Well, the ice has finally hit here in North East England so im relegated to using the car for most of my commutes.

Basically the bike is going to be garaged for most of the winter apart from maybe the odd blast on the nice abnormal day. I'm just wondering what sort of things to do with it to make sure it's still fine when I come to fire it up next time.

I'd basically planned on topping the fuel tank and changing the oil, but is there any specific items to change which could be effected by the cold?

Bare in mind the coldest i've ever seen it here was -14c and I don't think it'll drop any lower than -5c in the garage or so.

 

change oil, put stab-il in gas tank, top off gas tank, pull battery, inflate tires to spec, throw bike on stands if you have them, cover bike.

Done.

 

Ya, its a good idea to invest in some front and rear stands, saves a lot of stress on the tires. I bought rear new for $100 us, and front used for $20. Make sure you charge your battery, and dont let it sit on the concrete, put it on plastic, wood, or even cardboard so it doesnt lose its charge; best to trickle charge it every couple weeks.

 

i got the bike on the main stand, thats gotta be good enough.
took the battery out yesterday and today it snowed

 

Have you ever changed the coolant? Hondas come from the factory w/ Pro Honda HP 50/50 premix, which is excellent in winter. However, if you bought used & haven't flushed & filled the system yourself, you don't know whats in there or the mix. Winter mos are a good time to flush & fill w/ good quality coolant like the Honda 50/50.

There's no need to remove the battery if you can hook it up to a trickle charger like the BatteryTender Jr.

If your bike storage area is going to exposed to extreme cold or moisture, put a good quality bike cover over your bike. You'd be surprised at how well a good cover can protect your bike.

 

^^^What if my bike haz no coolant in it at the moment. I just did a valve adjustment and took the radiator off for it.

 

You should fill it with coolant, its the air that causes rust, or at least make sure there is no stagnant water or coolant in the radiator or block. I recommend not just draining and refilling with new coolant; Drain old coolant and fill with drinking water, and a prestone cleaning solution, follow the instructions on label, run it hot several times to open thermostat, drain it again, but this time, remove the larger hoses leading to radiator and shoot a garden hose at one end of radiator, then use compressed air to remove water(good time to change hoses if needed), refill with coolant, and you can be sure you got all the nasty crap sitting at the bottom of things. I drained and refilled only, once, then did the other way with cleaning it, the nastiest crap came out, even though I had drained and refillied it months earlier.

 

I find that in my garage, the moisture raises up and stays under a cover so I don't use them now.

The battery is the big thing. Modern bikes with the digital gauges tend to draw the battery down when they sit. You need to keep the battery at 80% or more or you will be needing to replace it sooner.

I use a solar battery tender hooked to all bikes.