Is it time to put your dirt bike into storage and start dreaming of the next riding season?
I know, it sucks to put your bike away for those winter months. But I guess we don’t have a choice and it’s important to know how to do it properly.
Here are a few things you should check and do to winterize your dirt bike in the best possible way.
By doing so, your bike is ready to ride when spring rolls around.
1. Fuel
Most gas from the pump has ethanol nowadays. Ethanol is a type of alcohol that is used as an additive in gasoline to help cut down on greenhouse emissions.
The downside is that it attracts water, which is not good for carburetors, fuel injectors, or fuel pumps. Aside from that, the fuel itself breaks down and varnishes if it’s left to sit for a period of time. One way you can combat these problems is by adding a fuel stabilizer.
How to treat your fuel
To treat your fuel, fill up the tank so that it’s totally full, and add in a fuel stabilizer.
Start the bike and let it run for 5-10 minutes – you might even go rip it around for a little bit.
By doing this you allow the treated fuel to make its way through all of the fuel system’s components.
If you’ve got a carbureted bike, turn the petcock off and completely drain the float bowl after you’ve run the engine with the treated fuel.
2. Engine
If you’re going to store your dirt bike for more than one season (which I hope not), it’s a good idea to use fogging oil.
First, remove the air filter. Then, while the engine is running, spray the fogging oil directly into the intake tract. This coats all of the internal components, including the piston, cylinder, combustion chamber, and valves (on a 4-stroke).
This creates a protective layer and helps prevent corrosion and rust from forming inside the engine.
Storing the bike for only one season
If you’re not storing your dirt bike for multiple seasons, you can get a similar effect by adding oil to the cylinder.
To do this, remove the spark plug, measure a teaspoon of engine oil, and pour it directly into the spark plug hole. This will put it right into the cylinder.
Reinstall the spark plug and either keep the spark plug cap disconnected or keep your finger on the kill switch. Crank the engine over several times to distribute the oil so you get a nice protective layer.
3. Antifreeze/Coolant
If you’ve been keeping up with your bike’s standard maintenance intervals, you’re probably okay to just go ahead and store your bike without worrying about the antifreeze.
Most manufacturers recommend changing it out every two years. Read your owner’s manual to double-check the recommendations for your specific bike.
If you’re storing the bike for more than one riding season or haven’t been keeping up with the standard maintenance intervals, flush your cooling system and replace it with some fresh antifreeze.
If you like to run distilled water with additives during the summer months, don’t forget to replace it with antifreeze prior to storage.
4. Engine oil & other oils
It’s often a good idea to change out the engine oil and filter before storing your dirt bike.
Used oil contains contaminants from the combustion process and particulate matter from normal engine operation – stuff you don’t want sitting in your engine for long periods of time.
- If you have a 4-stroke – change the oil and filter
- If you have a 2-stroke – change the transmission fluid.
5. Air Filter
It’s a good idea to clean the air filter before you store your bike, for two reasons.
- When it’s time to ride again – you can just grab your bike and go.
- It doesn’t allow dirt and dust particles to sink into the filter. The filter will be a little harder to clean the next year if you don’t clean it before storing it.
6. Chain
Before you store your bike, it’s always a good idea to clean off the drive chain and spray it down with a good lubricant.
Doing this will help extend the life of the chain, and it will be ready to go once riding season rolls around again.
7. Cables
As long as you’re keeping up with your standard maintenance by lubricating your cables, you should be fine to just store your bike without addressing them.
However, if you intend to store your bike for a prolonged period of time, you should lubricate them anyways.
8. Battery
If your dirt bike has a battery, it’s a good idea to pull it off the bike and place it on a trickle charger. That will keep it in a good state of charge and prolong the life of the battery.
Depending on your bike, it might be difficult to access or remove the battery.
If that’s the case, you can just install some disconnect leads that make it easy to connect your charger to your battery. This is also helpful if there’s ever a time during the riding season when you need to keep your battery on a trickle charger.
9. Suspension and Tires
It’s best if you elevate your bike. Getting it off the ground and onto a stand.
This keeps the weight off the bike’s suspension, helping to keep the springs from fading and sagging over time. Especially important for your bike if it has air forks.
The other benefit of elevating your bike is that you won’t get flat spots on your tires – something particularly important for tires made out of a soft rubber compound.
If you don’t have a stand and just want to use a triangle, air up your tires to the maximum allowed pressure to help prevent flat spots. A stand is ideal, but this is the best thing you can do if you insist on using a triangle.
10. Time for storage
Before you put it away in storage, it’s good to clean your bike.
Spray it down, scrub it up, and polish it to add a protective layer to the plastics, seat, and engine.
If you don’t have a garage or trailer for your bike, consider getting a tarp or cover for it. It’s a good idea to get one with ventilation so you don’t trap any moisture inside. This helps to protect your bike from the sun, rain, and snow.
Regardless of where you’re storing your bike, it’s a good idea to plug up your exhaust pipe. This keeps both moisture and condensation out. It also prevents bugs from building nests in there.
Conclusion
It’s never fun to put the bike away for the winter season, but for a lot of us, it’s normal procedure.
Just make sure to follow our guide here. By doing so you can be absolutely sure that when spring rolls around your dirt bike is ready to be ridden. Without you doing any special prep.
Looking forward to a new riding season!
