I don't believe my winters would be like yours. How close to the coast are you? I'm wondering if salt air might be an issue. I'd imagine a chrome polish/protector would do the trick.

I don't store mine, If it's NOT wet out, it gets ridden. Here in PA temps are nicer than at your house.

We just bring them in and put them in the dining room nice and warm for the winter :)

Here in Michigan, I simply wash and wax the bi..Wax the chrome, add fuel stabilizer, plug in the battery tender, and raise the bikes up on jacks or stands. No cover, no heat in garage unless I am out there working on something and turn on a propane heater..

No rust or otehr damage in 10 years of doing things this way.

Only ONE simple rule to follow...DO NOT Start the bike unless you are heading out to ride for at least 15-20 miles. Condensation could build inside the tank or engine parts...unless you get it to full operating temp.

I do exactly what trailfndr does.

We store both of our bikes in our unheated garage. Sometimes we remember to put the covers on and sometimes we do not. We have had zero problems as a result. They are store also on the cement . We do put the battery tenders on them.

Good ventilation is more important than heat.
I store our bikes in an unheated garage, use a battery tender and stabil. They are always ready to go when the nice days pop up.

Buy some heated gear and ride it.

Things I've learned over the years:

Don't wrap your bike in plastic or anything else that doesn't "breathe". I use a bed sheet, it keeps the dust and dirt off, lets the air circulate, no moisture, no rust.

Don't start your engine and let it idle a few minutes. If you're not going to ride it and bring it up to temp for a while, just let it sit. If you're one oif those guys who has to start it for his buds while drinking beer in a snowstorm, record it earlier in the year and play it back on the stereo. :icon_dopey:

Use a battery tender.

I live in Wisconsin, but still ride enough in the winter that I don't usually use fuel stabilizer, but last year was a long winter and I did then, figured if I had a chance to ride it would just burn out and I would refill with fresh gas and stabilize again if necessary.

Keep it clean! If you aren't going to ride it, clean it up and cover it. If you do ride it, make sure you get any grime or salt off as soon as possible, especially the salt.

Other than that, ride it. If you dress properly, there are many very enjoyable miles to be had in the winter. I always laugh at a guy I work with, he told me he stops riding his GoldWing once the temp goes to 40 or lower, yet as soon as it snows he is out riding his snowmobile in sub-zero weather. Just don't make no sense to me ..........

Here in the interior of BC, our riding is done from mid-Nov to mid-March - I'm not fussy about riding on ice and sand. We put our bikes on jacks in an unheated garage after washing, waxing and changing the engine oil. Fill the gas tank all the way up and put in fuel stabilizer (Sta-Bil). Cover with something that can breathe (I use a fairly inexpensive cover I bought on ebay) and hook up the battery tender. Only take it down if I'm doing some work on it.