If you live anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line, then it's a safe bet that you'll need to winterize your motorcycle, unless you plan on starting it at least once a month over the winter. Even so, winter can be a harsh environment for a bike that has been sitting, so the main goal in winterizing a bike is to avoid corrosion.

The gas tank, cylinder walls, piston rings and valve seats are the most important areas to protect from moisture in you bike which may be eager to prove the theory of water expansion during freezing. The last thing you want is for your cylinder walls to get all pitted with rust, or to shell out dough for a head replacement due to messed up valve seats. If you let that happen to your favorite machine, then I suppose you are due for a head replacement. (sorry, couldn't resist)

Anyway, a decent winterizing job can be done in less than 45 minutes, so there's really not much of an excuse not to do it. Even for those of you with multiple bikes (ahem), you can easily perform the following steps on multiple bikes at a time.

So, the first thing to do is to warm up the engine. This may be a good time to take your (gulp) last ride of the year. I recommend taking a nice leisurely jaunt of five to ten minutes or so at the least. In addition to reminding you of how much you love your bike, you will evaporate off any moisture that may have nestled its way into the engine. On your way home, stop at a gas station and fill your tank up with high octane gas. Fill the tank all the way to the top.

When you get home, and have turned the engine off, take out the spark plugs and squirt about 25 cc of fresh engine oil into each spark plug hole. A turkey baster or oil pump is well suited for this task.

The next step is to turn the engine over by hand to coat the cylinder walls, valve seats and piston rings. Need I remind you that the engine is off and the spark plugs are still out? That's right. So, click the bike into top gear and turn the back wheel by hand. I actually find it easiest to put it in high gear and push the bike forward. You'll be able to hear air whistling through the spark plug holes, and I must caution you that oil may squirt out of the holes, as well.

Put the plugs back in and drain the remaining crankcase oil. Be careful if you have inquisitive dogs who may want to help you drain the oil. Dogs who could give a shit either way are best left to their own devices.

After you've drained the old oil, fill the crankcase with fresh oil. You can keep your old oil filter if you plan on ditching this oil in the Spring. However, if you plan on keeping this fresh oil when Spring rolls around, then be sure to replace the old oil filter first.

You can now rest assured that your piston rings will not rust to the cylinder wall, but don't think you're done here. We still have to make sure that the fuel system is adequately protected ...

If you had followed the instructions earlier, you have already filled your gas tank up to the top with high octane fuel. Now you want to treat this gas with Sta-Bil or some other equivalent gasoline stabilizer. Most auto-supply stores sell these types of products nowadays, but if you live in a rural area or somewhere that hasn't befallen to the Walmart equivalent of automotive-retail, you can find products like Sta-Bil at marine supply stores.

Read the directions on the Sta-Bil package to determine how much to put in your tank. This year, I actually treated my tank with Sta-Bil before going on my "last ride of the year", thus ensuring that the stuff worked its way through the fuel system at least a little bit.

Another good thing to do is drain your float bowls (if you have a carbureted bike). Most bikes have a small screw that will release the contents of the float bowl when loosened. On the Hawk, there is a nifty little float drain stem through which the gas will be released.

It's not so easy to see in this picture, but a piece of tubing (obtainable at any hardware store) will fit on the float drain stem to make sure that the released gas doesn't spill out all over your engine. Any gas left in the float for more than a couple moths will basically convert itself to polyurethane and sludge up your jets, resulting in a carb-overhaul just when you want to be riding next Spring.

An easy extra precautionary step you can take is to squirt some Gumout or other type of carb-cleaner up the float drain stem before tightening the release screw again. I couldn't really get the small straw on the Gumout can to reach the drain stem on the Hawk, so a small length of tubing helped me blast some "petroleum distillates" up there.

Next, yank your bike's battery and hook a Smart Battery Tender up to it. If your bike's battery is not of the maintenance-free type, be sure to top off the electrolyte with water. If necessary, a little grease on the treads of the battery bolts will keep them free of corrosion.

Now, you're almost done. Clean the bird shit and dead bugs off of your bike. Be especially sure to get this kinda crap cleaned up off of any chrome or other metal parts (like your fork tubes). A nice quick wipe over of the aluminum parts with a product like "Mothers" would be a good idea. Lube the chain with an approved lubricant.

Wax the bike's tank and get some rubber protector on the rubber parts to keep them from drying out. If you live where it gets really cold (like Detroit), you should make sure your coolant has enough antifreeze in it to keep the system from freezing. Don't let any inquisitive dogs within 100 miles of coolant! One little lap of the stuff will kill even a large dog. Anyway, you can use a hydrometer (again, available at an auto parts mega mart) to check your coolant. If you have open tail pipes, you may want to plug them to keep out rodents eager to find a place to nest for the winter.

Put your bike up on its center stand (if it has one) to keep its fluids level, and throw a tarp over it if you have one. In the Spring, it would be a good idea to consider changing the brake fluid, which can pick up water from the atmosphere.

Your bike will thank you for performing the above steps by running perfectly in the Spring.

The above steps were inspired by an article by Michael Ross on the AMA Superbike web site.