Hi guys,

First, thanks for any input and help I receive. Really appreciate your time here. I'll try to keep this short..

I have a savage 650, 2003 with about 12k miles. Had planned to ride it all through this winter but with how cold this one was and some other things going on in life, I didn't ride much past fall.

Went to start it in December and battery was dead. Have left it outside and covered, exactly as is, all winter and now with spring almost here I'm feeling like an idiot for not doing anything to winterize.

I know I'm probably going to need a new battery because this one has been dead and frozen for too too long.

As for other things I must do to get it safe and sound and working, I'm not fully sure. That's where I wanted to ask for you guys to help me with coming up with sort of a list I can go through.

I have a Clymer manual and am pretty handy/mechanical for a gal so I'll be doing all the work myself.

I just don't want to miss anything crucial.

Also, can someone reassure me that I didn't kill my bike by being such a bad mother to it this year? You can also yell at me for it.

Thanks again for any input and for your time!

Thanks, Dave. Will do.

Thank you and thank you!! As much as I love winter, I can't wait for the weather to warm up!

1.  Try charging the battery first, before just buying a new one, though if it was "dead" it may have frozen and be no good.  You might need to refill with distilled water too.  

I am still on my original '07 battery.  It is often fairly dead by spring, but charges up again OK.  

(It was in an unheated shed all this winter and came back dead.)  My bike is not roadworthy yet, but the battery took and is holding a charge after being topped off with distilled h2o

2.  I drained my old gas from October and topped off my Ford Explorer tank with it.  (thrifty!)

3.  Better check all your turn signals, lights.  They have a tendency to quit working after a winter out.