Flying south for the winter

[Ballerman]

I'm relatively new here, and relatively new with my big bikes, so forgive me if this has already been discussed. Just point me in the right direction.

 

I live in southeastern Michigan. It was -2 this morning. My bike is on the life support of a trickle charger in my garage. I have a decent amount of time on my hands. If I could be riding, I would be riding. Northwest Airlines charges less than $120 for a round-trip ticket to Atlanta. So why don't I store my bike in Atlanta for the winter?

 

Good question. In fact, it raises all sorts of questions, and I thought maybe it would make a decent thread.

 

Have you ever taken your bike, or considered taking your bike, and leaving it, somewhere south for the winter? Where did you take it? Where did you leave it? Self-storage? Friend? Somebody you found elsewhere? Here? Any pitfalls?

 

I figure worst-case (which is to say most expensive) I could find a self-storage place close to the Atlanta airport, drive the bike down in October, and leave it there till April. With any luck, I'd have access to some electricity to keep the battery stoked. I could fly down, grab the bike, and ride for a day or two or three, a few times each winter, then drive it back up north once things melt up here.

 

Best case might be I find somebody on this board or some other way who has decent storage to offer at a fraction of the price.

 

Any thoughts on this grandiose plan?

 

[tallman]

So you're willing to trade miles for storage?

[boatzo]

Not a bad idea. Wish I had thought of it. Let us know how it works out.

[RichEdwards]

Atlanta's average temperature in January is 41. It's 48 in February. Coming from -2 in Michigan, I guess that sounds good. The airline rates to farther south would be more, but the temps would be 60 to 80 in those months.

[Paul Mihalka]

There is no guaranty that in Atlanta every day in winter is nice riding. Yes, the highs are 4x, but the lows are 2x. It's warmer than up north, but keep also in mind that the nice riding is north of Atlanta where it is a bit mountainous and colder.

[Matts_12GS]

So you're willing to trade miles for storage?

 

Tim,

I have a friend who's done that with his pickup truck, his boxer cup 1100S, his harley softail deluxe and soon his KTM 950 supermoto.

 

I'm just glad that I get to rotate the miles on his bikes so I can have a more diverse stable without paying for it.

[Ballerman]

OK. So let's say San Antonio. It's warmer, and only a few bucks more. Anybody do this sort of thing? Anybody in San Antone willing to supply storage? What's the riding like around there? Or maybe New Orleans?

 

 

[Richard_D]

I know 4 people who shared a storage in Las Vegas for their GS's. They live in Florida and went on many great trips out west and to Mexico. Another friend stores his V-strom in Europe.

[Twisties]

We left our bikes in Phoenix at my mother's place winter of 2007-2008. Had a great ride down, a great extended tour over the x-mas - new year time frame, and a great ride back. Superb idea, I highly recommend it. My wife didn't want to it again this year, but we really lucked out and were able to ride to Death Valley Days in January, and I just got out for a ride this afternoon. Last winter those things would not have happened.

 

Problems:

 

Guessing when is the last day to go. We missed by a day and caught nasty weather leaving... when it was 60 the day before. Was okay though, just cold, we beat the actual storm by a few hours. Of course if you don't mind going earlier it's no problem.

 

Missing those few days when you might ride at home... may not be any out your way, we usually get some.

 

Planning and packing. We weren't used to planning a trip without having the bikes right there. Had to remember what gear was down there, and what we needed to bring. Carrying luggage in case liners on an airplane was a bit strange. Obviously, there are some things you won't want to leave in the south.

 

Missing a couple of weeks of riding weather in the spring until we could go the bikes.

 

We do our own maintenance. Could not do it down south for lack of tools, lift, space, time, etc. Miles worked out ok though to do it when we got home. Could have dropped them at a shop, but time is an issue... you don't want to be wasting vacation time and travel expenses while your bike is in service for days.

 

That's about it. All manageable. Would do it again any time the wife wants.

[T__]

I'm relatively new here, and relatively new with my big bikes, so forgive me if this has already been discussed. Just point me in the right direction.

 

I live in southeastern Michigan. It was -2 this morning. My bike is on the life support of a trickle charger in my garage. I have a decent amount of time on my hands. If I could be riding, I would be riding. Northwest Airlines charges less than $120 for a round-trip ticket to Atlanta. So why don't I store my bike in Atlanta for the winter?

 

Good question. In fact, it raises all sorts of questions, and I thought maybe it would make a decent thread.

 

Have you ever taken your bike, or considered taking your bike, and leaving it, somewhere south for the winter? Where did you take it? Where did you leave it? Self-storage? Friend? Somebody you found elsewhere? Here? Any pitfalls?

 

I figure worst-case (which is to say most expensive) I could find a self-storage place close to the Atlanta airport, drive the bike down in October, and leave it there till April. With any luck, I'd have access to some electricity to keep the battery stoked. I could fly down, grab the bike, and ride for a day or two or three, a few times each winter, then drive it back up north once things melt up here.

