Shelter and Cover find a sheltered location and use a properly designed bike cover, not an old bed sheet or tarpaulin. Even in a dry garage an old bed sheet will attract and retain moisture which will be in contact with the bike, and that will cause rust. A tarpaulin will prevent moisture falling onto the bike but will also prevent moisture getting out; if you haven’t got a car port to put the bike under and need to resort to a tarpaulin, put it over a frame to keep it off the bike and put a proper bike cover on the bike underneath. Covering the bike properly will also protect it against unnecessary UV light which will fade the paint and plastic parts.

Change the engine oil and filter. Even if the oil is not due for a change, by products of combustion produce acids in the oil which will harm the inner metal surfaces. An extra engine oil and filter change is easy and inexpensive and it will benefit your engine considerably.

Add fuel stabiliser, empty Carbs. Fill the fuel tank with fresh petrol but do not overfill, to leave room for the fuel to expand. Add fuel stabiliser to the tank and run the engine for a few minuets to get the fuel in all areas, this will prevent the fuel from going stale and prevent moisture accumulation. Shut off the fuel petcock and drain the carbs and fuel lines. Of course if you have a fuel injected bike there isn’t anything to drain. Petrol goes stale because the lighter aromatics evaporate leaving a thicker, sour smelling liquid; if left long enough it will turn into a gum, plugging the jets in the carbs.

Oil in the Cylinders If the cylinder wall is left unprotected for a long period of time, they will rust and cause premature piston and ring wear. If your bike is going to be stored for months remove the spark plugs and pour a tablespoon (5cc) of clean engine oil or fogging oil in each cylinder. With the fuel cock off or the kill switch to off, crank the engine several revolutions and then reinstall the spark plugs. Don’t put the plugs back in until after the engine has been cranked to prevent the oil you have poured into the cylinders causing a hydraulic lock.

Light oil over metal surfaces Lightly wet a clean rag with light machine oil and wipe over all chrome and exposed metal surfaces (not brake disc’s)

Battery Storage The bike’s battery must be removed or at least disconnected from the motorcycle whilst it is in storage. Motorcycles draw a small current even when switched off and a discharged battery will sulphate. With a conventional, liquid cell battery, top up the electrolyte with distilled water and then charge the battery. Gel batteries are sealed and don’t need topping up. All lead acid batteries should be charged regularly while in storage, ideally every 2 weeks. Use a charger that has an output 10% of the amp hour rating of the battery. For example, if the battery is 20 amp hours, then the charge rate should not exceed 2 amp. Use an Optimiser if you have one.

Fluids – Check or change If the brake or clutch fluids have not been changed in the last 2 years or 12000 miles, do it now. These fluids are hygroscopic which means they absorb moisture. The moisture in the fluid will cause corrosion of the brake pistons. The bikes coolant should also be changed every 2 years or 24000 miles

Final Preparation Give the bike a good cleaning and dry it thoroughly. Spray light oil (WD40) into the exhaust ends and drain holes, pump up the tyres to the specified pressure and put the bike on the center stand. If storage for a long time rotate front wheel every now and again. Now cover the bike. Resist the temptation to run the engine over the storage period, this leads to condensation due to engine and combustion by products.

Fill Holes Just an idea, if your storage area is dryer and warmer than outside you may get unwanted visitors crawling into nice quiet orifices i.e. exhaust ends, behind side panels and even under the seat, in panniers or the top box through any and all holes available. Its well worth a periodic check now and again. and hopefully next year we can look forward to both the bike and rider coming out of hibernation and being in a fit state to enjoy riding in glorious sunshine.

Dave Partridge Awingaway

The location of the venue is bang on the Southern start point of the Illuminations with enough room to muster the Parade in safety and offering direct access to and from the Parade Route.

Details of all hotels and accomodation rates can be found on the Goldwing Light Parade Accommodation page of the website.

Swallow Hotel

It was great to see everyone at the October meeting, especially Dave Baylis who’s back after a medical procedure. The nice surprise was three new applicants signed up for membership, plus we had a Goldwing owner interested in the club and a visitor who turned up on the spur of the moment. I’m sorry if I don’t mention all your names here  but welcome to Goldwings North West. You caught us with a very busy meeting with lots of reports to get through. It’s not normally that intense. For those who joined and had their photo’s captured, have a look in the members section, you’ll be amongst good company. If you didn’t join the club today, I trust you enjoyed the meeting and had a taste of what the club is about, your welcome to download the application form and send it to the secretary at any time.

See you all at the next meeting or the Salvation Army Toy Run on the 7th November.

Or to quote him recently, “The stick has been burned at the stake!!!!!!! You will not know the new me ! ,except for a couple of things which will come apparent when we come to the meeting.”

