I had to bail out of last Sunday's meeting while Bob was giving his talk about winterizing.  I had some thoughts I wanted to share. Having just put away my final bike for the season just this afternoon, the process is fresh on my mind.

I have two bikes I leave gas in over the winter; an EFI Ducati and a Softtail with twin Fatbob tanks.  As Bob mentioned, I too fill the tanks up, but not any more than I would normally do at a fill-up.  And I add Sta-Bil.  But... I only use at the most, 1/2 the mixture of Sta-Bil-to-gasoline.  Come spring, I find the gas to be fine to run.

I much prefer however to pull the fuel tank and store it inside.  This is very easy with the modern Bonneville's.  I drain it, close the petcock, keep the cap on and store it, simple as that.  Never had a lick of rust and/or fumes.

I do drain the carb float bowls regardless of whether I pull the tank or not.  Too labor-intensive on the Duc and Hog, so I compromise and leave the tanks on.

I also pull the batteries and store them inside on Battery Tenders.  Here too, the Duc & Hog are a pain in the arse to pull the batteries, so I keep them in the bikes on Tenders.  The indoor batteries tend to last 3 or 4 seasons, whereas the garage-kept one's last only two.

Spraying down the chrome bits with WD40 is a no-brainer.  Go easy... it doesn't take much, and makes the spring clean-up a snap with S100.

Elevating your bike(s) is very important IMHO.  I elevate all my bikes, either on paddock stands or scissor lifts to take all the weight off the tires.  I also make sure to air-up the tires to the high-end of their recommended range.  They'll lose pressure from the cold.

All my bikes get a light weight nylon dust cover.  I don't know if it helps anything, but it sure looks cool.

If you haven't changed the oil yet... do so before placing the bike in cold storage.  Old oil has water condensation and acids that can corrode the insides of the engine and trans.  I change my oil twice a year regardless of how many miles I log.  Once at mid-season and again before winter storage.  This way, come spring, I'm good to go and the virgin oil is safe on the engine until then.

Lastly, did you know that a single 60W light bulb (old fashion T Edison style) burning 24 hours in a 2-1/2 car garage is enough to keep the space from freezing to well below zero outside?  True, and costs only a few bucks over 5 months.

Have a safe winter all. 

/M