Street Bicycles

Winter Cycling

Wintering Your Motorcycle

Motorcycles are great summer and fair weather transportation ways to get around. They are usually quite fast and save more than a little on gas when compared to driving a car. When the weather changes, however, and the street surfaces are no longer dry and clear, wintering your motorcycle in self storage is an excellent way to keep it safe, clean and protected from the winter elements.

In many starts, winter comes every year. During the winter, temperatures drop sometimes to below freezing and are a hazard just to be out in if you are not dressed properly. When winter comes, the grounds are often covered with snow and ice, conditions that make it impossible to ride a motorcycle safely. This means that for the most part, motorcycles cannot be driven in the winter in climates where snow and other road conditions make the roads a danger to motorcycles.

If you life in a state where winter is significantly different that summer, spring and fall and you own a motorcycle, you have a definite need to store your bike every year to protect it. Self storage may be the best option for storing your motorcycle. Many self storage facilities offer drive up units so that you can drive your bike right to the unit if you need and back it straight into the unit. These facilities understand the special needs of motorcyclists and usually have drive up units that are sized to hold your motorcycle and little more. In exchange for the smaller unit, you can be sure that your rental price will not be as costly as if you had to rent an entire large storage unit.

Another option for self storage is if you belong to a biker's club. One of the benefits may be that in exchange for paying annual dues, there is a place, such as a warehouse, where all of the bikers can store their motorcycles for the year. This is an excellent option to choose if you want to have access to your bike indoors for winter repairs. Some warehouses that are large enough may even allow you to ride your motorcycle indoors at safe, slower speeds.

Although you may have a garage, it doesn't mean there's space in there for your car. Even a larger garage can be needed for other things and vehicles that you use during the winter. This means that self storage can be a wise choice to get your motorcycle off the street and into a dry unit that will keep it protected from the elements until the winter season has passed.

Wintering your motorcycle in self storage involves a few basic steps if you plan to leave it sitting for several months without running it. You should have an oil change done and be sure that the appropriate oil is replaced in the engine. Even though you are not going to be driving it, the wrong type of oil sitting in the engine without use all winter can be hazardous in the engine's internal cylinders.

Even when you have a great place to store your motorcycle for the winter, you should be sure to have a way to cover it, such as with a heavy duty motorcycle cover or a tarp. The motorcycle covered is the preferred way because it will be designed specifically for a motorcycle and will not scratch the painted surfaces where pin striping and other items may be on the top layer.

You can check with auto garages as a place to winter your motor cycle. Some of these self storage garages do require you to pay your entire winter fee in advance. If so, it is sometimes because you will be storing your motorcycle in an elevated area that is not conducive to being moved or is stored behind other vehicles or motorcycles and cannot be moved. If you decide to use a garage, they are safe places but you need to be sure that you won't need to move your motorcycle or have access to it during the winter storage period because changes are you won’t be able to do anything more than look at it where it stands.

No matter what type of self storage you choose for your motorcycle, give yourself the peace of mind by selecting a self storage facility that you trust, that has a reputation of keeping things organized, that you can afford and where your motorcycle will be stored safely.

About the Author

Simply Self Storage - What Could be Easier than Simply?
Simply Self Storage is the largest privately owned self storage company in the United States and Puerto Rico. We own and/or operate over 228 facilities with over 16.1 million square feet of storage space.

I need winter cycling gear, what should i wear?

So i joined this club that rides every saturday...being a poor college student i cant afford elite winter cycling gear. I do have bike shorts and a jersey intended for summer.

What alternatives can i use for winter cycling?

Its almost spring btw thats why i think purchasing winter cycling gear now is a waste of money

Thanks kerry

Under 40F, put your shorts on under a pair of sweat pants, If it is really cold add a layer with wind pants. Use an old draw string or shoelace to gather the legs together to keep them from getting in the chain.

Wool socks help. If it is cold you can put plastic grocery bags over your socks inside your shoes and cut off the excess. It works in the rain, too.

Use your summer jersey as a base layer and put a wool sweater over it (again under 40F weather) a windbreaker shell over that will keep you toasty all day. A sweatshirt is real warm, but all cotton -- holds moisture -- good for short rides only.

Get a helmet liner from an Army surplus store for $5. They are the same as the ones in the bike shop without the brand logo silk screened.

Long finger gloves. Something with Thinsulate if it's real cold. for 35 -40 degrees, you can wear a pair of batting gloves (no padding) and you can buy some cheap knit gloves to wear over them if need be.

If you think of layering you can dress cheaply for riding. Have a bag on the bike and you can shed as the day warms a bit. Sometimes the windbreaker will just make you sweat to death even in the cold. So if you start warming up shed a layer. You can always put it back on if it cools back down. Conditions change a lot in the winter.

If you can afford it or find some on sale -- Under Armor (or Nike) Cold Gear is fantastic. It is so warm, I don't wear it unless it is under 40F. They have long sleeve tops and tights you can wear over your shorts. Wear tights over your shorts in case the sun comes out and it gets up in the 50's and you shed the tights and still have the riding shorts on.

There has always been cycling in the cold weather -- before the bicycle specific clothing got to market.

Winter Cycling Basics (excerpt)