This would have been a great video 3 months ago... 😉 Also, when storing it outside during winter it's often better of removing the seat and battery and let it it get covered in snow. The Motorcycle cover will trap moisture and if it's windy, it can rub down your paint and fairings.
From The State of Hockey, as we like to say here in Minnesota... Pay attention to coolant slash anti-freeze, especially race or dirt bikes that may not be using anti-freeze during the riding season. Also, be aware that really cold temperatures can FREEZE a liquid crystal display making them useless. My Ducati and Aprilia ride out the winter in my basement (got it down to a science now, and my cousins are big boys). The UJM bikes get pushed into a corner of my shop, and sit on 2X8 boards. Mice are the biggest pain in the butt, try some dryer sheets on the floor around a parked bike, along with traps. Seal obvious nesting spots. Pray for an early spring.
Another great video and tips, Thanks!!! Looking like this Friday might be my last ride as the weather looks to be changing to winter here in the Utah mountains this weekend.
I do pretty much what you said in the video except I also block the intake and exhaust by putting a bag over them and securing with rubber bands. Love your videos btw.
Also, make sure to cover (with a plastic bag and rubberband) your muffler opening and (depending on your bike) the airbox to stop rodents from nesting in those places. Winter is also a great time to add some upgrades to your bike since you'll probably be looking at it a hundred times a day. Just not the upgrades you need to take out for a test, or things that need to adhere to the surface. ie: I put my fender eliminator kit on this winter and I didnt have to start the bike to test it, just turn it on so the lights would light up. But, any adhesive backed items I'll do in the warmer weather as they don't want to stick well when it's this cold.
Quick few questions, when storing my bike I'm able go bring it inside but the front tire has to sit on a raised step, is the angle bad to sit in? You mentioned ethanol being bad for the bike, is it the end of the world if I use regular gas with ethanol in it or should I go a town over to get ethanol free gas? (during regular use) would it be fine to drain the bike of oil when storing it and then add new oil before starting to ride again or just do the full change before storing? Thanks in advance!
Another great video. Thanks. I would love to get your typical well researched and considered advice on preserving front fork seals. There is a lot of debate about this topic. For example, tying down a motorcycle and whether to use a fork brace, wheelies, regularly cleaning fork tubes, dust cover maintenance, using special tools for cleaning seals like the motion pro fs mate, water spots on tubes causing leaking problems, and more. What is the truth and what do you guys recommend? Also, how hard are seals to replace and is all the fuss worth it?
This is an outstanding idea. Not only am I going to add this to the list. I may actually put it at the top. We've become experts on the hassle of fork seals, to be sure. Great topic idea!
There are lots of little things I'm not buying into in this video, but I'm most skeptical regarding the battery maintaining claims. "A motorcycle doesn't even charge the battery when it's at idle." As a blanket statement, this is flat out incorrect. Every motorcycle I had read well over 13 volts when I put a volt meter on it at idle. If the statement were correct, everyone is draining their battery when leaving a bike at idle. That ain't happening. “Trickle chargers are popular, but keeping a battery at a full charge, called a ‘full saturation charge', causes sulfation, which shortens the life of the battery." Are old school trickle chargers (that aren't "smart") really popular with the motorcycle community? Not in my experience. If he's talking about maintainers such as Battery Tender, then there's nothing the Optimate is going to do that a Battery Tender or similar maintainer won't do when it comes to not overcharging. Old school trickle chargers (again ,not "smart") are so uncommon, that "trickle charger" and "maintainer" have become synonymous terms. However, he did not state "over charge", he said "keeping a battery at a full charge, called a ‘full saturation charge', causes sulfation." That's news to me. I can't find any claims from a reliable source that keeping lead acid batteries fully charged causes sulfation. But if it does... "The best way to store a battery is to keep it above 12.5 volts and apply topping charge as needed." Batteries are fully charged at 12.6 volts. So, it's best to store one above 12.5? In other words, fully charged? That's a clear contradiction of the earlier statement. "And instead of leaving it plugged into the battery all winter, we move a single charger from bike to bike. If you only have one bike to deal with, just plug the Optimate in for a few days, about once a month or so, depending on how cold it is." If one is going to do that, it can be done at a less expensive price with a Battery Tender or other brand of maintainer.
do you have any advise for people from the other side of the world, since we cannot ride in Summer, way too hot to ride a bike, question "How to Summerize the Bike", thanks.
I just remove the battery and keep it indoors so it stays warmiss with a quick charge before refitting. Battery on my SV 650 lasted 19 years like this.
@@kalinative69 I've never had a bike which had devices that could drain the battery so wouldn't have bothered just for a month. More modern bikes that do might need to be connected to a battery maintainer or be removed, especially in low temperatures. Some batteries have more reserve capacity than others. Sorry, not a lot of help.
This would have been a great video 3 months ago... 😉 Also, when storing it outside during winter it's often better of removing the seat and battery and let it it get covered in snow. The Motorcycle cover will trap moisture and if it's windy, it can rub down your paint and fairings.
I don't know about anywhere else, but it's about 2 months too late for this video here in Michigan!
From The State of Hockey, as we like to say here in Minnesota... Pay attention to coolant slash anti-freeze, especially race or dirt bikes that may not be using anti-freeze during the riding season. Also, be aware that really cold temperatures can FREEZE a liquid crystal display making them useless. My Ducati and Aprilia ride out the winter in my basement (got it down to a science now, and my cousins are big boys). The UJM bikes get pushed into a corner of my shop, and sit on 2X8 boards. Mice are the biggest pain in the butt, try some dryer sheets on the floor around a parked bike, along with traps. Seal obvious nesting spots. Pray for an early spring.
