Motorcycle Outdoor Storage Question | GTAMotorcycle.com

Motorcycle Outdoor Storage Question

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faivious

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Hello.

With the purchase of my first new bike, I'm currently ironing out the logistics of storage throughout the seasons (I live in Richmond Hill).

I live in a townhouse with a garage and a size-able "private" backyard.
Unfortunately due to the size of the drive-way and garage, there's only room in the inner corner of the garage to store the bike.
To take the bike out would mean driving two cars out, and driving them back in.
For winter storage, the bike can stay in the garage with no problem.

I found a storage shed/sprung from Home Depot that I can put in the backyard, has anyone had experience using these before?
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p....ak-style-storage-shed-in-grey.1000781221.html

Or

www.amazon.ca/Speed-Way-MTS-GRY-Standard-Small-Shelter/dp/B0098ISYGC

My worry is, if the bike is left in the storage outside throughout Spring to Fall, how much would the GTA weather affect the bike? (Provided the storage shelter holds up)
Is it better to invest in one of these?
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.big-max-7-ft-x-7-ft-shed.1000762039.html

Let me know your personal experiences of storing your bike in your backyard!
 
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Personally, I would buy a real shed.

My bike was parked in a tarp shed (anchored with a cinder block at every leg) and it got windy. Shed flew about 20' in the air and landed 100' away in a ball. The cinder blocks remained attached to the shed during the ordeal. The bike was unharmed as the shed was high enough to clear it.

The other upside of the real shed is the bike can spend the winter out there. Almost every year there are threads about bikes getting dinged/knocked over while in storage in the garage.
 
I wouldn't do the tarp one, one season and it looks like ****. Plus they don't last.

To save $700 I'd just move the cars. Can't be that much of a hassle
 
why not this one then it's cheaper

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.8-ft-x-6-ft-high-wall-steel-storage-building.1000682311.html

it's slightly larger, one way and smaller the other way, but it's only 259 bucks

unless you are looking for something nice....

and if you do store it in a shed, there are things to be aware of, mice for one, so plug up any holes on the bike, for example the exhaust, the air box, if the seat comes off even better, take it indoors, and battery as well, take it indoors, and put on tender, get a cover for bike, or a bed sheet, keeps the dust and stuff off of it

.
 
I lived in Ottawa for several years. I took several green plastic trash bags, cut them apart and then sealed them with shipping tape.
Some weights on either side and stored the bike in the backyard against the fence on the windward side out of the wind. Battery removed.
First pleasant day, battery back in and it started right up. No tears in the plastic. No signs of winter damage to the bike.
A wash and I was ready to go.
You guys may be overthinking this.
 
Yeah

I don't know how big your lot is, but for a bike to get through you only need about shoulder width of space

I usually squeeze out of the driveway

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bigpoppa said:
Yeah

I don't know how big your lot is, but for a bike to get through you only need about shoulder width of space

I usually squeeze out of the driveway

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Click to expand...

Unfortunately there's just about enough room for a person to squeeze past the pitiful space between the wall and the car.
Honestly it would drive me nuts to take the driveway car out, open the garage and take that car out, squeeze in the bike, then proceed to drive the cars back in...
 
I suspect you are the only person in the whole of York Region to actually park two cars in a two-car garage.

Is it possible to only park one car in the garage and leave the other on the driveway?
 
FLSTC said:
I suspect you are the only person in the whole of York Region to actually park two cars in a two-car garage.

Is it possible to only park one car in the garage and leave the other on the driveway?
Click to expand...

Correction, it's a one-car garage, and a one-car drive-way, my mistake.
 
Really? Drive you nuts? You are a rider and can't move around two cars?

Prob should have considered that before buying another vehicle.

Buy a proper shed and take gatekeeper's advice then.
 
meme said:
Really? Drive you nuts? You are a rider and can't move around two cars?

Prob should have considered that before buying another vehicle.

Buy a proper shed and take gatekeeper's advice then.
Click to expand...

I have the patience of a fetus :p.
 
I did the Canadian tire 10x10 tarp shed. Used the 30 cm anchors all nice and proper. Like other posters I found it in the neighbor's yard one windy day.
 
At the cottage I have a 10' x 10' shed where the ST lives most of the riding season. Shed holds a bunch of other things as well. It's dry and relatively secure. Don't buy too small a shed as you'll probable regret it in the long run.
 
do you own the house?
have a wooden fence or wall space in a decent location to park the bike?
build a lean-to type structure using the fence or wall as supporting member
sloped roof, shingle it, concrete patio slabs for a floor, close it in for winter

cheaper than a pre-engineered shed, and you can make it suit the bike

View attachment 39082
 
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But...you HAVE a garage. We've got 5 bikes and zero cars in ours. Who parks their car in the garage that owns bikes?
 
Owen said:
But...you HAVE a garage. We've got 5 bikes and zero cars in ours. Who parks their car in the garage that owns bikes?
Click to expand...

You are correct. The problem starts when the spouse / partner doesn't ride. They don't understand why you need 4 motorcycles, 5 scooters and "why are you are always surfing kijiji for more"
 
Use the damn garage. Any tarp solution is likely to end in the tarp shredded and in the garbage halfway through the winter at best (and now your bike is not only unprotected but also difficult or impossible to get through the snow into the garage anyways), or will damage the bike at worst.

In another week or three the bike will likely be away until spring anyways, short of maybe the typical few days through the winter where it's suddenly rideable...but as a new rider there's an argument to be made that you shouldn't ride in those anyways. Road conditions and traction issues are common with winter riding.

So you're not going to have to worry about shuffling vehicles once it's permanently away, so it's not an issue until spring when you pull it back out anyways.
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