Motorcycle storage can be a concern in many parts of the world, especially if you want longer term storage over the cold winter months.
A motorcycle cover is a cheap alternative if you have the space somewhere to keep the weather off, although it is not as ideal as dedicated storage.
One tip I will tell you here at the start is you can get together with a few other motorcycle riders and rent a car garage to store them in, you can fit 4-6 motorcycles in most normal size garages so if you get 6 motorcycles in there then you can share the cost and effectively get 6 months storage for the price of 1.
There is a few considerations when leaving a motorcycle standing for long periods of time which I will discuss below.
None of these are going to cause a major problem over 6 month period, but you can keep any issues to a minimum and prolong your motorcycles life by following them.
Fuel Deterioration The amount of explosive power in fuel is measured in octane, the higher the octane the most explosive it is and the more power and efficiency you get from it.
Fuel that is fresh from gas stations has higher octane than that which has been sitting there a while (so city fuel replaced regularly is better than out in the sticks fuel).
The same applies to what is inside your motorcycle.
The longer you leave it the less power it will have and make your motorcycle more difficult to start after that long winter period.
Draining your fuel until it is empty is one way of dealing with the issue, you can always leave a bit in and mix in fresh fuel when the time comes too, just give it a few hours to raise the octane level of the older fuel.
Don't leave a full tank in as it is just wasting money.
You can buy additives to counter the effects of fuel deterioration and even octane booster too which will help the issue, however if you are leaving it for a really long time (6+ months) then draining is the better option.
Battery Problems Like all batteries over long periods of time, motorcycle batteries can go dead which means no motorcycle starting when you come back to it.
This is the most common issue over long term storage.
Motorcycles have smaller batteries than cars so hold less charge, this also means to us that they lose that charge and ability to start the motorcycle quickly.
One solution is to remove the battery altogether, and charge it up before you use it again and plug it back in as before.
This also has a security benefit - i.
e.
any would be motorcycle thief will need to carry a battery with them.
The best way to treat the battery though it to keep it on a trickle charge.
This provides a small amount of power into the battery to keep it topped up and ensure it holds its charge.
However a power supply is required to keep this up.
A motorcycle cover is a cheap alternative if you have the space somewhere to keep the weather off, although it is not as ideal as dedicated storage.
One tip I will tell you here at the start is you can get together with a few other motorcycle riders and rent a car garage to store them in, you can fit 4-6 motorcycles in most normal size garages so if you get 6 motorcycles in there then you can share the cost and effectively get 6 months storage for the price of 1.
There is a few considerations when leaving a motorcycle standing for long periods of time which I will discuss below.
None of these are going to cause a major problem over 6 month period, but you can keep any issues to a minimum and prolong your motorcycles life by following them.
Fuel Deterioration The amount of explosive power in fuel is measured in octane, the higher the octane the most explosive it is and the more power and efficiency you get from it.
Fuel that is fresh from gas stations has higher octane than that which has been sitting there a while (so city fuel replaced regularly is better than out in the sticks fuel).
The same applies to what is inside your motorcycle.
The longer you leave it the less power it will have and make your motorcycle more difficult to start after that long winter period.
Draining your fuel until it is empty is one way of dealing with the issue, you can always leave a bit in and mix in fresh fuel when the time comes too, just give it a few hours to raise the octane level of the older fuel.
Don't leave a full tank in as it is just wasting money.
You can buy additives to counter the effects of fuel deterioration and even octane booster too which will help the issue, however if you are leaving it for a really long time (6+ months) then draining is the better option.
Battery Problems Like all batteries over long periods of time, motorcycle batteries can go dead which means no motorcycle starting when you come back to it.
This is the most common issue over long term storage.
Motorcycles have smaller batteries than cars so hold less charge, this also means to us that they lose that charge and ability to start the motorcycle quickly.
One solution is to remove the battery altogether, and charge it up before you use it again and plug it back in as before.
This also has a security benefit - i.
e.
any would be motorcycle thief will need to carry a battery with them.
The best way to treat the battery though it to keep it on a trickle charge.
This provides a small amount of power into the battery to keep it topped up and ensure it holds its charge.
However a power supply is required to keep this up.
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