Finally the weather is warm enough for you to get back onto your bike for a much anticipated first ride of the year! Don't get too excited yet... you'll have a little bit of work to do, but for your iron horse, it is worth it, isn't it?
First of all, once you take the cover off of your bike, you'll want to check the tire pressure with your tire gauge. No self-respecting bike rider should be without a tire gauge. Remove your bike from the stands (if applicable) and you will want to wash her off. Aside from removing dust from your bike and removing any extra WD40 or anything else that may have gotten on your bike during storage, you'll certainly want to wash her off so that she sparkles like a diamond in the sun.
You will want to install the battery back into your bike, making sure that it is clean and charged. If you have kept your battery clean, warm and charged variously throughout the winter, this should not be an issue.
For people with bikes that have a fuel petcock, you can now turn on your fuel system. For settings on your fuel petcock, you will want to set the petcock to the "PRI" setting. Leave it for only about twenty seconds, then turn it to the "ON" setting. If there is no "PRI" setting, you can simply turn it on. For fuel pump bikes, set your kill switch to "RUN".
If you have placed any kinds of covers on any of your intakes or exhausts, you can remove those now. You are now closer than ever to that first ride. Move your bike into an area with great ventilation, and ladies and gentleman, you may start those engines! You can run your bike for about twenty minutes, or for the amount of time it takes for the fan to come on two times. If you have a fuel system, turn it off.
As much as you don't want to, you should really do an oil change now. You can put some great quality stuff in now, rather than the cheap oil you used for winter storage. Now that your bike has an entirely full tank of gas in it, you better go burn all of it of, and then put some kind of additive fuel system cleaner (like Techron or something similar) for the next two tanks worth or so, and remember to change the spark plugs. Enjoy this seasons riding!
