It is that horrible time of year again when those who live in the snow belt or the colder areas of the country have to store your Harley Davidson motorcycle for the winter. No matter how hard core of a rider you might be in July, the options get pretty thin come January. If you live in the North then this could be as early as November. A little bit of work now, will ensure that your Harley Davidson motorcycle endures the winter just fine and will start and run nicely come spring.

Change the Oil

Oil Change - Don't skip this step thinking it can wait until spring because what you might not know is that motor oil holds all kinds of nasty stuff including exhaust contaminates and condensation. That's right, water. Water, cold temperatures and long periods of not being run are not a good combination.

This isn't that big of a deal when you are riding regularly but when letting it sit for a few months can result in rust and pitting on your cylinder walls and crankshafts. Neither of these are a good thing so you definitely want to store your motorcycle with clean, fresh oil in the crankcase. A quick oil and filter change right before storage will minimize the amount of water in your engine and will help ensure a healthy engine for years to come.

Install Fuel Stabilizer

Fuel Stabilizer - The gasoline of today is notorious for seperating and gumming up your fuel system. The combinations of additives and alcohol blends will create this condition if allowed to sit for a prolonged period of time and this could possibly lead to a clogged fuel system. A very simple and inexpensive cure is to simply add the correct amount of a good quality fuel stabilizer to your tank.
.
Make sure you run the motorcycle for a few minutes after pouring it in so it can circulate through the system and will be in the right place to protect. This simple step will go a LONG ways towards making sure your motorcycle runs nicely come spring. Add fuel stabilizer and then go top off your tank so that there isn't any room for condensation to form over the winter.

Attach the Battery Tender

Battery - It seems that this topic elicits a lot of discussion from most riders with an even split down the middle. Half of the bikers you ask will tell you that they don't charge their battery at all, they just leave it sitting in the bike until spring and then the other half will SWEAR by a battery tender. I don't doubt that a battery will be fine come spring with a quick charge but I do strongly feel that a decent battery tender will prolong the life of that battery. Instead of just one or two riding seasons you could get 3 or 4 possibly. The bottom line is this, cold temperatures will discharge a battery more quickly and weaken it. The weaker that a battery gets and the longer it sits in this condition then the more contaminants can form on the plates inside, which leads to shorter battery life.

I have three Harley Davidson motorcycles, a 2009 SG, a 2007 Night Train and a 2005 Deluxe and I keep all of them on a battery tender over the winter. If you aren't familiar with a battery tender, it plugs into your motorcycle and will cycle on and off as necessary to keep the battery charged. Another alternative is to start the motorcycle up every few weeks and let it run and charge the battery, just be careful because without air flow, it can quickly overheat.

Inflate Your Tires

Inflate The Tires - The best case scenario would be to lift your motorcycle up on a good quality motorcycle jack and remove the weight from the tires and suspension altogether. If you cannot do this then at least make sure that you inflate the tires to the proper psi so that they have a minimal contact patch with the floor. This will minimize the risk of flat spotting a tire and will reduce the wear on your suspension as well. If you must leave the bike on the ground, then try to move it to another position on the tire once in a while too.

Clean Your Motorcycle

Clean Your Bike - This might seem obvious but you'd be surprised how many of my friends bikes I have seen stored in their garage dirty. If you ride your motorcycle a lot then you know how easily and how quickly your bike can get dirty and the last thing you want is this dirt and road grime sitting over the winter, trapping contaminants and what not against the vital organs of your bike. Dirt and grime lead to rust and rust is never a good thing when it comes to your motorcycle.

If you waited until the last minute to store your motorcycle, then washing it in the cold is not going to be fun, but it's mandatory. Depending on how dirty your motorcycle is then you might get away with "spot cleaning" of the dirty areas, it just depends on the condition of the bike when you go to store it. You make the call, just make sure that you make the right one.

Time to Cover it Up

Cover Your Bike - Ok, now you're headed down the home stretch. You have clean and fresh motor oil in the crankcase, you have topped off the fuel tank after adding fuel stabilizer, you have washed the bike thoroughly and your battery situation is under control. It's time now to cover your Harley Davidson motorcycle with a quality breathable motorcycle cover.
.
Do not try to save a few bucks and use a tarp, use a good quality motorcycle cover or at the very least a soft cotton sheet. All you are looking to do here is keep the dust off the bike and discourage anyone from getting on it and making vroom vroom sounds when you aren't home. If you don't have a garage to store your motorcycle in then check with your local dealer or a self storage place to store it there, your motorcycle will thank you for it.
.

That's It

That's all there is to storing your Harley Davidson motorcycle properly for the winter. Some guys will do more than this, some less but the steps I have outlined here are pretty much the generally accepted basic steps needed to store your motorcycle for the winter.

If you have any suggestions to add to our list then feel free to leave us a note in the comment box below. Come on Spring!!