Winter's here after a delayed start - it's bike storage prep time

Preparation for storing your bike this late-start winter should really have started the day you brought it out of hibernation last winter, and should recommence when you spring it after this one. Because it's not the visible raindrops on the drive that'll do the damage - it's the menace you can't see. Automotive journalist Iain Macauley explores the topic further.  

Until you've pulled a classic bike apart you'll never quite appreciate just how much damaging grunge finds its way into nooks and crannies - and festers. 

On the face of it, your bike might appear a bit dirty, but slow-death grime and muck needs to be hunted down and flushed out.   

Left in the shed or garage uncleaned may mean longer-term damage and rot can sneak up. 

Our mild and damp winters are bike killers, even if stored in seemingly enclosed spaces, sheds and garages. 

You're machine needs to go into winter storage clean and dry. Pick one of those cool, crisp days and get stuck in. A proper sponging, jetwash if you have it, and then properly dried. Sun and a bit of a breeze can generally do most of the drying, but don't be afraid to sneak the wife's or mum's hairdryer out and chase that moisture out of the crannies. 

But that's where it starts rather than finishes. 

Next, lubricate the parts that need it: oil or grease cables, lever mounts, catches, and chain. Overdoing it is fine: it consolidates the protection, and you can wipe it off next year. 

On the subject of wiping it off, lightly spray areas susceptible to corrosion or aluminium fluffing with WD40 or similar. 

Now there's great debate over whether best to almost drain or completely fill fuel tanks and systems: modern fuels have higher quantities of chemicals such as ethanol (10% in "E10") which are likely to promote rust inside a metal tank, and can damage rubber and plastic components of older carburettors. 

I run my bikes with the fuel turned off until the engine stops so emptying the carb float bowls, and removing the risk of fuel turning to gunge or jamming the floats. I run all my bikes on super-unleaded ("E5"), which is less likely to harm during storage and better for them in use, and leave a small amount in the tank (with an appropriate oil mix for my two-stroke bikes).  

While they're stored, I simply go move them about or rock them on their stands every now and again so fuel sloshes around the tank. The fumes will help prevent corrosion in the tank, and any up and down movement of the forks will also help deter fork seal failure into the bargain. 

Tyres: make sure pressures are maintained, and, if practical, move your bike's position every now and then so the weight isn't always on the same spot. Better still, use its centre stand if it has one, and I'll also deploy a variety of Heath Robinson methods to lift the front wheel clear of the ground. I also have a couple of moto-x bike lifts to raise my off-roader off the floor. 

Some bikes can also suffer from clutch plates sticking together during periods of inactivity. My '72 Yamaha DT250 has that sort of sulk after just a few days laid up, regardless of the quality of oil in its motor.  

Newer bikes - or less old ones - are usually impervious to clutch stickiness, nevertheless, go give that lever a few pulls during storage. But be prepared to have to drain and replace oil, and run your bike up to temperature before trying to engage gear for the first time after a winter stashed away. 

I've invested in some dry-storage bags for my bikes. They're motorcycle-sized (and come in various sizes) plastic bags. You lay one out, roll your bike on to it, and, admittedly, after a bit of combat (but worth it), pull it up over your bike and zip it closed. Most have some kind of damp-expunging chemical coating on the inside, but I also buy a box of dehumidifiers from my local supermarket's cleaning section - usually less than £2 each - and place one of those in as well. 

That the dehumidifier can fill up a couple of times during storage says that there's still some moisture lurking around even with the bag sealed.  

Bugs and rodents find ways into bike innards - behind panels, in air filter boxes, under tanks, even in exhausts - so it's worth considering deploying whatever tactics suit your attitude towards them, sometimes cling-film or a shopping bag deployed over any open orifice, such as air filter inlets or exhausts.  

In truth, most bikes are pretty resilient, but there's always the unexpected: I once inadvertently awoke a queen wasp from hibernation - she wasn't pleased...