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Tips on winter storage

A

appliance821

Joined Jun 2014
1K Posts | 46+
Boston
Indian summer in New England will end, and inevitably winter will roll in. I'm wondering about winter storage tips.

I store mine in a heated space and my past 2 bikes I just put a little gas stabilizer in and trickle charged the battery on occasion.

I have read that pulling the plugs and squirting a little oil in the cylinders is a good idea - this requires a bit of disassembly in this bike including removing the tank.

Is this something people do? If you undo the tank does it just spill gas or are there valves on those hoses?

Any other thoughts are welcome. Thanks.
 
appliance821, what i do and been recomended to do is
1) Full tank.
2) Put it on centerstand
3) have a batery tender. (I use CTek www.ctek.com)
4) If stored cold check Coolant/Antifreeze.
5) Clean the bike. Better for the bike and more fun to take it out for a spin when weather permit you to do so. :)
 
I was just saying on another thread, I think a 2013 or 2014 bike with a brand new battery doesn't need a trickle charger yet. With a new battery a trickle charger could negatively effect the batteries ability to maintain charge.

I'm no battery engineer and I did a very brief, quick google search and didn't immediately see anything about it.

Anybody else care to comment on if to put trickle charger on one year old bike during the winter?

I know that I didn't with my 2010 696. I didn't last winter with my 2013 hyper and didn't have any indication it lost any charge when I started it up. I do ride throughout the winter even if it's 40 degrees. I still wouldn't have put a trickle charger on it nor this year either. Maybe next winter.
 
I make sure it's full of fuel, change the oil before its put away, wash the bike really well, occasionally put it on a smart charger on the batt, on its centre stand, and covered. I didn't put stabilizer in it last year but it was stored in a cold garage.
 
wow, i didn't know there were a few things to take care of just to let the bike sit there for winter. we take things for granted here, having summer all year long. except for the monsoons that i hate
 
Thanks for all the responses - sounds good.

I probably won't leave it on trickle charge all winter - maybe a couple of day a month.

Oil change is a good idea - anything in particular to watch for - seems pretty straightforward.

Just out of curiosity - has anyone removed the tank - what's involved? Up the road- to change the air filter, I'll probably have to do this.
 
The oil change in the hyper is probably the easiest I've ever done, only tool you may not have is a 14mm hex socket check that before you start.
 
Flat spots on tires is supposed to be a common problem that using the center stand should prevent.

Or if no center stand use a rear wheel stand. . . and a front wheel stand.

or hang your bike from the vaulted ceiling in your living room. If you do that, please post some pics because that would be awesome.
 
Joecati said:
Flat spots on tires is supposed to be a common problem that using the center stand should prevent.

Or if no center stand use a rear wheel stand. . . and a front wheel stand.

or hang your bike from the vaulted ceiling in your living room. If you do that, please post some pics because that would be awesome.
Click to expand...

I just looked at the ducati catalog and they do sell a carbon fiber vaulted living room ceiling - I'll be looking into it.
 

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