Most of the winter my bike (2016 road glide special) has been in the basement nice and warm hooked up to a charger. With the weather getting a little warm in February I had the local harley Davidson dealer pick it up and take care of the 5000 check up. Since it's been back i put it in my garage hoping it would get warmer. But living in the northeast things change weather wise. I still have it on the charger but was wondering if starting it and letting run for a little while is a good thing. Can't move it back to basement because daughter is in the middle of a move .
thanks David

 

Starting it and letting it idle is not good. In cold weather it should be ridden for at least 20 minutes to get up to operating temperature and take care of any condensation. You're better off letting it sit on the charger.

 

I could take it for a spin (any excuse will do lol)
Thanks

 

If you can't get it out to ride, then don't start it.

And to just point it out, the word "charger" above should mean "tender" or "maintainer".
They are not the same.

 

i live in Montana. i have 2 bikes in my unheated garage and have both on tenders.

my temp outside varies during the winter, dependant on month from plus 65 to minus 40.

inside the garage, its between 20 to 40 depending on outside temp. my biggest concern is a battery freezing and or bursting. that has never happened, yet.

the absolute worst thing you can do is over think this stuff. i ve seen bikes stored outside during the winter with no real ill effects. don't sweat it.

 

There's no benefit for storing a motorcycle in a warm place. None. Nor is there any harm storing it in a deep freeze. None. But keep it dry. Keep the battery on a tender. Keep it away from animals of all kinds. And don't start it until you're ready to ride it.

 

I know. It's a tender

 

Unless you're actually going to ride it just leave it on the tender and you will be fine, my bikes stay in the garage all winter on a tender with bike covers and they always start up no problem.

 

Absolutely right.

For more than 30 years I've been storing bikes and cars in unheated garages through Canadian winters where minus 30 temps are not uncommon.

Some Sta-bil in a full gas tank, hook the battery up to a tender without taking it out of the bike, never a problem come spring.

 

Our 4 H-D's are kept in our attached, unheated garage on battery tenders nearly half of the year (mid-October to mid-April).
I never start them to let them idle as it's is just as waste of time and gas and probably does more harm to an engine that letting it sit.

Although I have some bike covers, I usually just drape old, thin sheets over them to allow them to breathe as it reduces the chances of collecting moisture while keeping somewhat protected from dust, etc.