[Vito]

Most of the places I have lived in my 78 years have not had year round riding weather. Down in San Antonio I used to put the bike away for part of the summer months when it was just too hot to ride, day or night. But for most of my life I have lived where at least part of the winter was not a fun time to ride, and my motorcycle would be put on a Battery Tender, covered, with Stabil in the gas tank for anywhere from 8 to 16 weeks. During all of those years I would read or hear from folks that you needed to either raise the bike's wheels up off the concrete floor of the garage, or to move the bike every once in awhile to avoid causing a flat spot on the tires. I never paid much attention to that advice, and never had a single problem. I always left the bike on the ground, and usually had no reason to move it even an inch during the months of storage, yet come Spring all I had to do was to add a bit of tire air pressure before going out for the first ride of the season. This is my first winter with my Can Am Spyder, so the 1,000 pounds of the trike are spread out over 3 wheels. I parked it in late November and have yet to move it at all. I'm pretty confident that come late March or early April when I hope to get out riding, that the tires will be just fine. Do you leave your bike still for the winter, or move it around a bit during the non-riding time? Just curious what others do.

 

[PORKY]

Never moved any of my Bikes.

It would be easy to jack our Tricycles off the floor and put jack stands under 3 points.

Sam

 

[ndncowboy]

And if you do move a bike, ride it. At least 20 miles. If you can’t do that, leave it alone. I think flat spots are a thing of a past. Tire manufacturers have come a long way with their rubber compound formulas.

 

[Tinsnips]

I thnik the modern tires are pretty good with respect to not flat spotting from sitting for the winter. I have never had a problem. I do know some riders will over inflate their tires by a few pounds when they put them away but I have never had the need to. Being a heavier machine you could do that but it may just be busy puttering around work that you really don't need to worry about.
unless you want to.

 

[PORKY]

Flat Spots? Let’s Clear Up Some Myths About That… at consumertire.com

So your vehicle’s been sitting for a while…you get in it, start the engine and pull out of the driveway when you notice a hard, rough (but very...

consumertire.com

There are lots of discussions on the WWW on this topic.

Sam

 

[ndncowboy]

I can say for fact a bias ply tire will flat spot. And it doesn't take long. My Indian has had that for a rear tire and when it's cold a been sitting for a few weeks, like in the winter waiting for a nice day to ride, it feels like I'm hitting a bump every 2 or 3 feet until it warms up.