Sad day in Scootville

Here we are commemorating the end of the Great War on 11/11/2018 in what has turned out to be a pretty good weather day.
The noteworthy thing is I have to face swapping out two of my Honda's, the fun one and the "don't want to think about it one".
You see the fun one gets put into my garden shed and the "other" comes out to make room for the fun one.
To solve the clue, check my image.
Plus, I can almost see those year round riders lips moving saying "candyass". That year round scooting topic can be a whole new topic, but for me, my SW gets the winter off.
So, the real purpose of this blog is to inquire the thinking of leaving your battery in place during a 5-6 month storage in freezing weather OR removing it. What works for you.
I tried to cover the other storage points by changing oil & filter and topping my stabilized fuel.
Ride Safe!

Take it out

John is right: take it out, keep it in a dry dark place in your house, not on concrete. I do not hook mine up to anything. This past season, I left all charging devices off until about 2 hours prior to hooking it back up. I check the voltage periodically., not that I needed to, just curious as to what it was doing.

Jay.

I still ride year 'round but now pick my battles with super cold weather much better now! No mumbling "candy-azz" from me! The Swing battery is easy to get to, so I would pull it out. Can always pop it back in to start the scooter and let it run awhile on a warmer day. I have to remember to pull my lithium batteries from my mower and trimmer coming up soon. Dont want any flat battery surprises.

Out for me if it's going to be in continuous freezing weather, my scoot is in the house garage, I leave in in but plug the battery tender in once a week overnight, the mower batteries come in and get the same treatment, the tractor stays in on a timer that charges for three hours once a day at 2 amps.

oldwingguy wrote:

Out for me if it's going to be in continuous freezing weather, my scoot is in the house garage, I leave in in but plug the battery tender in once a week overnight, the mower batteries come in and get the same treatment, the tractor stays in on a timer that charges for three hours once a day at 2 amps.  

Good advice above.

Nice scoot cover!

A friend of mine had a new MC battery in his semi-heated garage for the winter with no tending, and in the spring the "new" battery was dead with failure to recharge. I neglected trickle charging my Miata battery for about two months on my carport. Went to start it, and it only clicked. I trickle charged it for two days, and it came alive, but that original 9-year battery I think subsequently lost some of its juice from my neglect.

If the scoot stays outside, please hook it to a tender. Because it's a smaller battery, it should be on a trickle charger/tender if you don't plan to run the bike till spring, or a month of inactivity. Small batteries are especially more vulnerable to cold neglect.

As mentioned above, the SWing battery is so accessible that it can be taken out easily.

PA cold can get brutal sometimes.

Bring it in .... As the weather cools, I will be riding less and bring it in if forecast indicates anything less than 32°F. A bit of a pain but a lot less expensive than buying a new battery. I put it on a battery tender more often over the winter than Jay, and probably not necessary. My snow blower keeps the Silverwing company in the shed.

Mike

A point for clarification at least from what I've learned, a trickle charger is different in action from a tender, Battery Tender charges to " full " charge then goes to float, a trickle charger keeps a steady low charge all the time, it's better I'm told if using a trickle charger to remove it periodically unless one has it on a timer. The LI battery in my swing I find holds a charge very well and needs only the weekly charging, even then it's seldom more than a hours worth on a battery tender.

I store mine in my heated garage and charge the battery about every other month. I have a furnace in the garage but I turn the thermostat down all the way which is around 40 degrees. Nothing freezes and if I need to do something I open the door going out to the garage and turn the stat up to about 65, go back in, have a cup of coffee and by that time it's nice and warm out there. Did I mention that my garage is attached? I told my wife when we bought this house that I have dibs on this room. She didn't care. It kept me out of her hair and she claimed most of the other rooms for her craft stuff. A happy wife is a happy home!
Oh, by the way, the garage is nice and insulated too.
I do exchange the lawn mowers for the snow blower in the shed tho.

Snowblower, I hate to even think about using it BUT if I do starting it is the least of my worry, plug it in to a 120 V outlet, put it on full choke and hit the starter button. Unplug the cord and hit the drifts.

Love the can do American attitude.
Everyone here moans about a light dusting, the world ends and complain the council haven't cleared the streets.

Scootypuff Snr wrote:

Love the can do American attitude.
Everyone here moans about a light dusting, the world ends and complain the council haven't cleared the streets.

Not funny funny but the first snow fall in our area brings on CARmageddon, THE PROBLEM? failure to slow down and realize there is a loss of traction. The one thing that I don't like about the slippery conditions is the all out assault on it with the brine-eacs what a mess it makes before during and after a snow fall.

My notice on brine that the idiots in TN spray on the road...even before it snows here---for 2 wheelers really dangerous as it makes a dry road slippery as owl poop! Guess they are not riders.

I can't complain at all about the pre-spray. Here in PA it has saved hundreds of crashes and lives. If they didn't pre-spray, we would be the first to complain that they didn't, even though it spoils the aggressive drivers who now depend on it when the cold snows come.

Two-wheel riders in winter are as rare as a scope on a slingshot. Sorry, we have no voice.

Real riders ride in all weathers if they can

Respectfully, there's as many definitions for a 'real rider' as there are opinions on the internet.

I've ridden in plenty of inclement weather.. hail, snow, severe cold. I've had only a bike and commuted in rainy weather. I only ride now in conditions I enjoy... I have nothing to prove to anyone.

Use bike for transport----I did/do.Enjoy it. Riding in bad weather is fine with right riding outfit, cold can be overcome with feather jacket underneath. As I approach 80, I find many if not most are not life long daily riders---still fun for me and enjoyable. Other good point I try never to buy anything I cannot transport on bike/scooter---saves money annd keeps life simple. My garage has new Genisis G80----wife, I have driven it twice---too many bells and chimes. As I hope age doesn't get me, also new Mitsuibishi Mirage in case.

