Come winter and the snow hits the brakes on your dirt biking adventures. Although some days emerge as ideal days for riding a dirt bike, riding on some days can be a little too dangerous. If the possibility of bad weather is compelling you to keep yourself and your dirt bike safe, it is better to store it for a while. But before you let your beloved dirt bike hibernate, here is what you need to do.
Find out the right way of storing your dirt bike in winter.
Clean It
Your bike will not meet and greet the outdoors until the snow melts. Hence, it makes up for the best time to clean it. Before you let your bike into the garage, thoroughly clean it. This way, you will also come face to face with any issue with your bike.
Tend to every part of your bike and ride it for at least five to ten minutes to allow the parts to dry.
Lubricate the Parts
Once you clean the bike, use a good quality water-dispersing lubricant and spray it on the chain and sprockets. Spin the wheel in both directions to ensure the lubricant coats the chain completely. Furthermore, spray the oil on the shock threads, foot peg pivots, and shift lever. Basically, you want to lubricate the moving parts before storing your bike for winter.
Fill the Gas Tank
A full gas tank does not allow the steel tank to rust. Hence, fill the gas tank and add a fuel stabilizer. Next, run your bike for a few minutes to allow the fuel to pass into the system.
If your dirt bike has a plastic tank, follow the same procedure. Empty plastic tanks entertain heavy condensation build-up. Keeping the tank full will help you avoid it.
Change the Oil and Water
Treat your engine with oil the way you always do. Also, drain the old water from the engine and fill it with new coolant. If your bike is water-cooled, get antifreeze in its cooling system.
Fill Air and Fluid
Another thing to do before storing your bike for the winter is to fill the air in the tires. The tires should have at least 15 pounds of pressure before they sit in your garage.
Next up, fill the master cylinder with good-quality fluid. It is essential because water generally contaminates old oil fluid.
Keep the Tires Off the Ground
One mistake that all dirt bikers make while storing their bikes is letting the tires touch the ground. If it is not possible to lift the wheels in your bike, put something, for instance, a block, under the frame to lift the wheels.
Make sure you spin the tires occasionally to send the grease and lube around.
Take Care of the Battery
If your bike runs on a battery, you would not want to let it stay on the bike while it is resting. If you let it happen, you must get ready to be greeted by a drained or worse, cracked battery after the winters subside.
Hence, before storing your bike, take out the battery and store it (best on the wooden block) in a warm and dry place. Furthermore, check the electrolyte level and top it off if necessary. Connect your battery with a regulated charger. If you use an unregulated charger, chances are that the battery might explode, and if it does not explode, it will surely go bad due to overcharging.
The Bottom Line
Bikes and winters never go hand in hand. The chilly season jeopardizes bike riding on snow, does not let the bike start in one go, and even affects its parts. Hence, you should know how to ride, maintain, and store your bike in winter.
We hope this article has made the latter part easy.
Looking for tires? Look no further. Motorbike Tire Shop has you covered!
