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winter storage question

5K views 30 replies 16 participants last post by  BP6666VR 
#1 ·
I have done some quick searching on here and I might have missed it but I have a few questions about winter storage. Now, I know for sport bikes you can just put them on frame stands and now worry about the tires getting flat spots, but what about cruisers? I didn't know if we can use frame stands as well, or if there is another way to get my bike off the wheels and not let the suspension sag. Also do I need to worry about any of the fluids? It will be in a garage all winter and on a battery maintainer. I am in central Illinois so it does get rather chilly here in the winter.
 
#2 ·
I store mine in a shed with a wood floor so no worries about flat spotting the tires. If you don't have a wood floor, your XC will be perfectly fine if you want to put it up on bike lift for the season or you can find some wood pieces to put under the tires.
I don't know if it does much, but I over pressure my tires by ~5lbs as part of my winter storage routine.
 
#3 ·
Since 1998 I've stored my bikes on a concrete garage floor and I don't think I noticed flat-spotted tires.
 
#4 ·
You have too look more closely ..........



cheers
 
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#7 ·
Paulie has great advice and I will embellish it by adding - re the fuel stabilizer, on the last ride, take it with you and add it when topping off the tank at a nearby gas station, preferably with non-ethanol gas. This way, it will be all through the fuel system by the time you get home.
PaiN sez add 5 psi to the tires, good advice too - that would make it 46ish psi for me. And don't forget the rear shock - I keep it at 30 psi.
We don't get terribly cold here in the Pacific Northwet, but it does rain on our parade a lot. So while the NW Rain Festival is in full swing, I do my bike projects like changing fork oil, bleeding the brakes (Speed Bleeders make that a fun thing), and any other things you would not want to interrupt the riding season for. Fortunately,mine is an attached garage, so its comfortable enough to work in during the winter.
 
#8 ·
take any half open oil containers in side to prevent condensation. All so take your waxs in the house and special paints.

I park the vision up on the air lift so tires are sitting on the metal bed for 5 months. In spring I have noticed a little trumping when riding for maybe 20 to 30 miles and then they smooth right out.

DON'T start the bike let it sit. Running it does NO good but it will do harm.
 
#9 ·
Idaho gets pretty cold, and around mid-November I usually give up and roll the bikes into my 100-year-old detached garage, which is basically a rickety shack with a concrete floor. A little fuel stabilizer, hook up the battery tenders, and walk away. I have pigtails on both bikes' batteries, so there's no farting around with hooking up the tenders, either.
 
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#10 ·
I have pigtails on both bikes' batteries, so there's no farting around with hooking up the tenders, either.
Quick-disconnects FTW :D
 
#11 ·
LALALALALA I don't recognize these words....what is this winter storage you speak of? .....lol
 
#13 ·
My was never heated unless I was out in it, so from October from the end of April, unless I have my little heaters going or when I finally kicked on the wood stove none of my bikes stayed in a heated garage, that tender kept em all going, four bikes at the most at once, every other day I would come out and switch it to another bike, till gramps surprised me with a four bank charger one year for my birthday, Then the stable got smaller and smaller, till we moved it over to gramps for good, for his generator and lawn mowers and stuff like that. Heck sometimes I get lucky here at work and people trade their bikes in and forget about the leads, that's why both my car and truck have leads on them and so does my snowblower and ATV's.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I used to fog the cylinders when I lived in a different location. Also a lot of other serious prep for winter where -40 is not unheard of. Battery inside, vinyl seat inside, cylinders fogged, fuel stabilized, lines run dry, everything spotless, no bugs or unpolished wax, breathable cover, and no peeking for 5 months. Another set of routines in the spring.

As for flat spots on the tires, never heard of that after a short storage however anyone in the northern zones knows what square tires in the dead of winter are on the car.
 
#18 ·
I live maybe 25 miles from you. My winter strategy is to move the bike where it won't get snow on it and then go out and ride it whenever the roads are clear. Worst case has been where it took me 3 or 4 days to clear the driveway so I could get out to a cleared road without landing on the tipovers.
I was out riding this day.

The bike never sits long enough to need fuel stabilizers or a battery tender. I use the tender for the riding mower.
 
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#19 ·
park mine for 5 months. Fill up gas tank to the top. Hook up battery tender. Cover bike. Then it sits in the garage where it gets down to around 10° above zero. I never touch it till spring.

The guys at the vic shop said if you're going to ride and the temps are around 40° or less. They say put a light like a trouble light under bike for a half hour to warm up the cases and oil. They said it really helps
 
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#20 ·
A trouble light doesn't put out as much heat as a space heater does. I have one with a fan in it and aim it at the engine/tranny about an hour prior to a cold start. That gets the oil, and the cylinders warmed and makes life easier for the battery and starter.
And you guys who are new to this, during the winter hibernation, never, never, never start the engine and just run it for a few minutes. Does far more harm than good. Only start it if you are going for a ride long enough to get the oil up to operating temp, like a 1/2 hour or more.
Hibernation = Take a fuel stabilizer along on the last ride and at the gas station closest to home, top up full (preferably with gas with no ethanol) and add the proper amount of stabilizer. This way, it will be blended all through the system by the time you get home. Hook up an automatic trickle (float) charger to the battery, fill the tires and shock to the proper PSIs and cover the bike.
 
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#21 ·
You wanna talk about oil temp and pressure??? You ever read into the Honda F1 engines? Cold the tolerances are so tight that you cant even rotate them by hand with the plugs out, they hook up the oil heaters and after about five mins they finally turn over. Another thing I remember seeing was about air plane engines in WW2, in the colder months the air force was trying to get the take off time into combat down,planes would sit over night and would not start in the morning cause the oil was too thick to let it rotate up to speed, batteries would run out before the plane fired over on its own power, that's where the oil heaters came into being, started as a external tank that was heated and the oil was ran though it up, All the way up to the little heater element that that was stuck in the oil tank or pan, same way way up north they plug in Diesels.

I have a uncle that is really big into older tractors and the group he belongs too has a lot of steam engines, from just the engines to complete turn of the century tractors and stuff like that, one of the gents has a engine out of a P-40 on a trailer and he will bring that to the meets and fire that up, the PSI gauge for the oil goes up to 500PSI, he said the oil passageways are so small that it need the high pressure and a very thin oil to make it work in the P-40, said it keep the engine more compact and reliable, even though he has a 12 foot trailer he hauls the thing around on.
 
#26 ·
Hibernating on old oil is not a good thing cuz it contains acids that are a byproduct of combustion. Those acids can eat away at critical parts and surfaces.
 
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#27 ·
This part of Idaho only gets truly cold for a month or so each year. Teens during the day, single digits at night. Usually in December or January. I've had a couple rigs with block heaters installed, but none of them really needed them. My '89 Blazer had one in the water galley, and the only time I used that was when it broke down one winter. I plugged it in and it kept the engine compartment toasty while I farted around with it in 17 degree temps. Pretty handy.
 
#28 ·
I'm pretty much in the same area as you, but we do get a bit colder than you. My diesel truck has a heater in it, but it very rarely gets used. I don't drive that truck a whole lot in the winter anyway.

I will definitely be taking some of these winterizing tips for this year on the bike. Great thread.
 
#31 ·
please check post #16 ...

Andre
@
TaPaTaLk
 
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