Getting my bike ready for the season

[GooseMan]

Its still VERY much winter up here, but I would like to start preparing my bike for the new season soon. I have stored it properly for the winter (changed oil, battery on tender, fuel stabilizer etc).

My question is, if I do get her ready for the season...but I dont ride it much for a little while, will that be bad for the bike? If I get it ready this week...I might get to take it out on a few short rides, but then the weather might be horrible for another 3-4 weeks until I can take it out again. I probably wouldnt even go thru an entire tank of gas until mid-April.

Should I jsut be patient and keep her stored till the weather is better? I dont want to miss any nice days we have (as they're rare!).

[PaulVS]

I think the key is to not just go out for 5-10 minute rides.

If you're going to ride, make sure it's long enough to get the bike fully up to normal operating temperatures for a good 20-30 minutes minimum.  Also, depending on how long the 'dormant' periods are going to be between riding, you may want to keep some Stabil in the tank.

[pmackie]

Like PaulVS said...don't go for 5 minute rides, you need to get the engine up to full operating temperature and keep it there so that the heat drives off any condensation.

Other than that, don't be too concerned. I would want to run the "Stabil" gas out completely on your first ride and refill with fresh fuel. There are NO concerns with the fresh fuel for a month of non use, and STABIL is NOT required for this length of storage.

Check your tire pressures, lube the chain, keep it clean and your good to go. Glad to hear that riding season is at hand. It was looking promising here, but we had a few inches of snow overnight, and more predicted for early next week...so it will be a couple more weeks for me.

[GooseMan]

K cool....thanks guys! The weather is looking *slightly* better these days, but the side streets are still full of snow/ice and pretty pot-holed up  I just wanna keep my bike ready for a nice day and take her for a little spin...but I dont think I'll go on any serious rides until mid-April or so.

Maybe I'll just keep her stored for a few more weeks.

[Barbarian]

SIDE streets are potholed? Heck, there are holes on Decarie big enough to swallow your bike!

My ride is staying put until the snowbanks are less than two feet... Hopefully that'll be sometime in May 

[shrike]

I was on Gouin today with my girlfriend driving. She hit a pothole and dented the rim and lost almost all the air in the tire. Lucky it was a POS sunbird with steel wheels so a hammer fixed that.
Man that's a depressing winter. In middle of april it will be 6 months we got the snow and it never melted.   I plan maybe on taking the bike for a 20-30 minute ride tomorrow if it's sunny as they say and I feel really courageous. I saw a guy on the highway this weekend on a sports bike.
The worse thing right now in the streets is all that gravel waiting to make you dump the bike on street corners. If you do take your bikes out, watch for that guys.

[PaulVS]

Yep, yep... the roads here in Chicago look like mine fields.  We've had alternating days of snow/freezing rain, then thaw... the water gets in the cracks of the road then re-freezes making it look like this...

[orionburn]

That looks like most of the streets around here too. This winter tore the hell out of the roads everywhere....even the country roads out in the boonies that rarely get plowed. They've managed to patch a few of the worst ones on the bypass I take into work. Same story as well....you'd see people changing tires on the roadside all the time. The ighway boys are going to be busy this spring.

[Barbarian]

This weekend is it. To hell with the fact it snowed today (!) it's going to be in the low teens for the next week. All my kit is ready to go, and that bike is hitting the streets.

[Rocketjock]

I'm still waitin till the end of the month before mine gets insured. And after the inch and a half of snow that fell the other day here, I guess I made the right decision.

[rider123]

I hit a pothole today and I got some air! Scared the shit right out of me! Watch it out there guys.