• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

Winter storage

Tender or Charger?

jolev55 said:
Hello,

I'm wondering what the general consensus is on storing a 2015 RT in an unheated storage unit for the winter.( I'm in Gunnison CO which has the distinction of being the coldest place in the nation at times.) This past winter I stored it in a garage with a trickle charger with no ill effects but I wouldn't have electricity in the storage unit.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

So is the 10 year old relic that I use. Is it a charger or a tender (maintainer)? I'm going to be storing the battery for six months. Charge it then take it off or leave it on?
 
jolev55 said:
So is the 10 year old relic that I use. Is it a charger or a tender (maintainer)? I'm going to be storing the battery for six months. Charge it then take it off or leave it on?
Click to expand...

Before I had reliable battery tenders I had one dumb charger and 5 bikes. This was in Iowa and then later Kansas during winter. My routine was to charge each bike's battery for 24 hours once a month. On the 1st day of each month I would do one bike, then on the 2nd another, and on the 3rd the next one, etc until all 5 had received their 24 hour charge. So my advice is fully charge the battery and then do it again a month later. If you have a modern bike with significant drain you might want to get a maintainer/charger, or do the 24 hours every 2 weeks, or better yet disconnect the battery and do it once a month.
 
Last edited:
roger 04 rt said:
Is there any value to fogging the cylinder walls for over-summer/winter storage?
Click to expand...

I don't think so on BMW motorcycles with aluminum pistons and Nikasil or equivilent aluminum cylinders. Corrosion is very unlikely in my opinion. I do like to kill injectors and crank a bit in the spring before allowing combustion.

Fogging oil is/was very good with iron cylinder liners in earlier BMWs, and for Briggs and Stratton engines.
 
Thanks Paul, that makes sense. I’d started to wonder about it after all the engine prep that gets done on piston aircraft in FL that don’t get flown for the summer. But that big turbo charged engine and the bikes are different horses.
 
batteries

If your battery is a wet lead acid battery I would leave it in the bike but fully charge the battery before you put it away. The cold weather actually slows the discharge process. I would also put on a Battery TENDER. This is like a smart charger or trickle charger except those two do not reset when the battery is fully charged. They shut off and do not turn back on. A Tender will monitor the battery and start when the battery begins to discharge and recharge it to 100% then shut off. If the battery needs to be charged again the Tender will recognize that and start up again. It also only puts in .75 or 1.25ah so it is a slow process that will heat up the electrolyte for you. A battery that is fully charged will not freeze, but it will discharge at approx. 5 - 10% per month. when a battery is charged the electrolyte which is a mixture of sulphuric acid and water, is mixed up and the acid keeps the water from freezing. When the battery is discharged the acid is absorbed into the plates leaving the water outside the plates. This water can freeze. So the long and short of it is that you should leave it in the bike with a tender or charge it every 3-4 months depending on the climate you live in.
(I work at a battery manufacture)
Good luck

cheers!
 
If it was my bike, I would prep it for the next riding season (at least change oil and filter), put stabilant in the gaz tank and remove the battery.
Said battery would be stored inside my house, in a cool dry place, fully charged.
 
Fogging the cylinders is not a bad idea. The pistons are aluminum and can corrode if moisture is present. Also the piston rings are generally some sort of cast or steel that can rust. Certainly no harm in fogging the cylinders unless you get carried away, over oil and foul oxygen sensors.
 
https://www.progressivedyn.com/service/battery-basics/

"All batteries, regardless of their chemistry, will self-discharge. The rate of self-discharge for lead acid batteries depends on the storage or operating temperature. At a temperature of 80 degrees F. a lead acid battery will self-discharge at a rate of approximately 4% a week. A battery with a 125-amp hour rating would self-discharge at a rate of approximately five amps per week. Keeping this in mind if a 125 AH battery is stored for four months (16 weeks) winter without being charged, it will loose 80 amps of its 125-amp capacity. It will also have severe sulfation, which causes additional loss of capacity. Keep your batteries charged while not in use!"

I learned a few things from this article, like: "Add water to your battery after it has been fully charged, never when the battery is partially discharged."

I know, most of our bike batteries are closed and don't need water added.
 
Living in the Denver area and w/ the area's dynamic changeable weather and temps seems I should be able to get out on average once a week or more for 30-40 mile runs, with the occasional longer stretch of 2-3 weeks where I won't want to get out to ride. I'm assuming I don't need to do much of anything, should I? I replace batteries every 3y regardless of their condition.
 