Tomorrow finalize order of new Kymco Xtown 300i abs....fun for another year or so.

Last winter, for the first time, I put battery tenders on all pf my garage batteries - lawn tractor and 2 bikes, more for the sake of convenience than anything else. All fired up quickly when spring arrived. I'm not sure what the additional hydro charge was. One of the bikes has been replaced by the Swing. I think I'll be using the battery tenders again this winter and I think the time has come.

I don't think that motorcycles are meant to be shelved for the winter. I watched a video not too long ago of a couple of brits, young ones, ride across the US and Canada in -30C weather. They were rough camping in winter and frequently turned down invitations to come into the shed, not the house. They preferred to camp outside. Their rides were C 90 Hondas. They were interrupted by the Quebec snow tire law that requires a proper winter tire for winter driving. They made it to Newfoundland.
Brrrrr.

Jay.

Those young Brits are tough, especially on C90 Hondas.

There is a Harley group here I hear of who do an annual January ride to Erie, PA, about 300 miles one way, no matter how cold. They're probably all hot wired, but it's too much punishment for me. I love to ride, but... Erie just had a foot of snow and is expecting more soon.

During winter, if I get a weather window, I like to use my SWing for local grocery getting. It keeps the bike loose and scratches that ride itch.

But I can't fault anyone who puts the bike to bed from now till spring. There can be some nasty black ice surprises in shady areas of roads, even in high 30 degree F temps. And Murphy's Law dictates that most of those shady black ice spots be located on corners.

cotetoi wrote:

I don't think that motorcycles are meant to be shelved for the winter. I watched a video not too long ago of a couple of brits, young ones, ride across the US and Canada in -30C weather. They were rough camping in winter and frequently turned down invitations to come into the shed, not the house. They preferred to camp outside. Their rides were C 90 Hondas. They were interrupted by the Quebec snow tire law that requires a proper winter tire for winter driving. They made it to Newfoundland.
Brrrrr.

Jay.

Ed March, the man's a god

put C90 adventures into a you tube search and enjoy an evenings viewing in front of the fire with a glass of spirits.

EU requires winter tires for 2 wheelers.   Elephant Rally German=winter, early years in the 1950's, I wanted to go as I had Sidecar outfit, but was busy with ski team in Garmisch, later years it was held in Austria and then Germany.  Last years I went I saw some bikes on trailers, then those who arrived in cars, parked in the woods, put on the riding duds and talked the talk, etc.

I think the Dragon rally in the UK is no more.

Elephant was fun for me, for me best winter bike for the trip and riding around the rally site---2 stroke Vespa---even on dry they could be jerky in handling at highway speed, but on slow speed snow/ruts in parking lots, very good

Scootypuff Snr wrote:

cotetoi wrote:

I don't think that motorcycles are meant to be shelved for the winter. I watched a video not too long ago of a couple of brits, young ones, ride across the US and Canada in -30C weather. They were rough camping in winter and frequently turned down invitations to come into the shed, not the house. They preferred to camp outside. Their rides were C 90 Hondas. They were interrupted by the Quebec snow tire law that requires a proper winter tire for winter driving. They made it to Newfoundland.
Brrrrr.

Jay.

Ed March, the man's a god

put C90 adventures into a you tube search and enjoy an evenings viewing in front of the fire with a glass of spirits.

Back when we had a fellow that rode a old BMW to work every day he could, snow and all, seldom did I see him in a cage, RIP Jim

john grinsel wrote:

I think the Dragon rally in the UK is no more.

Elephant was fun for me, for me best winter bike for the trip 2 stroke Vespa

Dragon still going strong, mostly wet rather than cold nowadays.

2* sighs deeply and remembers

john grinsel wrote:

EU requires winter tires for 2 wheelers.

I think the Dragon rally in the UK is no more.

No it doesn't, winter tyres have never been mandatory in winter in the UK, and a lot of Mediterranean EU countries get mild winters so fitting them is unnecessary.  Also European tyre manufacturers only produce a limited choice of winter tyre sizes for 2 wheelers.

Motorists do change to winter tyres in Germany, and they're obviously essential in Alpine and Nordic countries that have longer and harsher winters. Carrying snow chains or fitting studded winter tyres is mandatory in some of these countries too.

Since there's only about 6 or 7 hours daylight in winter in Scandinavia, why would the average rider willingly want to freeze their nuts off riding round on 2 wheels in semi darkness for months on end anyway. It's the time to put the bike or scooter away and drive round in comfort and safety in the Volvo with it's studded or winter tyres and heated everything.

As already mentioned the Dragon Rally is still on the go, I went twice back the 80’s on MZ's. My first one was the 25th Anniversary Rally and it was a complete and utter disappointment and waste of time. Thinking I was being a bit harsh, I went the year after and that rally was absolute rubbish too.

I've still got that green and red 25th Anniversary Dragon Rally wooly hat and both rally badges cluttering up a drawer, along with other rally badges from home and abroad. I'm not even the least bit nostalgic about this junk these days, but can't bring myself to bin them.

Apparently this is proper winter riding gear:

https://soranews24.com/2017/12/06/body-jacket-from-china-protects-scooter-riders-from-winter-cold-throws-dignity-out-the-window/

cube wrote:

Apparently this is proper winter riding gear:

https://soranews24.com/2017/12/06/body-jacket-from-china-protects-scooter-riders-from-winter-cold-throws-dignity-out-the-window/

Brilliant, bet the wind drag is a pain

As for Dragon,dug out my old mug stand