The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

Battery tenders are computerized to watch the battery voltage. They are safe to leave on all winter because they only put current into the battery if it gets low. A trickle charger puts a small but constant current into the battery and will over charge it if left on all winter. I started to use a battery tender five years ago and have not replaced a battery since.

We easily blew away our last low record temperature set in 1959 of 23 F when it got to 14 F this morning. It got up to 37 F by 3pm - whew. This is unusual. Snow tomorrow.

w951sqj1 wrote: I put it up on the center stand to take some of the weight off the tires. Is there anything else I should do?

Rotate the grounded front wheel occasionally to avoid a flat spot and inflate tires fully or a couple pounds more even.

I've left my scoots hooked up to a battery tender all winter for the last 5 years also with no problems.

I am a new Forza 300 2014 owner. The bike was new, dealer leftover. I am used to winterizing my 1st scooter PGO/Buddy 150 cc with Seafoam. The 1st bike was 2009 and had a carb. Forza does not. Seafoam was great for keeping fuel fresh and keeping carbs clean but I am not sure this is what Forza needs. Mechanic suggested Sta-bil. I've never used it and people with smaller scooter at times had problems in the spring starting their bikes. So I am not sure what to do. Has anyone used Seafoam winterizing their Forza? I have no problem. Buying Sta-bil but I am curious...

I have had my Forza through 2 winters in wisconsin. First year I took the battery out to trickle charge and added Sta-bil to the fuel. Worked great and had no problem starting with Sta-bil in the gas. Second year I did not add anything to the gas (moved and could not find the Sta-bil bottle) and did not take the battery out. I didn't' take the battery out because it was a nightmare getting back in. Never again. I did take it out several times during the winter months ( when dry & no ice) to warm it up and keep battery charged. Once again no problems and will probably do the year 2 again but may buy some more Sta-bil for the gas. Hope that helps

These Honda's are made well, so not much of anything really needs to be done, but if you are anal about it, you might want to treat the vinyl and rubber components with some silicone or protectant. Make sure the silicone is suitable for plastic. Make sure the tires are up off the ground and on the center stand, and fully inflated. Check or change the antifreeze, change the oil and then run the engine. Batteries are the culprit usually. I would remove it and store at room temperature and keep it on a trickle charger. You can remove the spark plug and spray in some oil fog or Marvel Mystery oil and rotate it a couple times. I would run it once or twice a month and get the engine nice and hot if you do not treat the engine as started above. Finally put it away nice and clean and free of any corrosive road chemicals that might be lingering. Cover it with a breathable fabric and see you next spring.

The only thing I do in winter is switch the grip heaters to start and go riding. I will confess to putting a fleece jacket under my usual puffer jacket though (I'm getting soft in my old age).

I have battery tender leads on the battery. the scoot is stored in a "Shed-in-a-Box" shelter in the backyard. I measure gasoline stabilizer in then I fill the tank in the fall (with 10% EtOH gas - can't get pure in my state). I trot out the charger on the first and fifteenth of the month and top up the battery. If we are REALLY lucky, I might get a ride or two in over the winter. Come spring, both scoots have simply started and I have gone on my merry way.

I would not put too much angst into winter storage.

BTW - if you do decide to put protectant (Armor-All or whatever you might use on your car vinyl) on your plastics, don't put it on your seat. It will take years for it to wear off to where you don't slide around on acceleration and, more noticeably, deceleration. If you carry a pillion, you will hear about it for the rest of your life.

[quote="Stormswift"]I am a new Forza 300 2014 owner. The bike was new, dealer leftover. I am used to winterizing my 1st scooter PGO/Buddy 150 cc with Seafoam. The 1st bike was 2009 and had a carb. Forza does not. Seafoam was great for keeping fuel fresh and keeping carbs clean but I am not sure this is what Forza needs. Mechanic suggested Sta-bil. I've never used it and people with smaller scooter at times had problems in the spring starting their bikes. So I am not sure what to do. Has anyone used Seafoam winterizing their Forza? I have no problem. Buying Sta-bil but I am curious...[/quot

I used it last year, works just fine, plus I filled the tank with non-ethanol. I also shoot some storage
oil through the intake with the air filter off and let it 'smoke' a little while (just a few seconds, then
kill the engine). After that I just make sure the engine is on Compression stroke by slowly rotating
the variator till appropriate resistance is felt.

The worst part is battery removal/installation. Used to take about half an hour, and a lot of profanities,
too. Something had to be done, so I dremeled-out the bleeping cover till it fit without a fight, then
decided to use only one of its three mounting bolts, the front one (the other two's heads can
be seen where I drilled 1/2" holes in the cover -- they still serve as battery box mountings! Now takes
about 5 mins to remove/install the battery (with short rubbers placed under each pole nut).

I chose to remove the battery since the Forza is stored in the COLD. I mean COLD. Otherwise a
tender would be preferable, as done by many.