Help: To winterize or not to winterize?

I can find plenty of information about how to winterize your bike but not under what circumstances. My dilemia is this I live in Northern Virginia with no garage and winters here come in all flavors. I am all for riding no matter the tempature but if we have a bad winter I have no immediate place to put the bike. So I need to decide if I winterize and what route I take.

1)There are a couple of places that will winterize and store it for a great price but your bike is locked up from late october to mid march. If there is great riding weather into november or in february you can't get your bike out.

2)Try and ride out the weather if it gets to bad get a storage place for a month or two and winterize the bike(monthly cost roughly the same as full cost of #1).

3) Ride out the entire season and if it snows the bike sits outside with a cover on it in a parking lot. When the snow/ice is gone ride it again.

Beyond seeking advice and other possibilities I'm also after at what point will #3 cause damage to the bike (ie weather conditions/ time spent sitting).

(Stealing a spot in someone else's garage is still a possibility but one I can't count on)

Well, last winter was my first one with the FZ-6 (or any bike, for that matter) and I didn't winterize it, rode it as often as possible. I have an outdoor thermometer I can see from the bedroom; if the temp was lower than 22 F I had to take the cage, as I couldn't keep my faceshield clear below that.
Otherwise, I rode unless the roads had snow/ice. Was able to get out quite a bit (only once during January) and the gate guards at Hill AFB thought I was looney. :cheer:
I never hooked my battery up to one of those Tender things, and I always had cranking power; it was a new battery, however. Kept it in a carport, no garage. Hope this helps!

So long as it is covered... But without the cover, I wouldn't dream of leaving the bike outside in freezing weather. Moisture creeps into all sorts of places, freezes and then cracks and ruins things.

We don't have a lot of choice here... winterizing is a must. I fill the tank to the top with a can mixed with Stabil, run it to be sure that it's throughout the system, top off to the brim and plug into the Battery Tender Jr. for the long winter rest. This year, the bike will be torn down and a lot of work happening to it.

I'm also in NOVA and decided not to winterize. I get the bike out a few times a week. I have a rule, that, if the temperature is higher than my age (almost 40), then I can ride

cheers, Kevin

we don;t fully winterize our bikes, though we probably should, being in NH and all. Unil this winter, they lived in a friend's basement over the winter (with a full gas tank and some stabil) where they would get started occasionally. Now, they are in our basement with full tanks and stabil. We don't do the full-on oil drain and allt hat jazz...too time consuming....though we do an oil change first thing in the spring regardless of when it was done last. But, this is upwards of 5 months in "time out." For you, with only one or two months of non-ridable weather, I wouldn't winterize or store, just make sure it doesn't sit too long without beign started and run a few blocks.

hint for riding in cold weather: as long as your hands and feet are warm, the rest of you doesn't get too bad on a short jaunt.

Well so far our winter has been pretty mild so I have been commuting on my bike everyday except for maybe 10 days total. I have gotten winter gloves and a balaclava for riding. Next year I will upgrade from my mesh jacket

Who needs that much velcro?

Why would anyone need that much velcro? These guys sell it by the roll 1000's Of Chinese Wholesale Items Shipped Direct From China ToYourDoor and is
hook and look and velcro the same thing?

Re: Who needs that much velcro?

leeai said:

Why would anyone need that much velcro? These guys sell it by the roll 1000's Of Chinese Wholesale Items Shipped Direct From China ToYourDoor and is
hook and look and velcro the same thing?

Click to expand...

Velcro is a name brand while hook and loop is the generic name

I also live in Woodbridge and gave up on actually putting the bike up for the winter. She stays parked behind my Jeep to make it hard to move it (cars all around me too) waiting for the warmer days (I won't take it out when its under 45 or so..yes, i'm a sissy!). I'm going to get a tarp to put over it plus the normal cover for days they're calling for snow. Otherwise, I start it every week or so and let it run for 20 minutes, I have a battery tender that i need to hook the leads up for, but not going to lift the tank when its full, plus I put sta-bil in the tank. It's going to be a cold, dark winter...(22 degrees tomorrow, with a low of 8. If its going to be that cold, there needs to be a foot of snow on the ground!)

ReblTeen84 said:

I also live in Woodbridge and gave up on actually putting the bike up for the winter. She stays parked behind my Jeep to make it hard to move it (cars all around me too) waiting for the warmer days (I won't take it out when its under 45 or so..yes, i'm a sissy!). I'm going to get a tarp to put over it plus the normal cover for days they're calling for snow. Otherwise, I start it every week or so and let it run for 20 minutes, I have a battery tender that i need to hook the leads up for, but not going to lift the tank when its full, plus I put sta-bil in the tank. It's going to be a cold, dark winter...(22 degrees tomorrow, with a low of 8. If its going to be that cold, there needs to be a foot of snow on the ground!)

Click to expand...

I rode mine to springfield metro yesterday but couldn't handle it today or tomorrow. I think my threshold is set to above freezing.

necrotimus said:

I rode mine to springfield metro yesterday but couldn't handle it today or tomorrow. I think my threshold is set to above freezing.

Click to expand...

I had mine out about 3 weeks ago when it was 60 out..took it out towards 28 on bristow rd off 234. Other than that, i've had it out around 40...torso and legs were ok, hands and feet were numb when i got back. I take it out once in awhile to move it around, but its been a bit too cold for that lately.

I was riding on days above 35 here but the streets have been covered in snow/salt mess for the last month and a half or so. My bike sits in a garage, full tank with stabil, and I go over and start it every couple weeks regardless of whether I'm going to ride it or not. Might do the battery tender thing next year for peace of mind. It would totally suck not to have a garage.