I just worked on an ATV.....with no special care, battery gave up at 13 years. I told the owner to have it bronzed :lol
OM
 
Check the weather in October/November for when things seem to go winter for awhile, take bikes out for one last warmup, into garage, put to sleep. Squirt WD40 back of muffs, not a lot, hopefully to dribble down to that infamous first weld on airhead muffs, drain tanks into snow blower/lawn mower container, disconnect batteries, air up tires and absolutely never start until spring for first ride. Check and charge batteries when appropriate. Never leave anything plugged into any electrical receptical in the garage. Check and renew mouse traps all around perimeter and plug slightest of entry points. Traps being kinder than poison.

This morning we hit our January polar dip of -13 F. It has been sub zero a couple times in mid December. Not as bad as last winter when we hit -30. IIRC.

Oh, and drag lift out to the middle floor and start doing a few improvements to bikes. Hyper-lights to the brake light on the R90, add a conspicuity running light to the front, complete service to front brakes with new everything, had to do a modification to bikini fairing as it has been cracking on lower right since I bought it cheap 30 years ago. That's it from Lake Cupp-a-joe.
 
Rodent issues...

cap said:
I live in CO too. I leave my bikes connected to a "smart" charger all the time. I think the advice to remove the battery is good. I have never had any other concerns about the temps over the winter -- I usually change the oil in the spring rather than the fall because I want to start the riding season with fresh oil.

However, I have had a consistent winter challenge: rodents. They will climb all over the bike and wreak havoc. I have found nests under seats, in the air filter, and other nooks. They chew up upholstery and sometimes the wiring. They pee and poop everywhere and smell bad. Here is what I recommend: First, buy some poison bait and leave it out near the bike. I have pets that I don't want poisoned, so I buy the bait that fits into a plastic housing that mice can access via a small opening. Second, remove the seat(s) and put them somewhere out of rodent reach. Likewise with anything else you don't want chewed up. I lost a tool roll one winter. Finally, at a farm and ranch store, you can buy some scented packets of rodent repellant. I put a few in the far rear of the tail cone, and another 1-2 in the airhorn opening to the airbox. The scent packets I use are lavender, and I have no real reason to believe that they deter rodents, but at least for the airhorn they provide a physical block to entering the airbox.

Since applying these precautions, my winter rodent-damage has been greatly curtailed.

Good luck, Cap
Click to expand...


Yikes! I have heard that mothballs are a big detractant for rodents. Put a couple on the ground around your bike, they will stay away. They smell strong, and maybe your bike might smell a bit mothball-y at the start, but should keep the vermin away.
 
AKsuited said:
https://www.progressivedyn.com/service/battery-basics/

"All batteries, regardless of their chemistry, will self-discharge. The rate of self-discharge for lead acid batteries depends on the storage or operating temperature. At a temperature of 80 degrees F. a lead acid battery will self-discharge at a rate of approximately 4% a week. A battery with a 125-amp hour rating would self-discharge at a rate of approximately five amps per week. Keeping this in mind if a 125 AH battery is stored for four months (16 weeks) winter without being charged, it will loose 80 amps of its 125-amp capacity. It will also have severe sulfation, which causes additional loss of capacity. Keep your batteries charged while not in use!"

I learned a few things from this article, like: "Add water to your battery after it has been fully charged, never when the battery is partially discharged."

I know, most of our bike batteries are closed and don't need water added.
Click to expand...

Yes, but if you drop the storage temperature 10-15 degrees it slows the rate of discharge to a point that you can store the battery for roughly a year without a recharge. Drop the storage temps closer to freezing and you can extend it even farther, two years or more.

Obviously no one here will store a battery that long, but properly charged and stored in a cold space and you battery will be fine for a few months. Storing the battery in an unheated garage is much better that your heated basement. Heck, drop it in a heavy duty zip lock bag and set it in your beer fridge!
 
PoorUB said:
Storing the battery in an unheated garage is much better that your heated basement. Heck, drop it in a heavy duty zip lock bag and set it in your beer fridge!
Click to expand...

How about ..... I just leave it in the bike and connect the trickle charger?

There just too many options for making life hard
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

missin44
SoCal winter storage Mid-Oct through Mid-April?
Replies
0
Views
1K
missin44
missin44
B
220 to 110 Volts??
2
Replies
38
Views
4K
guenner
guenner
roger 04 rt
Starter or Battery Redux
2 3
Replies
40
Views
16K
roger 04 rt
roger 04 rt
M
Correct charger
Replies
14
Views
7K
rangerreece
rangerreece
J
The Downside to Odyssey Batteries
2 3 4
Replies
68
Views
34K
Omega Man
Omega Man
Back
Top