Preparing Your Motorcycle For Winter Riding

Now that summer has drawn to a close, it’s time for many motorcyclists to think about the coming winter if they’re planning to continue riding. Oregon often has wet and chilly winter weather conditions that can sometimes become more severe, especially with the impact of the La Niña atmospheric phenomenon, which can bring with it heavier precipitation and colder temperatures.

To avoid sustaining damage to your motorcycle, it’s important that you take the time to properly prepare your bike for winter. Willamette Valley Harley-Davidson in Eugene is your Oregon motorcycle dealer, so we’ve prepared this guide to help you get your motorcycle ready for the more extreme weather conditions coming up.

1. Know What Can Happen

Extreme winter weather conditions can impact your motorcycle in several ways and your maintenance will be more effective if you understand what the cold rain or snow can do. 

• Water in your coolant can freeze up, causing your engine to overheat.
• Engine oil becomes sludgy in the cold, which reduces its ability to lubricate your engine, causing damage.
• Your battery could fail to hold a charge and go flat on you, forcing you to buy a new one.
• Moving components can become stiff and rusty in cold rain, causing your bike to become less responsive to your input.
• Poor tire treads can fail to gain traction on slippery roads, increasing your risk of hydroplaning or sliding out.
• Lights can fail to penetrate through fog and precipitation, making it difficult to see ahead.

2. Add Antifreeze to Coolant

Your coolant is comprised of a number of chemicals that circulate through a liquid-cooled engine to cool its parts, preventing heat transfer and helping your engine to resist corrosion at the same time. During the winter, the water in your coolant can freeze, reducing its efficacy, unless you add an antifreeze to it. Check your owner’s manual for a recommendation when it comes to a suitable antifreeze to use. You may need to flush the system first with a special flush chemical before adding new antifreeze/coolant.

3. Change Your Oil

The oil you use during the summer may vary significantly from the type you should use in the winter. Warm-weather oils can thicken and become sludgy, causing issues with your engine performance and function. Change your oil and oil filter before your winter riding. Use an oil that’s approved by your motorcycle’s manufacturer, and make sure it has a winter-temperature rating so that it will retain its viscosity

4. Maintain Your Battery

Now is a great time to inspect the battery on your motorcycle to ensure that its terminals are clean and free of any crust. Use a voltage meter to check the battery’s charge. A trickle charger that you keep in your garage is the best solution to batteries running low in the cold temperatures. You’ll just hook your battery up to the trickle charger and it will keep your battery from dying between rides. If your battery is old, make sure you replace it before winter riding.

5. Lubricate Moving Parts

The moving parts on your bike are heavily affected by winter weather. Salt from the roads in addition to rain and snow can interfere with several components on your bike. Use a high-quality lubricante to treat your exposed parts and prevent rust. Make sure each part of your bike is clean and tuned up, too.

6. Maintain Your Tires

Winter riding is inherently more hazardous than summer riding because of the reduced traction on the roads due to precipitation and ice. Make sure your tires are well maintained through the entire season. Use a tire-pressure gauge to check the pressure of each tire and air them up completely; you may find that the pressure doesn’t hold as well in the cold, so you’ll have to add air more frequently. Check each tire to make sure its treads are sufficiently deep and that there are no punctures or embedded objects.

7. Upgrade Your Lights

Finally, you’ve got your motorcycle’s lighting set-up to contend with. The lights that get you through summer riding may not be as useful now that dusk comes sooner and fog or clouds can make it moe challenging to see the way ahead. You can swap out your standard lights for bright LED lights that will illuminate more of your path, and you can even add extra lights on your bike to ensure other motorists can see you.

If your motorcycle could use some professional attention ahead of winter, get in touch with the service department here at Willamette Valley Harley-Davidson. We can schedule you a maintenance appointment with our team of professional mechanics so that your bike will be ready and raring to go in the cold. 

Searching for a new motorcycle? Browse the vast selection of new and used motorcycles available at our Eugene, OR, dealership on our website to narrow down your choice. We even provide financing options; just talk to our staff if you’d like to know more about them. Willamette Valley Harley-Davidson proudly serves the cities of Corvallis and Albany, OR.