hi Michelle
I put my 89 Savage into cold storage every winter.
This is my recent "best" procedure
1. Remove the battery. Clean the outside cases and posts on the battery. If there is a white or yellowish powder around the posts flush it with a mixture of baking soda and water.Top up the water in the cells - I am old fashioned and I try to use distilled water. Put the battery on a dry wooden board that will isolate it from the ground and prevent it from "leaking" charge during the storage period.
2. Fill up the gas tank. Add some gasoline stablizer to insure that the gas is in good shape next spring.
3. Fill the oil to the normal running level = use the marker in the sight glass to determine the level.
4. Pump up the tires to the correct pressure.
5. Clean the bike - gobs of mud and crud seem to just get uglier over a winter. This is a good time to finish that wax job you have wanted to do all summer as well.
6. If you can put an 8 inch square of light plywood under each tire to lift them off the concrete floor of your garage. This is definitely optional - I sometimes do this to minize the contact between the bike and the ground during the storage period
7.Cover the bike with an old cotton sheet or a commercial cover.
Next spring - install the battery, hit the starter and you are ready to roll.
I am not a fan of starting the engine every two weeks. Motorcycle engines are designed to cool in the airstream created when we are riding - not much of that in your garage when you are sitting and burping the throttle.
Now, if you are still reading - you can do all this stuff - or you can just park the bike the way you normally do, disconnect the battery ( the ground cable on the left side when viewed from the riding position can be disconnected without pulling the battery ) and then put the key is a safe place where you can find it in a couple of months.
After 31 years of riding and storing bikes - I have found both methods work equally well. My BMW had the latter treatment this year - but my Savage got the TLC approach
Keep the rubber side down
Polar Pilot