Spring Resurection

[DumbLuck]

Spring will sprung at 7:07pm central time today, it's time to roll the rock away from the cave mouth (or in my case open the garage door) and resurect the Skooters for the season. Bring them back to life. Looking at the Mechanics 101 threads, two of three posts seem to be about a bike not starting after storage, or running like crud. I believe it's time to put a list of hints, tips, and tricks in one thread devoted to the spring time ritual of bringing the Skooters back to life.

Simple things from checking tires for soundness, inflation, tread, aquired oil coating, etc. Battery charge, lights, worn cables and wires. Flushing out the old gas from tank and carb float bowls, spring oil change, Chain adjustment & lube, fork seals. Other fluids, brakes, tool kit, riding gear. What do we look at, what do we look for in this spring readyness inspection.

What do you do to get ready for the season? What do you check, how do you check it, any tips, tricks, warnings. Gytr wrote well about road conditions being trecherous with sand and slime from the winter, we need to have the mechanicals ready to go too. Lets share what we've learned over the years so everyone can get a good start, and have a safe, fun season.

[scottynoface]

Go over fairing bolts and check to make sure they are still locked down, make sure plugs are still good, +1 on the spring oil change

[Fox Fader]

The season never ends here!

[hardlydangerous]

Brake fluid is often overlooked and should be changed once a year as well as it attracts moisture.
I usually change the fork fluid as well. It's cheap and changing it often will save the seals and bushings
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[MadKatter]

Mine runs all year, but make sure your tool kit and emergency kit is ready to go. Oh yeah... I keep my book and registration in a Ziplock bag make sure you check your bag for holes, mine got wet.

[Dexter]

Tires are the most important thing to check before the season begins IMO.

On a side note, if you've stored outdoors in the cold, you should have removed your battery to conditioned space so it could be monitored and charged when required. If you haven't done that, pull the battery and check the levels and charge.

I also grease all the lubrication points, including the buttons on the controls (silicone spray)

[GytRDunKat]

Hey Rich, I keep meaning to respond to this... just remembered.

Here goes. If you didn't follow this How-To to store your motorcycle, you can still use the section to bring it out of storage...

http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/motorcycle/how_to/mc_storage.html

It's understood that some folks purchase thier bikes after the storage process, or lack of, has already been taken care of. To be completely honest, I don't follow everything in that how to, but a good chunk of it. If the bike is new to you, and you don't know the service history, or lack of, I'd say plan on syncing the valves/carb tune depending on mileage and general maintenance gathered from a good manual and KR.

Carry on.