sooo, I think you missed the first part of my first post, I lost my key in January. I normally ride year round unless there is ice on the roads, so the whole storing it for winter isn't usually an issue... this time I didn't have a key even to unlock my steering let alone get into the gas tank. If I ever do need to store it for winter, I will definitely do the whole winterizing routine, battery on the tender, fuel stabilizer, etc. believe it or not, I actually went through all the proper procedures for checking the bike (tires and chain after I found it it started, oil before trying to start it!)