Pic 1: Certain bikes come with electric start. It’s always a good idea to trickle-charge the battery so it has a full charge to start the riding season. Follow your manual’s instructions for proper charger setting and be careful that you are making the connections correctly with the leads of the charger to the posts on the battery.

Pic 2: I like to start working at the handlebars. Check brake fluid levels and add as necessary. Bleeding your brakes is always a good idea if they feel a little spongy. If you have never changed the fluid, now might be a good time to do both front and rear brakes.

Pic 3: Clean and lubricate the clutch and front brake lever pivots as well as the throttle housing. Smooth-working controls are one of the keys to having that new bike feel, even if the bike has time on it. Check all cables and hydraulic lines for wear and fraying. Go ahead and lubricate the throttle cable while you are at it

Pic 4: Bleed the forks. With the extreme temperature changes a bike sees in the months of storage, there will certainly be a build up of air in your forks. Even in heated storage (the living room), my forks have some air build-up. Be careful not to drop the bleed screws; they have a nasty habit of disappearing once they hit the floor! Be sure to check the condition of the o-ring on the bleed screw and replace it if it is damaged.

Pic 5: Since most ‘moto coolants’ don’t have anti-freeze properties, I always drain the system completely in the fall and fill it with automotive style anti-freeze for protection. Before the first ride, I dump the automotive stuff and fill it back up with summer coolant. Be sure to get all the air bled out of the system and recheck before your first ride.

Pic 6: Pop out your brake pads and give them a cleaning with brake cleaner and some emery paper. Check your discs over to make sure they are not bent or worn to thin. Put a little bit of light lube on the brake pin when you reassemble. Front calliper bolts have a sneaky way of coming lose. Loctite or safety wire them so there are no surprises in your future.

Pic 7: Check the condition of your tires and rims. Grab your spoke wrench and do a lap of the wheels to make sure there are no loose or broken spokes. Be sure to check your tire pressures while you are in the neighbourhood.

Pic 8: Go around the bike and check all the bolts. Both axles, swing arm, suspension linkage and motor mounts are the main ones, but be sure to take the time to touch a wrench or socket to every bolt on the bike. Make sure you use a torque wrench on the triple clamp bolts as you don’t want to put too much force on your forks.

Pic 9: I always keep some clean paper towels and an air box cover in place over the winter to keep out the crud and moisture.

Pic 10: Remember to take the paper towel out before you put the air filter back in! Bikes don’t like to run when they are choking on Brawny.

Pic 11: Put a clean and freshly oiled air filter in place. At this point, put some new fuel in the tank and get the bike running. Once it’s warm, ride it around the yard and get it up to operating temperature.

Pic 12: With the bike still hot, drain the oil. Even though the oil was brand new before I stored the bike for the winter, I change it anyway to get any moisture and contamination out of the engine. Change the oil filter at this point as well.

Pic 13: Since I used storage spray in the engine, I always like to put in a fresh plug after the bike has been run and the storage spray burned out.

Pic 14: Old versus new. Be sure to use the proper plug and gap it accordingly. Reinstall your plug and you should be ready to ride!