Winterizing your classic Brit bike is one of the most important things you can do. For those of us living in climates that prevent us from riding our vintage BSA, Norton, or Triumph motorcycles year-round, there are a few actions we can take to minimize frustrations putting our motorcycles back into service after a long winter lay-up.
There is nothing worse than the disappointment of having a weekend forecast of sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s in mid-March, and your trusty Triumph won’t even think about starting after sitting idle in the garage for the past few months. An hour of working on the motorcycle to get a mere sputter out the engine turns into an entire day, then, by the time the bike will start, it’s Sunday night and forty degrees out, with the weekend in the rear-view mirror. Here are some suggestions to help the motorcycle safely slumber and be ready to fire up when it’s time to emerge from hibernation.
Table of Contents
Fuel System
- Fill the petrol tank with fresh non-ethanol (if available) gas and add some fuel stabilizer, such as Sea Foam or Sta-Bil. This will help in preventing rust inside of the tank, and the gas will be mostly preserved and ready to burn when the time comes to start it up.
- With the petcocks in the “off” position, remove the float bowl drain plugs and allow the gas to evacuate completely from the float bowls. In the case of pre-1971 Amal Concentric and Monobloc carburetors, the float bowls will need to be removed, as there were no drain plugs. It’s a good idea to keep some spare float bowl gaskets on hand…they’re cheap and often get saturated and want to stick to the float bowl surfaces, and usually will tear when you carefully try to remove the float bowl.
Engine, Primary, & Gearbox
- Changing your vintage motorcycle’s fluids will help protect the internals from rust build-up, due to combustion byproducts, such as moisture and acids. The new oil will resist moisture and will not build up acid while the engine, primary chain case, and gearbox sit idle.
Electrical System
- When winterizing your Brit bike, don’t for about your electrical system. Remove the fuse and install a battery maintainer, or even better yet- remove the battery entirely. If the battery is sealed, it can be brought indoors. Set it up on a wood surface with the Battery Tender (or other similar maintainer) attached. This practice will add years of life to a battery, and the trickle-charge will keep the battery charged up without overcharging it, as the battery maintainer will switch over to the “maintain mode”, once 13-13.5 volts is sensed by the charger.
Tires, Wheels, & Chassis
- Give the motorcycle a good visual inspection, looking for anything obvious that might require attention sooner, rather than later. Go ahead and treat the bike to a nice bath, or at least a wipe-down. This will help keep the brightwork and the finish looking good. Some enthusiasts in humid climates will go as far as lightly oil misting or spraying WD40 on the chrome plated rims and exhaust components as a corrosion-resistant protectant. Check the tire inflation and adjust as necessary to full inflation. If you have a portable ATV lift or center jack, you can position it to lift the motorcycle just high enough off the ground to get the tires unweighted. If you don’t own a portable lift, placing the bike on its center stand is the next best option.
Exhaust System
- Mice and other vermin love to take up residence in the interior of motorcycle silencers, so if you don’t want any gruesome surprises when you fire up your motorcycle for the first time in the spring, use some wadded-up pieces of aluminum foil to plug the ends of the mufflers to keep out the pests.
Winterizing Your Classic Brit Bike with a Covering
- Depending on your preferences, a protective cover is recommended for preserving the finish of your motorcycle over the winter months. I prefer a light, breathable fabric that won’t trap moisture underneath the cover. I have used inexpensive moving blankets with strategically-placed cutouts to fit nicely over the petrol tank, and behind the top tree of the fork. Many of us have limited space for storing our bikes, so they are often in close proximity to our workspace, which makes them vulnerable to accidental damage, so a cover is a good bet for adequate protection.