Re: [ST] Long Term Storage

[John Ulizzi <jaulizzi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chris,

Sorry to hear you wont be able to ride your bike for a
while. I live in Ohio but keep a bike out at my
mother's in Phoenix, and it can sit for a year at a
time. ( This is the same Honda Shadow I was having
problems with when I was just recently out there). I
learned a few things from that experience. See my 2
cents embedded below in CAPS.

--- Chris and Sherri Underwood
<chrisandsherri@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Sadly circumstances warrant that I might have to put
> my bike in storage for
> a year (or 2). Has anyone any experience of
> preparing a bike for long term
> storage? I was going to:
> 
> 
>    1. Change the oil and filter and add an oil
> stabiliser;
>    2. Add a fuel stabiliser, and top up the tank;

and then run the bike for long enough to get it
thorughly warmed up. This will a) run stabilized fuel
throughout the system and b) get any remaining
condensation out of the engine. Any time I store a
bike ( I have one to store out there and 4 to store
here every winter), I make sure it gets a good last
ride, at least 20 minutes or so.

Drain float bowls. I assume you are talking about your
02 ST, but in case the bike you are talking about is
in fact carbuerated, make sure you drain the bowls.
That would probably be the singlemost important thing
to do if the bike is carbed.

>    3. Put the bike on front and rear wheel stand;

I would put the bike on its centerstand as that takes
almost all the weight off the suspension. A rear stand
does not do that, and a front stand will only do that
if it is the type that supports the bike from the
lower triple clamp. If a flat spot on the tires
worries you, go and rotate the tires a bit every once
in a while, assuming you have access to the bike.

>    4. Hook up to the Battery Doc;

For that kind of time I would remove the battery from
the bike, perhaps even put it in your airconditioned
house , on the battery doc. This does two things. It
is better for the battery, but more importantly, you
dont have a positive charge constantly going into the
bikes electrical system. More than one person has
suggested that that might have been the culprit that
caused the problem with my Shadow.

>    5. Wash, wax/polish;
>    6. Cover the end of the exhaust;
>    7. Put on motorcycle cover.

Lastly, if you have access and the ability, I would
try to take the bike out for a ride, say, once every 3
months. I once owned a bike that had sat unprepped for
about 2 years before I bought it. It took two entire
seasons for that bike to finally work out its kinks,
but the one kink that never worked out was that the
valve guide seals had dried up as a result of not
seeing any oil in two years. The bike burned oil,
particularly when ridden hard, but suffered no
performance loss. The 200ish bucks to fix it could buy
many quarts of oil, so I never fixed it, but who wants
an oil burner. I bought it that way. Since you are
storing yours yourself, you have control to make sure
it is done properly. 

Just remember that the worst thing you can possibly do
to a bike is put it in storage. I believe that is
worse on a bike than riding it hard and putting it
away wet. Best you can do is go thru your steps to
minimize that. Best of luck to you...

John
> 
> 
> As I live in the desert (couple of hours north of
> Las Vegas), humidity isn't
> that much of a problem, The bike will be stored in
> the garage. Am I missing
> anything?
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> Chris
> '02 ST
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