I’ve nested this page under Yamaha QT50 troubleshooting and I’ll reference the qt50 specifically, but these tips can apply to all mopeds and/or nopeds when it comes to winterizing your ped.
Personally, I probably won’t do anything to most of my nopeds because I’ll ride them throughout the winter. Well, on second thought, I’ll winterize at least two of them and ride the other three from time to time. If you aren’t planning to ride your moped a couple times a month throughout the winter, then you should take these steps to winterize it.
1. Gas. You need to do something with the gas in your fuel tank. You can drain all gas from the tank and the carburetor and then lightly coat the inside of your gas tank with a little two stroke oil or other light oil such as WD-40 to prevent rust.
You could leave the gas in your system and add a fuel stabilizer such as Sta-Bil to the gas. You will want to run your bike for 5-10 minutes to get the Sta-Bil circulated throughout the fuel system and carburetor. I would also add a little 2 stroke oil to the fuel to help prevent rust.
Another option is to run your tank dry and then fill with TruFuel or other ethanol-free gasoline.
2. Battery. You will either want to remove your battery and bring it in out of the cold or leave it on the bike and hook a battery tender to it once or twice a month to keep it charged.
3. Spark plug. You should remove the spark plug, add several drops of 2 stroke oil into the cylinder through the spark plug hole and then re-install the spark plug. This will help prevent rust and keep things lubricated.
Those three steps are basically all you have to do to winterize your ped. Of course, you should store it inside. If you can’t store it inside, cover it with one or two gas grill covers. I’ve found that one cover isn’t completely waterproof; however, two are.
Beyond this, winter is a great time to address the little issues that have been bugging you all riding season so that you are ready to go next spring. But, at the very least, take these three simple steps to get your ped ready for the winter.