Keeping a bike outside
 

Ever since I've had my curvy SV it's lived in a garage, and been very happy there. Thing is, I'm going to move soon and finding a new place with a garage is proving to be more than a bit tricky (they're not abundant in London)

How are things for you lot who keep the bike outside? Does it get p**sed about with by kids? Nicked? Run a bit sickly after it's been snowing?

I'd keep it under cover, but esp. during winter it might go a few weeks without a ride. Any advice from all you knowledgable people?

Cheers,

Y.

I've kept my SV outside for a couple of years.

I'd recommed a really manky looking bike cover to make it as unattractive as possible (put your reg on it in permanent ink or someone will nick it like happened to me)

A f-off lock ostentatiously peeking out from under the cover helps. I also religiously put the cover on at all times to keep it out of harms view.

In winter I try to keep the bike as clean and well maintained as as possible, otherwise salt damage etc. seems to creep up quickly.

Good luck

Mine's never had a garage (getting one soon) but a decent cover seems to do the trick. If you get one which is breathable & can go onto a hot bike it might help dry the bike a bit.
Other than that, the cold seems to affect the battery if you're doing short runs, if your commute is a decent run then it shouldn't be a problem, if it's short, like mine, then charging up the battery every couple of months seems to keep it going.
HTH

My curvy has always lived outside with no cover and my K5 now also lives outside, i did buy a cover but i can never be bothered to put it on.

If you can get it off the street, so much the better - I put in bigger gates in the alleyway at the back of my house to get it into the garden. Otherwise kids will mess with it, dogs will p1ss on it... maybe just get it into a front garden/patio area? A lot of houses have some bit at the front or the back where you can put a bike - just look for that sort of stuff when you're looking at places. Also a few places have garages that you can rent, though they're not always close to the house...

Good luck!

Mine's lived outside all of its life, and seems to be doing quite well considering!

I do have a cover, but don't use it... the bike is used more or less every day, and I think it is this that makes all the difference.

I've not seen any evidence of people tampering with my bike while in London. I think it's generally kids who steal them, and they tend to go for ones without gears, and where they can touch the floor. :lol:

Ditto.... Never caused me any problems, but I do live in a quiet cul de sac

I've moved now but my bike used to be chained to the outside of my front fence on a road in a student area with pubs 100 yards either side of me and all night every night there was people wanderin back and forth between pubs. And i never had it touched not even a kebab wrapper left on the seat for me unlike some cars in the area that had them deposited under the windscreen wipers. :lol:

Mine lives outside on the road chained to a tree. I do have a cover but I think I've used it maybe twice? So far so good.

I would suggest a proper ground anchor, mine's an Oxford concreted in one, and I have a huge English chain which just goes through the frame on the LHS into the anchor, and it also fits quite snugly under the seat! I have a cover which I use if the bike's going to be stood for a few days if I go away, but I usually use the Bike every day so It's probably better uncovered.
In time, I'd like to put a shelter over the bike but I will have to dig some more of the garden away to fit the bike into the corner nicely for this.

Ten years ago some scroats carried my mate's Kawasaki GPZ600R down the passage in the middle of the night, for us never to see it again. I intend to make it much more difficult for anything like this to happen again.

Thanks everyone - that's made me feel a lot happier about it. Hopefully I'll at least get off street parking and a not-too-bad area that thieving swine don't frequent.

Just need to refer the insurance company to this thread. 'Don't double my premium, look, everyone says it's fine!'

Just get a big strong chain and lock it to some thing immovable. :D

Mine lives outside. It's in the carpark of the block of flats, which is in a very quiet street. I left the Harley there, unchained and uncovered for 7 years with no problems, but my SV was nicked from their by joyriding scum. My new bike has alarm, concreted-in ground anchor, big motrax english chain and cover. I also spray the bike with ACF-50 (anti-corrosion fluid).

Mine is well out of sight in the garden and I have enough locks and stuff so my main concern is the weather.

I was thinking of getting a BIKESAFE 250, anyone got one? Opinions?

I have a cover at the moment but I don't want to use the bike when its raining because I don't think its good to put a cover on a wet mucky bike.

I could leave it uncovered and in someways I figure this is actually better than putting a wet bike in the garage because it will dry off quicker although in winter it would freeze nastily. We also don't have covered parking at work so I am wondering how these bikes stand up to being left in the rain.

My previous bikes have suffered from problems starting, water in the switches and I had a clutch cable freeze up from where water had obviously got in there somehow.

Liz prob cos they thght it belonged to abig six foot biker..not little n compact you !! xx

No they probably thought it's some kids mini moto it's so small and thought it'd be mean to steal it. :lol:

My SV has been outside since I got it, about 18 months. Covered, anchored with 2 chains and a disc lock on the front wheel.
Through winter when I rode it at least once a month on a cold but dryish days, it never failed to start. Covered in snow and the battery didn't so much as go flat.

I don't have an alarm. All the houses round her do and people ignore those, why would they bother for my bike?
Might fit a bogus red LED when I get new job...

dont sv's melt in the rain?

I had a look at getting one of these but for the price you don't save enough on the insurance. Probably better getting a builder to knock you up a decent brick shelter with a strong door on. For half the price. Then you can call it a garage, and get a good reduction on the insurance.

v good idea :thumbsup: bout 10% reduction?

Blimey a builder would be charging thousands for one of those around my way but yeah it would be better if I could afford it although I wouldn't be able to shift it around or take it with me if I ever moved.

The Bikesafe was only £700 which to me isn't much as it would last for as long as I am able to ride a bike.

For me its not about insurance costs or to a certain extent even weather protection.

It just makes the bike more practical for commuting as by the time I have got the cover and locks off and put it all on again in the evening it is quicker to drive to work! Plus at the moment I can't commute if its going to rain because it means putting the cover on a wet bike when I get home and as I said I don't like doing that.

If only bikes were as durable as cars in that respect.

I did want one of those Motrax Bike Tents which are a bit like the cycleshell as that is a perfect solution but they have been discontinued because they leak apparently. In the meantime I have ordered one of those turtle covers that is supposedly custom cut to fit the bike. Dunno if they are rubbish but it will keep me going til I can get a safe.

I also looked at the bikesafe, however my partner was not keen to see one down the side of the house as they are not very pretty!

Have now talked him into making our imminent (hopefully) kitchen extension a bit longer to incorporate a bike garage on the front!

My bike has been stored under a cover down the side of the house for a year now and has started perfectly every time. I have had some corrosion damage but that wasn't the storage but using it through the winter on salted raods, won't be doing that again in a hurry!