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Leaving your bike outside in winter
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I am a pikey so I haven't got a garage. I need to protect my "bike" from
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[snip]
Get an Almax chain. You don't want to come home one day and find a space
where a bike used to be.
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the ravages of winter so I'll be leaving it in the back garden exposed to
all of the elements. I have sprayed a whole £12 can of ACF50 on it, paying
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I just remembered. Don't buy a cheap PVC bike cover as it will
take the paint off your bike. I presume a polythene vac-bag is OK,
but it wouldn't be mouseproof.
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Buy a cheap bike cover - you know it makes sense :-)
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I usually find a bike cover caused more problems with condensation than it
saves. I have a garage but it is still quite damp inside, so I bought a
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Even the breathable ones ?
that's what I use
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The cheapo Oxford cover I bought from Argos about three years ago is doing a
great job for me. It is lightweight and vented - probably not fully
rainproof - but it definitely keeps the worst of the weather out.
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plastic garden shed in my local free adds. I had to cut the side off to get
the bike in and gaffer tape it back on. Cost me £35.
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Get a vented cover like the ones M&P sell: I used one on my R-GS for 2
years before moving to a place with a garage. Small ones are £15 or so. Big
one to fit my bike is under £20. The cover has 2 flaps, that aligned with
the mirrors and were held down by velcro. These allow air pressure to
equalise thus reducing billowing and water vapour to escape thus reducing
condensation.
Phone up and make sure they are sending this actual item. A friend placed
an internet order and got a substiture as the above was out of stock. It
didn't have the vents so he insisted on a replacement.
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particular attention to all the bits that may rust (exshaust system, bolts,
chain, forks stanchions, electrics, under the seat/ tank, switchgear,
fairing bracket, blah diddy blah, etc). Is there anything else I should do
to preserve it o'er the winter? I shant be riding it again (SORNED) until
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Top up the petrol so you don't get condensation in the tank?
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Use some form of bike cover; see below.
The real problem for bikes under any kind of cover isn't rain itself,
but humidity cycling.
A cold night, followed by a rise in temperature that is faster than
the mass of the motorcycle can follow could well lead to the machine's
temperature falling below the dew point.
That means that atmospheric moisture will condense *everywhere* on the
machine that the atmosphere can reach; switch innards, fuse boxes,
breathers, all the places that you can't see and don't tend to think
about.
The idea of a vented or breathable cover is to give this now excess
moisture a chance to evaporate as the temperature of the machine rises
above the dew point; otherwise it would be virtually trapped in there.
Needless to say, don't use an unvented or non-breathable cover.
My two tips: place an old folded towel over the petrol filler-cap (if
that's where the tank breathes through) to form a virtual atmosphere
of its own; and screw a folded piece of oily rag up the end of the
zorst pipe (to stop airflow getting back to the cylinder(s) and into
the engine through an open zorst valve.
Be generous with the spray; wherever you can reach with it, so can
condensing moisture.
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March/ April next year so apart from bi-weekly engine starts to keep the
battery topped up and prevent the engine from siezing up, It'll be utterly
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Don't do this.
Don't run the engine unless you need to ride the bike somewhere.
The engine won't get hot enough for long enough to get rid of the
combustion products that wind up in the crankcase or exhaust. These
are mainly water-vapour and acids, and they condense on the coldest
part of the interior of the engine, and corrode it.
Just leave the engine be; take the battery off and charge it. The cost
of an Optimate or other battery-conditioning charger need only be
about the same as a replacement battery, and you have it for future
use.
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My spare sat behind the shed all winter with no special preparation, in fact
it hadn't been used since the last MOT and only got ridden again for the
next.
All I did before the 2nd MOT was give the battery a couple of days on the
Optimate and pump the tyres up.
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neglected.
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Scottoiler FS365 spray. Lots of.
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Plenty of GT85 on the brake discs. Pay particular attention to the discs
- given them a nice thick coating of the stuff.
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I wouldn't - GT85 has PTFE in it and if that gets on the pads they'll only
be fit for chucking away!
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Pah!
Just drag 'em for a bit, it'll soon burn off.
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PTFE lube doesn't burn off, if you do succeed in burning it, it produces
hydrofluoric acid.
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Don't breathe the fumes then.
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Thanks friends,
Love,
John Banks
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