HarleyTechTalk

I just moved into a new house and my garage needs some work so its got some moisture , someone told me put a drop light w/a 60 watt bulb under the bike and leave it on all winter
and i should have no problems.

                                       What do you think ?

carpeting,/ rubber mat, under the wheels, or raised slightly off the concrete, breathable cover/bed sheets, should be OK.

It stays on my frame lift 18" off the ground all winter long , and i also have the H-D breathable indoor cover.

No need for the light bulb. It will be fine.  My garage sweats a good bit.  I have 3 vehicles stored in it and have never had a corrosion problem, even on Harley's crappy chrome.

I have a roll of 4' wide corragated cardboard at work. I bring some home and lay under the bike like Deye76 mentioned. No lights. If it's 30* or below and I want to ride the next day (most Sundays here in Chicago), I put a waterbed heater mat under the bike the night before. Oil is around 50* in the morning.

The light bulb was an old trick used to keep our hand dug well from freezing.  Later it got carried over to putting on the engine block of a car to keep the oil & antifreeze warmed.  Bikers did it to keep the oil tank warm so the bike had a 1/2 chance of kicking over in very cold temps.  For storage, I'd say it's a waste of effort.  You would be much better off doing the following at a minimum (assuming the bike will be put away for the winter in an unheated garage):
1. Change fluids.
2. Wax bike and wheels
3. Stuff COPPER wool ( not steel wool) in the exhaust. Copper won't rust and can be found in any boatyard.
4. Remove battery to heated basement OR hook up a battery tender
5. Buy a cheap cover to keep off dust and condensation ( also slows down the occasional falling snow shovel
6. Fill tank -- if you want to toss in some sta-bil go ahead
7. Give keys to your pastor or mother-in-law with a promise not to return them until the snow is melted (this keeps you from going out in the garage in the dead of winter to fire it up, rev it a couple of times, and shut it down... The absolute worst thing you can do to a stored bike)
8.  Put out mouse poison... lots of mouse poison even if you have never had a mouse in the garage.  They can come in, and you will not believe the damage a single mouse can do to a wiring harness when he has the entire winter to chew on stuff.

Change fluids, Clean the bike, take it for a ride to circulate everything and get up to temp, stop for gas and head home.  Stuff the pipes with the copper wool, add sta-bil, hook up tender and toss on the cover.  Drive over to Mom -in -law and hand her the keys.  Go back and put out the poison and resist the urge to eat it cause Mom has your keys.  You should be in good shape come spring.

Rags

In the past when I stored my bike, I put baggies with a rubber band over the ends of the mufflers instead of stuffing any kind of packing. Now I ride all winter and all I do is spray S&S Corrosion Protectant all over the lower frame, wheels and most chrome. That way I don't have to worry about any salt on the roads. Then in April I wash it all off and change to summer weight oil and I'm good until next November. 

I remember one year, mice had made a hotel in the air cleaner of my Corvette. I never figured out how they got in there.

Quote from: GARYD on November 20, 2009, 02:07:04 PM

I remember one year, mice had made a hotel in the air cleaner of my Corvette. I never figured out how they got in there.

I spent an entire afternoon trying to figure out why a friends Honda wouldn't keep running once you put it in gear. Wasted a lot of time checking the kickstand switch and clutch lever switch. Finally pulled the seat and found where the mouse had eaten the insulation off almost every wire under the seat.  Darned thing actually chewed through all the copper on a couple of wires. Once I found the real damage, I was surprised the bike even ran. I've also seen that kind of damage on stored mainframe computers.  For some reason, they really like chewing on the big high voltage wires insulation in power supplies.