How do you store your bike?

[79XS11F]

The season is done for me :-(
With overnight lows approaching and or below 0 almost every night and daytime highs rarely hitting 10 I will prep the bikes for winter storage today and over the coming week. The weather combined with the number of chores that should or must to be done around the house & yard makes it an easy decision for me this year. It RAINED so much this past summer that almost every outdoor job that was planned didn’t even get started.
I did however manage to put more miles on my bike then it has seen since I decided to buy it 3 years or so ago. That was of course because I made the trip to the rally in Vermont which was the highlight of this biking season.
With both bikes running the only question I have to ask myself is if I should store the bikes DRY this season or just add fuel stabilizer and fire them up every month.
How do you store your bike?

[Montreux_Blue]

Storage, I ride mine just about year round! What does snow look like??? I live in a totally different climate called Texas, but I have had my 67 Firebird stored in my garage for about 2-1/2 years with just Seafoam in the gas and start it up every couple months.

[Rasputin]

Every yr I have had this bike , I have simply closed the petcocks and run it till there was no fuel in the carbs. Charged the battery and that was it. That worked well for me for many yrs.
Last yr I decided to put Seafoam in the gas for the winter. I did not start it and it spent roughly half the winter in my heated garage. Never had a garage before either. This spring I went to fire it up and come to find I had gummed up carbs. That was the first time I ever had to pull carbs and clean them.
Now I aint blaming Seafoam nor my negligence in not starting it, but I do think that those factors combined with the ethanol in our gas was it.
From now on I will do as before and run the carbs dry. No way they can gum up that way. I have always charged the battery and checked fluid levels and had the fuel tank full. Full tank equals no rust. This is what has worked for me.

[79XS11F]

Storage, I ride mine just about year round! What does snow look like??? I live in a totally different climate called Texas, but I have had my 67 Firebird stored in my garage for about 2-1/2 years with just Seafoam in the gas and start it up every couple months.

So you "do something different". Us lads in the more northern areas envy these who can use their bikes and other recreational toys year round.
Rob

[79XS11F]

Every yr I have had this bike , I have simply closed the petcocks and run it till there was no fuel in the carbs. Charged the battery and that was it. That worked well for me for many yrs.
Last yr I decided to put Seafoam in the gas for the winter. I did not start it and it spent roughly half the winter in my heated garage. Never had a garage before either. This spring I went to fire it up and come to find I had gummed up carbs. That was the first time I ever had to pull carbs and clean them.
Now I aint blaming Seafoam nor my negligence in not starting it, but I do think that those factors combined with the ethanol in our gas was it.
From now on I will do as before and run the carbs dry. No way they can gum up that way. I have always charged the battery and checked fluid levels and had the fuel tank full. Full tank equals no rust. This is what has worked for me.

Perhaps the Sea Foam cleaned your carbs for you over the first storage season that you used it? Did they clean up easy after being soaked that long with Sea Foam in them?
Rob
Rob

[Rasputin]

I had run quite a few tanks of fuel with Seafoam in it before parking the bike. So I don't think they were all that dirty before. I had read on here the wonderous things seafoam would do so I tried it out.
The carbs were easy to clean out as mostly I just had to clean the idle circuit.
Then I decided to put on pods and do some other things and the whole carb cleaning became rejetting and synching and all kinds of new experiences. I was scared of those carbs for many yrs and now I am fairly comfortable with them. So all in all it was a good thing.

[GARTHXS]

sun diego

well the only time I dont ride is when it rains , and here in socal it usually less then 5 days in a row

[Ken Talbot]

- add stabilizer to gas tank
- fill gas tank
- remove seat for indoor storage
- run engine long enough to warm oil
- dump old oil and filter element
- install fresh filter element
- fill with fresh oil
- remove sparkplugs
- squirt a bit of oil in each cylinder
- cover plug holes with rag
- spin motor just long enough to turn out oil pressure light
- reinstall sparkplugs
- remove battery for storage in basement
- unbolt rear of gas tank
- prop up rear of gas tank with 2x4 block
- disconnect fuel lines from petcocks (Standard)
- insert golf tee into open end of each fuel line
- use gas tank overflow hose to connect petcocks to each other
- leave tank on bike, sitting on 2x4 block
- remove and clean air filter element
- reinstall air filter element
- check tire air pressure
- clean up worst of end of season road grime
- roll bike to winter resting place in end of enclosed carport
- no cover on bike

YMMV...

[fredintoon]

I drain the tank & carbs, swirl a half-cup of stroker oil round the inside of the tank, hook up the battery to a small charger on a 1 hour every day timer and shove the rig into the far corner of my heated garage until the snow melts.
If I were stuck with keeping the rig outside all winter I would be far more rigorous.

[Crazcnuk]

All I might do is pull is the battery. At temps getting down to -40C they have a tendency to freeze, if not fully charged. If the bike has NO electrical leaks, the battery will probably be ok, but not worth the risk.

Some years I have been able to ride enough, during the winter that the battery never comes out.

We've been hitting -5 to -10 overnight, here, lately, but I had the bike out Friday. Was going to take a 400km round trip saturday, but it decided to rain.

[Bigfoot]

I was able to take the bike out at least on day per month last year during the winter her in KC. Didn't do anything for storage. Hoping to get as lucky this year.

[Geezer]

I have some upgrades planned for this winter. These include the 2 quad piston front calipers and the hydraulic clutch conversion. I'd like to install a set of MikesXS green coils if business isn't too bad over the winter but I'm not holding my breath on this one...

I haven't made my mind up if I'm going to install the XS850 final drive but I will be doing a full service, installing the SOFA and maybe a cheap black paint job so at least the tank, side covers and tail section will match...

Geezer

[Pat Kelly]

Living in CA I consider it riding weather everyday. Yes is gets up to 112 in summer and 30 in winter. Lots of rain and too much fog. But I will ride everyday.
Currently my bikes are non-oped and have no insurance as money is tight. But.
Wife blew-up my pick-up so I have to ride my E (the one I ran over). Tags are expired on that so the plate from the LG is on the E.
The LG is in the shed under it's cover. The E is outside under it's cover at home or work.
Sadly work keeps me away from home to where I can't easily do the work needed while either bike is down.

[DenyP]

I put stabilizer in the tank full of gas. Clean up the bike and wax. Drain the oil and put in fresh. Park it in my shop with a cover and pull the battery to store in the basement over winter.

Deny

[DGXSER]

Storage,who stores them?? Actually, I do put stabilizer int he fuel, but in between upgrades and working on wha tmigh tbe ailing her, I ride the machine every chance I get. 24 deg F is a bit to cold, but 38 and above I can bundle up enough to get a few miles in.