The first day of winter isn’t until the 21st of December. With that said, we’ve had some extremely chilly days and evenings that sure have felt as if winter was already upon us. Denver experienced a tremendous autumn and riding hasn’t quite yet stopped for a lot of people. However, for those who don’t like braving the cold via two wheels all year round, there are some things you want to do for your machine before you putting it away in the garage for the next 3-4 months. Every Spring we see a lot of scooters coming in with what we call, “Sitting Disease”. It happens to the best of us – you’re riding your scooter one day but the snow hits the next. You have plans to take it out on the next nice day, but then seemingly out of nowhere, a few months go by and you’ve done nothing with the dusty scooter in the garage. Now the battery is dead, the carburetor is gummed up and the machine won’t start. A new battery can cost between $40-$70+ and a fuel system flush can be $135.
A couple of things that can save you from said hassle is investing in a battery charger, like the Battery Tender Jr.
Unlike a lot of battery chargers, this one charges and maintains your battery so you never have to worry about it. Most of the trickle chargers are meant to be on for no more than a couple of hours or damage can occur. A lot of people also only like to charge the battery once it’s dead, and if you’re going to do that – you might as well only put gas in your scooter once it dies on the side of the road.) It’s all preventative maintenance, if you catch my drift.
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The other thing you’ll need to do is keep a fuel stabilizer in your gas tank. We recommend Star Tron or Sta-Bil, which are both under $10 and each bottle will last you for hundreds of miles or keep on your shelf for years. Gas starts to go bad within a few weeks, and it’s always evaporating. These two things combined will gunk up any motor, especially in small engines such as the one in your scooter. Keeping an additive in your fuel will keep the fuel fresh for up to two years and prevents hard starting and build ups. Adding a fuel stabilizer will help keep the carburetor clean and make sure your bike starts up and runs smoothly whenever you decide to take it out for Spring or just a spin around the block!
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We hope this information provides you with a bit more insight and information on how to avoid poor running scooters and costly repairs.
As always, if you ever have any questions about this or other topics, feel free to call us at any time!