Can’t wait to see the new improved Dave v 2.0!  (Ed)

Eureka, I have found it.

The very first visit to the Island Classic Vehicle event turned out to be a really good day. The highlite was just as we left the Swallow Hotel at the start of the run. Ted immediately left the pack and pulled up on the side of the road. Luckily Bill informed us on the CB that Ted had a problem, almost instantly he was back on the air telling us all was well and we carried on to Lytham St Annes. It wasn’t until half way through the day Ted was spotted brandishing a lump of twisted scrap metal and proudly telling everyone he had found it. I would have kept that quiet myself but anyway turns out the piece of junk was something that had fallen off his bike on the previous run out and Ted seeing it fall away said goodbye to it, expecting never to see it again. At least Ted was a happy bunny for the rest of the day. As for the Island Classic Vehicle event, it would appear this is an annual affair and was in its 10th year. Amazing you can take part in so many events and miss the ones on your doorstep. Weather was kind and the two café’s on site were both visited in the name of research.  The charity did rather well, due mainly to the fact that no other collection buckets were on view and the visiting public delighted in seeing the Goldwings on display. The display of vehicles was top notch with a wide variety of cars trucks and bikes to see. Suffice it to say we have an invite for next year. See the pictures from the show here

The famous Red Arrows display team

Well that was a good day. The meeting in the morning went well, good turn out as usual and an opportunity to chat with some of Lancs & Lakes members in the car park who were on a run out today. Good to see Garry & Joyce back in the fold and also Tony and Christine Frost back with us. Whose idea was it to go to Southport Air show after the meeting? After leaving the Swallow at 11:10 it took over 2 hours through traffic to get to Southport. It was worth it after all the messing about. The solo’s went ahead and arrived in plenty of time to see the Red Arrows doing their stuff whilst the combinations and their escort missed them by around 10 minutes. We all managed to get parked up by the side of the pier head outside the café down by the lake side. Several unknown Goldwing’s tagged along and parked up with us, presenting a formidable sight.

Apparently the Air Show cost £25.00 to park your car on the beach and view the displays. No idea why anyone would want to do that when you get an excellent view of the display virtually anywhere within Southport. First thing on the agenda was a good portion of Fish & Chips from the Pier Café, suitably fed and watered we settled down to watch the aircraft display. The highlight was the Vulcan bomber which arrived a little late around 4:15 pm. and gave a superb display along the promenade area. By 5:00 most wingers had decided to risk the traffic chaos and make their ways home. Good day had by all.

Thursday’s advance party turned up in glorious sunshine and had the pick of spots to set up their caravan’s and motor homes. Little work actually took place on the Thursday due to us all taking the opportunity to have a sit in the sunshine and polish of some Pim’s and Famous Grouse shandy. Friday morning came with the same weather plus the marquee, trestle tables and bar b cue equipment. Its amazing what you can pack into a trailer. The fun began when we decided to erect the marquee without any instructions. Stuart confirmed he had seen the structure before and had a clue as to what it should look like but had no idea how it went together. Surprisingly the whole thing came together quite quickly and in no time the marquee was erected and pegged down for the Saturday’s event. The photo gallery gives an impression of the chaos created during the build. Many more Goldwing North West members and their guests started to arrive during the afternoon along with our friends from Goldwings North Wales and the guys from Southport  Cruisers. Barry turned up with yet another type of abode, this dwelling however needed the assistance of almost everyone on site to get it erected. By the time it was all up you could haver parked half a dozen wings in the tent area and host the bar b cue at the same time, talk about luxury. I wonder what he will turn up with next time.  The evening ended with us all retiring to the club house for a few beers and an opportunity to meet new people. No idea what time it all ended but everyone seemed to having a good time talking to old and new friends. Saturday dawned to wet weather, this however didn’t deter several members from going on a ride out around the locality. As the day progressed the weather just got worse and the rain and wind looked like putting an end to the bar b cue.  Thankfully the immediate past weather master weaved his magic and by 3:15 the sky was clear and amazingly the sun shone. Allegedly 20 miles south in Preston the weather had been good all day long. As the sun shone more and more visitors started to arrive. Stuart fired up the bar b cue and the ladies prepared salads and buns. John and Toni brought along two legs of lamb which had been marinating for three days previously. Both legs were dumped on the barbie along with a feast of other delights. By the time the first meat was being served almost 60 members and visitors had gathered in and around the marquee, the sun shone and a splendid evening began. A couple of Harleys and several Goldwings took centre stage in the sunshine and lots of beer and food were consumed. Who would have thought that 2 hours previously it was almost all off.