Winter riding vs. Winterisation

[shoval4113]

Age old winter question. Keep riding your cherished 3 1/2 on nice, crisp but not frozen days, or put away in the shed for three months? If the latter, do you add fuel stabilizer when you fill up the tank, remove the battery and keep it on a trickle charger in shed or home, smother in protective coating?

[Parker3865]

Last year I chose the times to ride over the winter on my 250. This year I have drained the tank while I do some work on it.
Just to amuse this photo is of the 350 sport I got in 1983, just before I sold it to a friend in 91. A man in his twenties (me), mostly only transport and no money to look after it properly (serviced well, but cycle parts suffered).

1983 to 1991 Moto Morini 350.jpg (488.2 KiB) Viewed 148 times

[3potjohn]

2 days ago it was just nippy enough to chivvy up my tree dahlias and remaining tomatoes.
Today 14 degrees and warm enough not to need a fleece under my coat. Had a nice ride too.
Softy southerner alert!
I never just run a bike to warm it up though, no matter how tempting that may be.
I would drain the carbs if leaving the bike.
Not like the -17 of yesteryear. Thank goodness.

[Andy_C]

I like to keep riding all year, but only use one bike for that - my Enfield Himalayan. That is my all weather bike. The Himalayan gets regularly washed after riding and treated with ACF50 as necessary. Biggest enemy is salt hence the regular washing.

The Morini is currently parked up and as with the other bikes I dont use during the winter months I have added some "Stabil" fuel stabliser to the fuel, never bother brimming the tanks, but after adding the Stabil I run them up to get it into the carbs.

If there is a decent crisp dry day over winter I sometimes take the bikes out for a few miles, otherwise they just sit in the garage, or have work done on them over the winter months.

If I dont take them out I at least kick them over a few times, and move them around to lessen the chance of flat spotting the tyres. I give the batteries on each of the bikes a session on the trickle charger at least once a month, never bother taking the batteries off.

I also like to pump the brakes, the logic being that it lessens the chance of the caliper pistons sticking - no idea if it does anything, but never had any sticking calipers to date.

Finally I also free off the clutches from time to time, logic being that if I do that there is less chance of the plates sticking.

Guess different folk have different regimes, but the above is what I have always done.