As the winter months close in, you may find yourself using your motorbike less and less.
Most bikers like to put their vehicle away during the colder, icier and more dangerous months of the year. The roads can be particularly treacherous across these last few months, especially for bikers.
You might be the type of biker who likes to try to get out whenever you can. There will usually be a time that you do decide to put the bike away. Even though we know you don’t want to!
We understand that some riders like to continue biking all year round. However, if you want to play it safe and put the bike away for winter, there are a few things you will need to do…
Go For a Ride
Yes, we mean it – really! Not only to enjoy one last ride before you put the bike away for its winter hibernation, but this will also give the bike a good run out. Allowing you to check everything is in working order. Letting the bike to run before having time off the roads too. We recommend going for a long ride out, anything from half an hour or longer.
Clean Your Motorbike
Next, before putting your bike away we would recommend giving it a good clean. This will make sure that all traces of dirt and dampness have been removed. Helping to minimise any part of the bike decaying whilst not in use. Use any old material you may have to block the bike exhaust and any other areas of the bike that have holes in. Blocking these holes whilst the bike is not in use will stop any damp air from getting inside of the bike and causing hidden damage.
Protect the Battery
You may want to choose to disconnect your battery whilst storing your bike away. However, this can be an issue if you have an alarm fitted. Alternatively, you may want to fit a battery conditioner to your bike which will help to keep the battery in tip-top condition. Poor weather can damage the battery. It’s important to make sure that you have protected the battery, so you don’t fall into the trap of purchasing a new battery every year.
Change Liquids
You can either completely change or top up your bike’s fluids before putting the bike away. Many bikers do change all liquids before storing, but some choose to top up the fluids to prevent evaporation. We would recommend completely changing all liquids in your bike. You can also opt to simply top up and use oil to help to stop rusting too.
Prep Tyres
To make sure that your tyres survive the winter and a few months of rest, you need to make sure you prep them correctly. You can do this by inflating them to the correct tyre pressure. Check your tyre pressure with a good quality pressure gauge. Cheaper pressure gauges can be quite off, they may even give you an incorrect reading which is unhelpful and could potentially be dangerous. It is also a good idea to rotate the tyres every few weeks to stop tyre damage.
Store Indoors
Make sure wherever you choose to store your bike is dry. This is important so that condensation doesn’t start to form which can then in turn trigger corrosion of your bike. Covering your bike with a non-plastic material that will allow air to circulate is also a good idea, to keep the dust and dirt away. We recommend storing the bike with both wheels off the ground if at all possible. This will help the tyres to stay in good condition and stop them from going down or falling out of shape.
Then you are prepped to get the motorbike out and on to the roads in Spring, ready to go!
To get a free personalised quote for a motorbike today, visit motorly:finance
There are many tips and tricks we’ve picked up in the industry that can help to reduce the cost of insurance. See if you can bring your policy down with these ten top tips.
1. Compare Policies
Shopping around can save you hundreds of pound each year! It’s easy to stick with the same provider and let your insurance policy roll over year after year. Be sure to compare quotes and find the best insurance deal for you.
2. Pay Annually
It may be more difficult to find the money to pay your insurance in one lump sum. A good tactic for this is to put the money to one side every month, as you would pay your bill. Then when the annual payment comes around you have the full amount. Hopefully, your policy will have gone down as long as you haven’t had any unfortunate incidents occur. Who knows, you might even have a little left to treat yourself with! A new bike accessory perhaps?
3. Add or Lose Riders
Depending on your experience as a rider, it may work out cheaper for you to add a more experienced biker. Or, you may have another person on your policy who may be raising the price for you. Equally, you may want to remove this person to bring the cost of our policy in line with your preferred budget.
4. Lock Your Bike
This may sound simple. But by proving to insurance companies that your bike is locked away safety, particularly at night, will lower the cost of your policy. It is a good idea to invest in a sturdy lock too. Decent locks also act as a deterrent to thieves.
5. Avoid Modifying
Unnecessary modifications can hinder the cost of an insurance policy. This is true across most vehicles, including cars and bikes. Modifying a vehicle can often be done with the intention of making the vehicle faster, and mostly this means the vehicle, therefore, becomes more dangerous. Bringing a higher potential for accidents.
6. Take Courses
Additional courses can give a rider extra experience, which will be taken into account by insurance providers. Any extra qualifications you can get in regards to driving will help to bring your policy down in price.
7. Buy a Smaller, Older Bike
The older your bike is, and the smaller the engine can contribute to having a lower cost of an insurance policy. This is not always the case when taking some classic bikes into account. But generally, a bike with a smaller engine will be easier to insure. Again, this is similar to most car insurance policies too.
8. Watch Mileage
Be aware of the miles you are travelling. Take into account the mileage of a bike before you decide to go ahead and purchase it. An older bike with higher mileage may be considered to be less safe than a new bike, and therefore cost more to insure. Hopefully, all bikes are safe, even with all mileage – but it this would be taken into consideration with insurance companies.
9. Build No-Claims
Building up your no-claims bonus will help to drop your insurance policy. This applies across all vehicle policies too. Bikers always do their best to avoid accidents as they tend to be the ones that come out of accident worse off, due to the lack of protection. So being especially careful when driving will not only keep you safe but also save you money.
10. Only Pay For What You Need
There are plenty of extras that can be added on to insurance policies. Not all of them are needed. Make sure that you are only paying for what you use. For example, if you have added a rider to your policy but they no longer ride then removing them may bring our policy down. Find out all about insurance extras, and what you do and don’t need here.
Find & compare the best bike insurance quotes with motorly here.
