Storing a motorcycle

[Colin]

So in a random act of spending lots of money I bought myself a gsxr but I need to store it until summer rolls around. Its going in a storage locker.

What precautions do I need to take?

[meatblanket]

Run all the fuel out of it, or fill it and use fuel stabilizer. Remove the battery. Change the oil.

If it is gonna be sitting on the tires, then inflate them to max psi.

Getting the fuel out is the biggie. If you skip that, you stand a good chance of it not running when it's time to ride.

Which in your neck of the woods, is probably mid July!:flipoff2:

[Tom N]

So in a random act of spending lots of money I bought myself a gsxr but I need to store it until summer rolls around. Its going in a storage locker.

What precautions do I need to take?

Don't let it fall over? Seriously, I just park mine in the fall and start em up in the spring. You could unhook the Battery ground cable to help it but I don't.

[Tiffany]

I have mine in the garage...start it once a week and if feasible I ride it around the block a few times. Otherwise I start it every Saturday, let it idle for about 10 minutes and continue on my merry way.

[ZappBranigan]

I have mine in the garage...start it once a week and if feasible I ride it around the block a few times. Otherwise I start it every Saturday, let it idle for about 10 minutes and continue on my merry way.

I would avoid this. It's easier on the engine and the carbs to just put fuel stabilizer in it and put the battery on a trickle charger. Starting it up cold and then only running it a few minutes isn't going to charge the battery anyway.

Fuel stabilizer works great! I put my old Kawasaki into storage in September of 2003 in Laramie, Wyoming (which has a climate that is similar to Gunnison, except that it gets much hotter in summertime.) I filled the tank, put in stabilizer (at the gas station) and then rode it to my storage unit so the stabilizer would get into the carbs. After that, I removed the battery, fogged the cylinders with oil, put it on the center stand and covered it up. The idea was that I'd take it out of storage in Spring of '04.

Unfortunately, Uncle Sam had other ideas and I ended up spending all of 2004 in the Middle East. I didn't take the bike out of storage until April of 2005, almost 20 months later. Hooked up a fresh battery, set the choke and pushed the starter - it fired right up without hesitation! And this was not a new bike, it was an 84 Kawasaki ZN700 that I bought in June of 2003.

[Jeffro600]

Warm weather is just around the corner so i wouldnt worry about doing a full winterization.

Put a fresh tank of gas in it, give it an oil change and make sure you start it up and ride it around for at least 5-10 mins to keep a charge on the battery. Wouldnt worry to much about fuel stabilizer unless you plan on letting it sit for several months unused. Its not going to hurt anything by using it though and if it makes you feel better, by all means. Weve had several days so far this year where its gotten into the 60-70's and i expect much more before it actually hits spring/summer.

Get a cheap cover to throw over it to keep the dirt and dust off of it. Walmart sells a decent cover for about 20-30 bucks that does a good job.

I never do a full winterization on my bikes cuz theres still days, even in the dead of winter thats passable as riding weather. Just remember to give it a short ride at least once a month to keep the fluids moving around and the battery charged and it should be just fine.

[ZappBranigan]

Warm weather is just around the corner so i wouldnt worry about doing a full winterization.

It may be around the corner for you in Cheyenne (and for us here in Denver.)

Now take a look at his location. I think motorcycle weather is at least a couple of months away for him. Maybe three.