2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41
Winter storage of a motorcycle is a topic on which a huge number of articles have been written, a lot of videos have been shot. Who would have thought that most of these tips are just advertising. Therefore, this article will provide refutation of popular recommendations for storing a motorcycle in winter.
Myth 1: Keep your battery warm
The most common myth tells us that the battery from your iron horse must be kept in a warm place, but no one explains why. Heat speeds up the chemical processes, which leads to rapid battery discharge and sulfation, which reduces capacity. Car batteries are brought into a warm room for one reason, so that on one beautiful frosty winter morning, the battery gives the starter the power necessary so that it, in turn, can start the engine with thickened engine oil.
In general, the motorcycle battery should be stored in a cool, dark and dry place at a temperature of no more than fifteendegrees Celsius. Only if the temperature in the garage drops below minus twenty degrees Celsius, the battery can be brought into the basement or on the loggia, although if the battery has a full charge and the density of the electrolyte is normal, then it will not freeze even at temperatures below minus forty degrees. You just need to reset the terminals and make sure that the voltage does not drop below 12 volts.
Myth 2: Changing engine oil while your motorcycle is parked in the winter
Another common misconception about storing a motorcycle in a cold garage in the winter is changing the oil before and after entering the garage. Yes, if you have the financial resources and time, or access to sponsored chemistry, you can change the oil as many times as you like during seasonal conservation. And in the best case, it’s also worth disassembling the motorcycle, and placing each part in a container with silica gel. The most rational thing to do before putting the motorcycle in the garage is to do this: you need to warm up the engine and drain the used oil, as a result, the rubbish remaining in it will not settle in the crankcase.
Then there are two different ways. First, you can immediately fill the engine with new oil and, if it is of high quality, it will keep its characteristics for at least a year. Oxidation is possible, but its effect on motor oil is greatly exaggerated by the manufacturer's advertisers. The second option is to fill the engine with new oil right before the start of the new season. Everyone who says that without oil inside the engine it will rust is mistaken, because all the same, during rest, lubricationsinks into the crankcase. A microscopic film of engine oil remains on bearings, shafts and other parts, everything else will still drain into the crankcase and will not come into contact with the listed parts until the engine is started again. So during seasonal storage, the engine does not care at all whether there is oil in it or not.
There is another opinion, which says that in the spring in the motorcycle engine such an amount of condensate has accumulated that can be harmful, so it must be washed off with old oil. Let's see why this statement is just a myth. The volume of air in an insulated engine is only ten liters, which can contain as little as 0.2 milliliters of water in the form of steam, which is equal to the volume of four small drops of water. Therefore, if this volume of water condenses at the beginning of the season, the engine will survive it somehow.
Myth 3: Danger of cold
Some of the winter storage advice articles make this claim. It says that cold accelerates corrosion. Why is this a myth? And because the cold is your great friend, not the enemy, because the sub-zero temperature slows down the corrosion process many times over, and does not speed it up. For a motorcycle, the most terrible phenomenon is a sharp change in temperature and high humidity. When the dew point is reached, the water vapor contained in the air condenses on colder surfaces. Water is corrosive. To minimize the effect of moisture, a full tank is poured in the fall,limit the access of raw air to the engine, make oil injections into the cylinders, and the motorcycle itself is treated with various chemicals.
Myth 4: Only special formulations should be used for preservation
It is beneficial for manufacturers of motorcycle chemicals that you buy a dozen more expensive products from them instead of a couple of cylinders of silicone grease. Silicone grease is a very inexpensive but extremely useful tool. With him, everything is simple - fill in everything that you see. Why is that? Yes, because silicone does not chemically interact with metal, plastic, or rubber parts. Plus displaces water and creates a moisture-impervious film.
Myth 5: Silicone grease on brakes and tires is unacceptable
Many "specialists" argue that silicone grease on motorcycle brake discs is unacceptable, and if this grease gets there, then brake discs and pads must be changed immediately. In fact, they are not entirely correct. Brake discs are the part of the motorcycle that is most susceptible to corrosion, so they must be treated with grease in any case to avoid damage. In any case, before you go for a ride with friends after seasonal storage of a motorcycle, you will need to wash your equipment. And any pressure washer will wash off silicone grease without any problems, and if you wash your horse with shampoo, then there will be no trace of it.
Myth No. 6: It is necessary to store a motorcycle in winter only on a specialstand
It feels like articles on the Internet with tips on motorcycle storage are created entirely by marketers. After all, only they can come up with the idea that it is necessary to store an iron horse in their garage only on a special stand. Officially, you can say that the best stand for storing a motorcycle in winter is its footrest. It's not for nothing that the factory came up with this ingenious thing.
This article has come to an end, we hope that you learned something useful from it for yourself and will use it in the future.
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