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Look into a storage shed or building. You may half to lower your handlebars for clearance but it will protect you bike year round and if you move you can take it with you.
We don't know your situation and good suggestions have been submitted but here is another idea.
Most dealers and even some indy's offer winter storage for a very reasonable fee
They even offer trickle chargers and heated storage. Start calling dealers and indy's
My present bike has been outside (carport) parked since 2010.
I have a rubber base astro turf carpet it gets parked on to prevent ground moisture.
I have a Budge truck cover that's big enough to overwrap it and weighted parts to secure it down.
No special attention to wax or other stuff- it's designed to be out in the elements.
The key is ride it regularly when you can.
If you want to go nuts.. http://www.cycleshell.com/
Last edited by Sling Blade 14; Oct 21, 2015 at 12:37 PM.
I don't recommend it, but I used to put them in outside storage when I had TDY's during the winter and had no other choice. I used a lean-to on my dad's old tool shed to avoid direct rain although it would blow in sideways at times. Drain all the fluids and take out the batt. Put the bike up on 2X12's up off the dirt on concrete blocks, off the tires if possible, although I never bothered with that. Then I would wrap the bike in the old-style shipping blankets. I then slipped over all that a big thick silver plastic bike cover you could get back then to seal it...
I have stored my Pontoon boat outside for 17 winters. I pounded two metal poles into a pre- sunk pipe, in the ground. Drilled holes in them and attached a cable to them, with a turnbuckle in the middle. Tighten it up and hang a heavy (Silver/ Black ) tarp on it. Leave enough room for some air to circulate around it. I pounded some pipe, with a threaded end sticking out, and put plastic caps on it in the summer, after pulling the poles out.
I wouldn't recommend leaving a bike outdoors, no matter how well it is wrapped.Wind is the biggest concern in the dead of winter, with the paint and chrome abrasion from a loose fitting cover. When the spring thaw begins, there can be several freeze/thaw cycles per day, accompanied with the damaging humidity and condensation that forms under a covered bike. Several weeks of this water saturation will be quite corrosive and damaging in places you wouldn't think to look.
For what it costs, indoor storage rental is your best bet.
I wouldn't recommend leaving a bike outdoors, no matter how well it is wrapped.Wind is the biggest concern in the dead of winter, with the paint and chrome abrasion from a loose fitting cover. When the spring thaw begins, there can be several freeze/thaw cycles per day, accompanied with the damaging humidity and condensation that forms under a covered bike. Several weeks of this water saturation will be quite corrosive and damaging in places you wouldn't think to look.
For what it costs, indoor storage rental is your best bet.
My personal experience is different- none of the above described effects even living 1.5 miles from salt water-people tell me it looks new all the time.
Geography and humidity varies, so that could be the case.
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