Storing a Machine for Winter: Fuel, Battery, Tires and Rodents

Across the Midwest, the Northeast and the mountain states, most trail machines spend several months a year doing nothing. That idle period is harder on them than the riding season. Fuel goes stale, batteries discharge, tires flat-spot, seals dry out and mice move in. The machines that start in spring are the ones that were put away properly, and putting one away properly is a single afternoon's work with cheap materials. This piece is the checklist, in order, with the reasons behind each step.

Start by cleaning the machine thoroughly, for the reasons in our piece on cleaning after mud, and let it dry completely. Storing a machine dirty stores the moisture and the salt with it. Then do the service that is due. If the engine oil is anywhere near its interval, change it now rather than in spring, because used oil holds acids and moisture that sit against the bearings all winter. The side-by-side and quad schedules call for an oil change about every hundred hours or twelve months, and the winter layoff is the natural point to reset the clock.

Fuel is the first thing that will stop the machine starting in spring. Modern pump fuel with ethanol absorbs water and degrades within a few months, leaving varnish in injectors and carburettor jets. The two approaches are to fill the tank with fresh fuel treated with a stabiliser and run the engine long enough to get treated fuel through the system, or to drain the tank and the fuel system completely. Filling limits condensation in the tank; draining is more common on a bike with a carburettor, where the float bowl drains easily. Either works. Leaving untreated fuel does not.

The battery is the second thing. A lead-acid or AGM battery left connected to a machine with a clock, an ECU and an alarm will be flat by February and sulphated by March. Either disconnect the negative terminal or, better, connect a maintenance charger designed to hold a battery at float voltage over months. A trickle charger without a float stage will overcharge and cook it. Lithium batteries fitted to some newer machines and dirt bikes have their own storage rules in the manual, and some do not want to be left on a charger at all.

Tires flat-spot if a machine sits on them for months at a low pressure, and they crack if they sit in direct sun. Inflate them to the value in your owner's manual for storage, which is often higher than trail pressure, and if the machine will sit for a long time put it on stands or blocks so the tires are off the ground. This also unloads the suspension and stops the shock seals sitting in one place. Keep the machine out of direct sunlight or under a breathable cover. A plastic tarp holds condensation against the machine and is worse than nothing.

Rodents are the problem nobody plans for. A shed or a garage in a cold month is the most attractive place a mouse can find, and an airbox, a seat, a cab or an exhaust is where it nests. They chew wiring harnesses and pack seed into intake tracts. Block the exhaust outlet and the intake snorkel with a rag or a purpose-made plug, and label the machine so you remember to remove them. Put bait or traps around the machine, not in it. Check under the seat and in the airbox every few weeks.

The engine itself wants a few small jobs. Some owners fog the cylinders through the spark plug hole with a storage oil to coat the bores; the manual will say whether the maker recommends it for your engine. Change the coolant if it is due and confirm its freeze protection with a tester, because a shed in the northern states will go well below freezing and a cracked block is the most expensive winter failure of all. Lubricate the cables, the pivots and the chain on a bike. Grease the zerks on a side-by-side so that fresh grease fills the joints.

A belt-driven machine gets one extra consideration. A CVT belt that sits under tension for months can take a set, which shows up in spring as a vibration at low speed. Some owners loosen the belt by opening the secondary clutch; the manual for your machine says whether that is straightforward or not. At the least, do not store the machine with the belt wet or with the clutch cover full of debris. A dual-clutch or sequential gearbox on the Honda Talon 1000R (TALON, 2019 to 2026) or Yamaha YXZ1000R (YXZ, 2016 to 2026) has no belt to worry about.

Finally, write down what you did and what needs doing in spring. The list will include reconnecting the battery, removing the exhaust and intake plugs, checking tire pressures against the manual, checking for rodent damage in the harness and the airbox, and a full pre-ride inspection before the first outing. Machines that go into winter with a note on the seat come out of it running. Machines that are pushed into a corner in November with half a tank of untreated fuel are the ones the dealer sees in April, and the bill is larger than the afternoon would have cost.