Another great video and tips, Thanks!!! Looking like this Friday might be my last ride as the weather looks to be changing to winter here in the Utah mountains this weekend.
Very Nice tips 👍🏻 but riding season is dead in Montreal since mid November 😳. We dream of April to be back on our bike.
Good to know we have viewers so far north. Surprisingly, our channel gets a ton of traffic from the southern hemisphere!
I do pretty much what you said in the video except I also block the intake and exhaust by putting a bag over them and securing with rubber bands. Love your videos btw.
Msecbxnxx
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Also, make sure to cover (with a plastic bag and rubberband) your muffler opening and (depending on your bike) the airbox to stop rodents from nesting in those places. Winter is also a great time to add some upgrades to your bike since you'll probably be looking at it a hundred times a day. Just not the upgrades you need to take out for a test, or things that need to adhere to the surface. ie: I put my fender eliminator kit on this winter and I didnt have to start the bike to test it, just turn it on so the lights would light up. But, any adhesive backed items I'll do in the warmer weather as they don't want to stick well when it's this cold.
You can actually get red rubber tail pipe corks too. Some even have a cute "remove before flight" tag on them.
@@CanyonChasers I'll have to check those out!
Great video! I miss the tips for riders who ride through the winter 😁
Great tips.Outtro music is doope!!!
Quick few questions, when storing my bike I'm able go bring it inside but the front tire has to sit on a raised step, is the angle bad to sit in? You mentioned ethanol being bad for the bike, is it the end of the world if I use regular gas with ethanol in it or should I go a town over to get ethanol free gas? (during regular use) would it be fine to drain the bike of oil when storing it and then add new oil before starting to ride again or just do the full change before storing? Thanks in advance!
Another great video. Thanks. I would love to get your typical well researched and considered advice on preserving front fork seals. There is a lot of debate about this topic. For example, tying down a motorcycle and whether to use a fork brace, wheelies, regularly cleaning fork tubes, dust cover maintenance, using special tools for cleaning seals like the motion pro fs mate, water spots on tubes causing leaking problems, and more. What is the truth and what do you guys recommend? Also, how hard are seals to replace and is all the fuss worth it?
This is an outstanding idea. Not only am I going to add this to the list. I may actually put it at the top. We've become experts on the hassle of fork seals, to be sure. Great topic idea!
There are lots of little things I'm not buying into in this video, but I'm most skeptical regarding the battery maintaining claims.
"A motorcycle doesn't even charge the battery when it's at idle."
As a blanket statement, this is flat out incorrect. Every motorcycle I had read well over 13 volts when I put a volt meter on it at idle.
If the statement were correct, everyone is draining their battery when leaving a bike at idle. That ain't happening.
“Trickle chargers are popular, but keeping a battery at a full charge, called a ‘full saturation charge', causes sulfation, which shortens the life of the battery."
Are old school trickle chargers (that aren't "smart") really popular with the motorcycle community? Not in my experience. If he's talking about maintainers such as Battery Tender, then there's nothing the Optimate is going to do that a Battery Tender or similar maintainer won't do when it comes to not overcharging. Old school trickle chargers (again ,not "smart") are so uncommon, that "trickle charger" and "maintainer" have become synonymous terms.
However, he did not state "over charge", he said "keeping a battery at a full charge, called a ‘full saturation charge', causes sulfation." That's news to me. I can't find any claims from a reliable source that keeping lead acid batteries fully charged causes sulfation. But if it does...
"The best way to store a battery is to keep it above 12.5 volts and apply topping charge as needed."
Batteries are fully charged at 12.6 volts. So, it's best to store one above 12.5? In other words, fully charged? That's a clear contradiction of the earlier statement.
"And instead of leaving it plugged into the battery all winter, we move a single charger from bike to bike. If you only have one bike to deal with, just plug the Optimate in for a few days, about once a month or so, depending on how cold it is."
If one is going to do that, it can be done at a less expensive price with a Battery Tender or other brand of maintainer.
do you have any advise for people from the other side of the world, since we cannot ride in Summer, way too hot to ride a bike, question "How to Summerize the Bike", thanks.
Btw if it's not a trickle" charger ? My battery started to bubble when left charged after just one hour. Completely take it off the bike too
Yeah, good point. If it's an 10 or 12 Amp car charger, it could seriously overcharge a little motorcycle battery.
No such thing as winterizing here in fla.
Lucky!
You might be a few months late on this one, lol.
Is it good to remove battery connection from terminals to save your bike when parking for long in winters
I just remove the battery and keep it indoors so it stays warmiss with a quick charge before refitting. Battery on my SV 650 lasted 19 years like this.
@@peva7945 19 year?! which kind of battery were you using and did you charge it up to 100% before you stored it?
It was the standard Yuasa and I just removed it as it was then stored it with no charging at that point.
@@peva7945 my bike will be sitting for a whole month should I also remove it or just leave it on ?
@@kalinative69 I've never had a bike which had devices that could drain the battery so wouldn't have bothered just for a month. More modern bikes that do might need to be connected to a battery maintainer or be removed, especially in low temperatures. Some batteries have more reserve capacity than others. Sorry, not a lot of help.
We live in India. We don't store the bike, we ride it the whole year 😁😁😁😁