Bike outside during the winter

Not sure if this is the correct forum or not, but I am curious if anyone (especially those in northern parts of the country) leaves their bike outside during the winter months (with a cover)?

My original plan when I got it was to build a little shed to store her in once the first snow hit the ground, but that plan is more ambitious than I had anticipated, so I doubt that will be in place anytime soon.

Will this cause damage? What would I need to do weekly if I wanted to do this?

Here's an old link

http://nc700-forum.com/forum/how-tos/502-how-prepare-bike-winter-storage.html

Your biggest enemy with outdoor winter storage is moisture. A cover made of a breathable material is much better. Don't go out and start the bike if you aren't going to ride it for around 20 miles. Starting and letting it idle (even revving it) is worse than doing nothing. If its going to be cold, pull the battery and bring it inside.

If you have the extra money buy a cycle shell,they are worth the money spent.

You might be OK with a cover if it sits on asphalt or a sidewalk, but if you leave it on grass or dirt, moisture will rise up underneath the cover and the cover will hold moisture in. In any event, you should still take the cover off periodically on nice days to let it air out and make sure nothing is nesting anywhere.

buy one of these the 1st one is a bit expensive with a built in flooring.
New Cycledome Motorcycle Storage Instant Cycle Garage | eBay

cheaper but no flooring but you can buy a ground sheet but make sure its bigger than the tent .once you done that a piece of ply wood to stand your bike on.
also you can pop in even if weather is bad at least you can admire it or work on it or what ever.
just make sure it is secure and not blow away with the wind!!
Motorcycle Boat Kayak Jet Ski ATV Tent Canopy Cover Shelter Shed Garage w Bench | eBay



heres a better one..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arrow-Steel...299?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41783cbb6b


take a looky inere!
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=storage shed&_sop=15&_frs=1&_udlo=300&_udhi

The cycle shell comes with a floor and a metal plate for sidestand or center.

sent from my nc700x

TomInOregon said:

You might be OK with a cover if it sits on asphalt or a sidewalk, but if you leave it on grass or dirt, moisture will rise up underneath the cover and the cover will hold moisture in. In any event, you should still take the cover off periodically on nice days to let it air out and make sure nothing is nesting anywhere.

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^Heed this warning. Critters seem to love motorcycles and their various orifices, nooks and crannies. I have seen bikes that sat outside suffer from everything from nuts and dogfood being "stored" in the mufflers to mice nests in the air filters to wires being chewed by varmints. Suggest you plug up your exhaust with something as well as place some mothballs in and around the bike (keeps mice away I am told). I wish I could find the picture of a bike that the owner started up after the winter and it blew about 2 pounds of dog kibble out of the exhaust.

Found this black widow behind a cover on my scooter.



Egg sack about ready to deliver lots more.

Riding yesterday saw a lizard on my mirror stalk enjoying the breeze. Sorry no action pick of lizard

I can deal with the lizard but that black window would have freaked me out.

Don't know how long I had been traveling with black widow. Mechanic found her removing front panel. If the egg sack had hatched at wrong time I could have been swarmed by them

Fuzzy said:

Found this black widow behind a cover on my scooter.

Egg sack about ready to deliver lots more.

Riding yesterday saw a lizard on my mirror stalk enjoying the breeze. Sorry no action pick of lizard

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I've got a strict policy regarding things with more than four legs. They get smashed. End of story.

Regarding keeping bikes outside, there are rubber muffler plugs popular in the dirt bike scene mostly used during pressure washing and transporting. I've seen two sizes available generally classified as 2-stroke and 4-stroke, 4-stroke being the larger of the two. For the stock NC can I'd use a 2-stroke plug. I forget what brand made the ones I've got, but just look at all the big moto exhaust company sites, they all typically sell them. FMF and Pro Circuit are the big ones that come to mind.

Do you have geico insurance lol.maybe he protecting you.

sent from my nc700x

No, but come to think of it could have been a salesman.

silverhound said:

^Heed this warning. Critters seem to love motorcycles and their various orifices, nooks and crannies. I have seen bikes that sat outside suffer from everything from nuts and dogfood being "stored" in the mufflers to mice nests in the air filters to wires being chewed by varmints. Suggest you plug up your exhaust with something as well as place some mothballs in and around the bike (keeps mice away I am told). I wish I could find the picture of a bike that the owner started up after the winter and it blew about 2 pounds of dog kibble out of the exhaust.

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+1
I found dog food stored in my old GL1200's air box before. I've also had mice destroy wires also. Now I put Havoc rodenticide on the engine and other areas for storage.
I thought it would be nice if those little critters didn't have to go out for dinner.
It has been working very good so far.

turbodieseli4i6 said:

+1
I found dog food stored in my old GL1200's air box before. I've also had mice destroy wires also. Now I put Havoc rodenticide on the engine and other areas for storage.
I thought it would be nice if those little critters didn't have to go out for dinner.
It has been working very good so far.

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+2
I haven't had the bike long enough, or allowed it to sit long enough for them to explore it, but you'll be sorry you got me going about mice. My nearly new Tundra that rarely turns a wheel has been stuck twice. They chewed into a harness and took out the ability to shift into or out of 4wd last year. This year they moved into the ventilation system and when I turned on the A/C, I was blasted by the stench of nesting mice, inheriting a whole new project to clear that wretched mess. I got tired of feeding them peanut butter on traps that didn't go off, and d-con is my new best friend. Poison, then more poison, anywhere I can put it that the dog can't get to it. I would have preferred the humane snap of their necks in a trap, but finding chewed open bait bags and dead mice has become my secret pleasure. (Not so secret now.)

One time I was at a Honda dealership and one of the salesmen came and got me. He said there was a family of mice that left my pickup and hiding in their new bikes.
Those little critters were everywhere. The salesman wanted me to catch them and take them back. lol that was before I started using Havoc.
I still laugh about that one. "You gotta take them back!"

turbodieseli4i6 said:

One time I was at a Honda dealership and one of the salesmen came and got me. He said there was a family of mice that left my pickup and hiding in their new bikes.
Those little critters were everywhere. The salesman wanted me to catch them and take them back. lol that was before I started using Havoc.
I still laugh about that one. "You gotta take them back!"

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LOL!!! He must have confused YOUR mice with a traveling herd of border collies. What were you supposed to do, whistle, clap your hands and throw frisbees into the back of your truck so YOUR mice would come running and jump in? Hilarious!

Nana Chou always is outside in the driveway pointed in the "go" position. If a little critter was to attach itself to Nana Chou, it will be blown away shortly. Those critters soon become offering to the god of speed.