And no, I’m not going to start an oil thread by revealing what I use, as much as I always enjoy a good oil thread. I think that’s a little over-kill, so I put the same top quality synthetic oil in before and soon after storage. For this reason, some people put a cheap oil in the bike in the fall just for storage purposes, then change to the good stuff in the spring. (I don’t have the luxury of a heated garage, so all maintenance is done outside.) I changed the oil before putting it into storage, but apparently oil ages even if unused, so I’ll do an early oil change, maybe not right away but soon. The bike is now ready to run, and I might start it up, just to hear its familiar exhaust note and reassure myself that all is well in the world.ĭepending on the mileage, I change most of the fluids on the first warm day of spring. That involves removing whatever I’ve used to block the intake and exhaust ports, removing the wax I left on the bike to protect it through the cold winter months, replacing the battery and saddle, lowering the bike off the jack-stand, and topping up the tires. The first thing I do is undo everything I did last fall to prepare the bike for storage. To ease the pain, we undergo a ritual process of preparation for the season to come. Eliot wrote that April is the cruelest month, but for motorcyclists in northern climates, it’s these last few weeks of March during The Big Melt (aka dog shit season) that are the most painful. I’ve seen a few Facebook posts about preseason maintenance and, for the Harley riders, preseason cleaning and polishing. Motorcyclists are scurrying about like squirrels uncovering nuts, or birds building nests. Nevertheless, the air is filled with anticipation as it won’t be long now. In fact, I can’t get my bike out yet there’s still several feet of snow blocking the doors to my shed. I saw-or rather, heard-a scooter on the road yesterday, but I wouldn’t want to take a bigger bike out yet. The reality, however, is that no one is stupid enough to do so. As of March 15th, we can legally be back on the road. Here in Montreal, the 2023 motorcycle season has officially begun.
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