How do I care for a stored bike?

C

chickennugget128

New member
My husband was sent to Korea for a year, and I have to store his bike until he returns. It's too big for me to ride, so I've been cranking it once a week and rolling it out of the garage and then back in. It's his baby, so I'm a little nervous about asking someone to ride it, but I don't know if what I'm doing is enough to keep it from becoming a real maintenance nightmare.

I know I will need to service it before he returns, and I can call the dealer to pick it up for that. But what about the meantime?
 
I'll leave it to the Northern contingent to give you an accurate answer on this one...

jeez - - it's not even September and already I have this irrepressible urge to needle the Yanks and Canadians about putting bikes up for the winter:twisted:
 
Starting it every once in a while is ok for now, but it is not good to do it during the winter months. Starting a cold engine for only a few minutes in the winter creates moisture which can lead to rust, inside and out.

Once you park if for the winter for good follow these steps.
Give it a good cleaning and wax all painted surfaces.
If you keep it in a garage, all you need to do is get a good fogging oil from your dealer and follow the instructions on the can. Second put a fesh tank of gas in and add a fuel stabilizer. You can get this from Wal-Mart, Auto Zone, etc.
If it is kept parked on a concrete floor, place some ply-wood or some thick cardboard under tires to help prevent cracking. Cold concrete can draw the oils and moisture from the tires causing them to crack if they are sitting for a while.
Remove the battery and keep it someplace above freezing. Preferably at room temperature.
Last, cover the bike with a good breathable cover to keep the dust off.

I am in the military, too and I have done these few simple things when I have left for a long period of time and I had no trouble getting things going again when I returned.
 
In addition to what Chicster said, turn off the fuel petcock, start the motor, and run the bike until it dies. This will run all the gas out of the carbs, so they won't gum up.

You might want to think about a battery tender or trickle charger. The battery is going to be dead in a year no matter if you take it out of the bike or not, but if you put a trickle charger on itthe battery will stay fully charged until his return.

An old cotton bed sheet is perfect to cover the bike with in the garage if you don't have a bike cover already.
 
Thanks for the advice! I will do the same for my bike this winter as well. It gets much colder here than it did in Mississippi, so wintering anything has been a new experience.

I'm think I'm going to use the time he's gone to save and buy some of the things he wants to mod his bike. I don't want my bike to look better than his when he gets back!
 
#1 right now is to get fuel stabilizer in the gas tank and run it though the bike for a few munutes.

You have a couple of months before winter rolls around.
 
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