How To Winterize Your ATV

Rocky Mountain ATV may have dropped this helpful video several years ago but the lessons still apply. If you’re one of the folks who tend to park their quad for extended periods of time, or swap them for snowmobiles during the colder months of the year, it’s worth your time to pay attention to these important steps of winterizing. Your rig will thank you and future-you will thank you come springtime.

Fuel is the most important part of winterizing your vehicle. Normal pump gas contains ethanol which is fine for regular use but results in a bad time when left to sit inside your fuel system. We discussed  this in more detail over at UTV Driver this time last year. Essentially, if you can source and fill up with 100 percent gasoline, then do it. Otherwise, use a high-quality fuel stabilizer that’s been run through your entire fuel system before being parked. Remember to empty those carburetor bowls.

It’s also an ideal time to do all of that general maintenance. Clean the air filter, check those tires, grease important bearings, clean or swap those neglected chains, and flush that radiator. Doing it before winter means you’re ready to hit the trails on the first day of spring.

The last bullet we’ll bring up is the battery. There are a few different options to tackle this important part of winterizing your ATV that can be distilled down to one simple act: Plug it into a battery tender. Whether you leave the battery in the vehicle or yank it out to keep it somewhere warm, it needs to be hooked up to a smart battery tender that can keep it optimized during long periods of nonuse.