Motorcycle Riding Season: Getting Your Motorcycle Ready for Spring

As any motorcycle enthusiast knows, there's nothing quite like the feeling of taking your bike out of storage after a long, cold Canadian winter. But, just like putting your bike into winter storage, there are a few crucial steps you should take before revving up your engine and hitting the open road. Our team of experts have pulled together a list of the fundamentals you need to get your motorcycle ready for spring riding. Get ready to dust off your gear—motorcycle riding season is here!

The first thing you'll want to do before taking your motorcycle out of storage is make sure it's clean. Even if you had your bike covered during the winter, dirt and dust can still accumulate. Grime tends to absorb moisture, which can lead to rust (especially if you didn't wash your bike before storing it), making it even more important to give your bike a good wash before pulling it out of storage. Along with helping to prevent rust, cleaning your motorcycle can make it easier to inspect and identify any potential issues that may have developed while in storage. If your bike is clean, you can assess the condition and address any necessary repairs before hitting the road.

Avoid using a high-pressure washer as it can damage exposed parts. It's best to wash your motorcycle by hand using proper soap, and if you waxed your bike when you put it in winter storage, be sure to buff it off in the spring.

Before hitting the road, you'll want to inspect your bike to ensure damage didn't occur during the winter. Checking your bike in the spring will also help you uncover any issues you may have forgotten to fix before storing it.

Tires are one of the most important parts to check for safety and performance. Ensure there are no cracks or abnormal swelling. Issues such as these can lead to vibration or even tread separation—if you find any of these problems, you'll likely need to replace the tires. It's also important to check tire pressure. Over time, and with temperature fluctuation, tires tend to lose air pressure.

Your brakes are crucial to inspect before pulling your bike out for the season. If your bike has disc brakes, check that the pads have equal material remaining. Drum brakes are harder to inspect since you usually have to disassemble the bike to get a good look. However, if you have to replace your tires anyway, you should be able to get a closer look at the drum brakes.

Similar to tires, hoses can break down over time. When getting your bike out of winter storage, make sure to inspect the hoses for any cracks. It's also important to check all wires since mice often decide a motorcycle makes a good winter home, and they can chew through them.

Next, you'll need to remove any old gas and make sure the carburetor is clean. You likely used a fuel stabilizer in the winter, but gas can gum up after a while, and that will clog the narrow passages in your carburetor. Unfortunately, the majority of gas has a short shelf life due to ethanol. Ethanol can absorb water, resulting in a gummed-up carburetor and rust. Ethanol-free fuel is better since it has a shelf life of closer to six months, but it's increasingly difficult to find.

Even if you used a battery maintainer when you put your bike into storage, you'll need to charge the battery and test it using a voltmeter to measure the electrical current. If the number on the voltmeter is significantly lower than your battery’s voltage even after charging, you'll likely need to replace it. Dealing with the battery is probably one of the most frustrating parts of taking a motorcycle out of storage, especially if you didn't use a battery tender—it’s common to have a dead battery in the spring, even if you tried to keep it charged during the winter.

Once you've made sure your bike is in tip-top shape, you're ready to hit the road! We recommend taking a ride around the block before heading out on the highway to ensure there aren't any outstanding issues.

If you need help with your motorcycle tune-up, contact our service centre to book an appointment today.