Ahh, summer time... time to break out your lawnmowers, ATVs and motorcycles.
The worst day in a SledAddicts life.
It’s the day we head out to the garage, crack open a cold one, and put away our trusty steeds for the summer hibernation.
Most people out there bring them to the dealer to pay anywhere from 50-80 dollars to have them summerized. But not us SledAddicts here in the Garage. We go to the local corner store pick up some refreshments and get at er!
-
First thing is to give the machine a good inspection. Look for anything out of the ordinary like cracks, loose bolts etc. DON’T WAIT TO FIX THEM....you will forget! You will be scootin up the trail next season and bammo, your shock falls off and you get pitched off. Not the way to start a season.
-
Then, check your track, belt, carbides, hyfax, and any other control areas. If anything looks worn, replace them. Saves lots of time and aggrivation once the fluffy stuff flys next fall.
-
Also make sure your tank is topped up with fresh gas and then use stabilizer in it to keep it mostly fresh to burn next season. It’s a good thing to top off all fluids as no condensation will accumulate over the summer. Remember, gas good, water bad.
-
After you have inspected all things inside and out and tighted and/or replaced any loose, missing or worn parts its time to move on to the motor. Pick up a good fogging product for summer storage. This is a little tricky but follow the instructions on the can and you should be fine. This gets a little smoky when you do it so make sure the doors and windows are open in your garage, or better yet, wheel the chariot outside on sled movers and do it outside. And whatever you do, DO NOT do this inside your garage if you have an attached garage, You will get a broom up the side the head! Just Joking!.
-
After you fogged the motor, pour a little injector oil down each cyl to keep everything nice and clean of rust inside. Another product that is great for summer are the plugs that insert into the spark plug holes and remove any mositure from the motor. Remember to pull them in the fall because they do not make your sled easier to start.
-
Last thing for summerization is a good cleaning, waxing and protectant of all plastic, rubber, leather on your sled. I recommend Mothers car care products to do a good job. Wash and wax any shiny type plastics, use showtime protectant on all belly pan type plastics inside and out and on the SIDES of the seat. Doing the top is your call, it makes it slippery, I don’t like it, you might. After its all dry and shiny, wheel it back into the garage, stick a rag into the exhaust and cover it up for the long warm summer.
Remember doing this only takes a couple of hrs and you do a much better job than the dealers who just do the minimum to keep your machine running. As a side benifit you get to enjoy staring at your sled for a few extra hrs while sipping on a few cold ones and the bbq on the glow!
I hope this article will get you motivated to start doing your own work on your sled and save money and learn new stuff!
Keep the rubber side down.
SledAddicts.com Tech Editor,
Steve Adams
Go Back To the Main Garage