Man, I hate this time of year. Just spent my Saturday winterizing my RV and my Harley. It’s a drag, but man, you gotta do it right. Remember that one spring when I tried to start the bike and the carbs were totally gunked up? Took me a week and about three hundred bucks to fix that mess. Never again.
So I’m just gonna dump my checklist here for you. This is the no-BS version I wish someone had given me.
Taming the Beast: Your RV Storage Checklist
For the RV:
Dude, the inside is the most important part. You gotta go in there and be a tyrant. Get every single bit of food out. I mean every packet of sugar, every can of beer, everything. If you leave it, the mice will find it. And they will bring their friends. And they will have babies. It’s a nightmare.
Clean the fridge like you’re prepping for surgery. Then leave the door propped open. I use a bungee cord. If you shut it, it’s gonna smell like a science experiment gone wrong in there by April.
For the outside, just give it a good wash and wax. It’s not about being shiny, it’s about protecting the paint from bird crap and sap. That stuff will ruin your finish if it sits all winter.
Now for the boring mechanical stuff:
- Change the oil. Don’t put this off. Old oil is corrosive.
- Fill the gas tank to the absolute brim and dump in a bottle of fuel stabilizer. Then drive it around the block to mix it in.
- Disconnect the battery. Just do it. It takes two seconds.
Putting Your Bike to Bed: The Motorcycle Hibernation Guide
For the Motorcycle:
This one hurts my soul a little. But here’s what you GOTTA do.
The number one, most critical thing: FUEL STABILIZER. Put it in a full tank and run the engine for five minutes. If you don’t, you’ll be rebuilding your carbs next spring. I promise you.
Wash the bike. Dry it. Lube the chain. This just takes a few minutes but it saves the chain from rusting solid.
Now, take the battery out. Seriously. Bring it inside your house and put it on a battery tender. Those little batteries die if you look at them wrong. Leaving it in the bike over winter is a death sentence.
The Final Piece of the Puzzle: Where to Stash Your Gear
Where to put it all?
So you’ve done all this work. Now where does it go? Your driveway? Come on. That’s just asking for trouble from the weather and every punk kid walking by.
This is the whole reason I got involved with Downtown Mini Storage. I was tired of this problem. We’re not a big fancy company. It’s just me and a couple other guys who needed a safe place for our own stuff.
We’ve got a solid, fenced-in lot for RVs and clean, dry units for bikes. It’s simple. You do the work to prep your stuff, and we give you a safe, locked place to keep it. No stress.
Do the prep this weekend. It sucks, but power through it. Then shoot me a text and I’ll get you a spot at our place. Then you can forget about it all winter and actually relax.
Talk soon.
0 Comments