 

Best case might be I find somebody on this board or some other way who has decent storage to offer at a fraction of the price.

 

Any thoughts on this grandiose plan?

 

 

Clint, I also live in Michigan.. Sounds like you are a little warmer in you area as it was (–14°f) at my place this morning..

 

We (a couple of friends & myself) have been talking about the same thing.. Maybe group renting a U-storage or similar in southern Georgia then commuting down 2-3 times per winter.. Be a good staging place to gather up to bike on down to speed week..

 

In the past we have pulled a 6 place enclosed trailer down with my Suburban but that is getting old & the long term parking in the south is getting iffy in public areas with a truck & large trailer..

 

If you only own one bike you might not be that happy with your bike down south & it being one of those 60°f days up here.. Spring & fall you will miss some good motorcycling weather up here if you leave your bike down south.. You can’t take it down too late or bring it back up here early as you can get jammed up in foul weather & not get it down there is you wait too long.. Most of the guys I ride with have multiple bikes so leaving one down south for the winter wouldn’t be a problem..

 

If you only plan on going south a couple of times then maybe renting a bike down there would be a good alternative..

 

Twisty

 

[Bheckel169]

I've got a big and insulated garage. I'm in western North Carolina. Anybody who wants to store his bike here (probably 2, maybe 3 bikes may do so), I'm insured, have two dogs, isolated on some acreage and am in an ideal riding area of the Smokies. Will negotiate. Especially if it is a bike I really like.

Bruce

[Rocer]

Clint - I've been exploring the same idea. Live in central Ontario. I have friends who do this each winter and have done so for several years. However,they leave their bike(s) permanently in the south and each winter fly down for a month or more. Like you, I thought I would send the bike ahead to be stored until I can fly down and eventually return to ride it back in the spring. The ride back doesn't appeal to me as it will have to be an all out slab campaign no matter what the weather.

 

I have found (on line) a self storage facility in FL that will let me use my solar battery tender. Monthly charge there is something like $75. They also offered access to electricity for a charger as well (no fees for this discussed). So manageable opportunities exist.

 

I've been trying to hitch up with locals who are trailering their bikes down but no luck so far. Commercial operators seem to be $600+ one way and $900+ return but schedules are rigid around bike week in Daytona. It was hard to find the one way rate as the other op's want to charge for the empty space on the return which is understandable. I also found a used bike dealer who goes south with an empty trailer and brings purchased bikes back so that might be a source to explore as well. Also to be considered - private horse trailers.

 

Renting a bike in the south seems to be about $1,000/wk if you include all the add-ons and taxes.

 

 

Meantime, keep shoveling.

 

Paul

[effexer1]

U-Haul rents enclosed trailers for 25.00/day, that will hold 2 bikes. My Brother and I are planning on renting one in March, to haul to, and leave in, North Carolina. From there we hope to ride to Key West and back, then trailer the bikes home. If NC is too cold or wet, well keep going and stop when someone asks us what that big flat steel thing is on the front of the truck!!!

[Smoky]

I met a guy in Arizona, riding a Goldwing, who was from Ontario, and kept the bike in Texas. He rented a small storage locker, near the airport, it had a light bulb, so he plugged in a battery tender, and kept his ridng gear in the locker.

 

He went down a couple of times a year for his winter riding. He'd been doing it for a few years.

 

[stubble!]

I've got room for a couple of bikes. Airfare'd be a bit more, but I can guarantee the riding is excellent.

[Ballerman]

Nice pics, Sebastian, of that ride to Oregon! California looks good. I keep a bike in the Colorado Rockies. I was looking at Albuquerque or Phoenix, too, but northern CA is cool. Anything is possible at this point, eh? Maybe a different place each winter. Who'da thunk living in this fridge would open so many possibilities?

[Ballerman]

Live in central Ontario.

 

Paul: They have people and towns up there?

[Dave_C]

you can store it in my garage in So Cal. For free. Instead of leaving on a charger, I would ride it a couple times a week on Angeles Crest to keep the battery charged and keep the tires from getting squared off.

[BeemerLover]

Several years ago I stopped in a little town in the Canadian Rockies for lunch. They were having a Saturday street fair. I noticed a couple sitting at an outdoor table with t-shirts that had a motorcycle and some cyrillic (SP?) lettering. I walked around and moseyed back to their table and struck up a conversation with them.

 

Turns out they had taken a trip on their motorcycles across Russia and the t-shirts were given out to the locals to thank them for their hospitality.

 

Talking with them some more indicated that they had bikes stashed all over the world in self storage units. One was in Latin America, one in Europe, one in Asia and a couple more here and there. They said they have a routine to get the bikes running and, after their trip, of getting the bikes ready for storage. I was quite impressed. All were older BMW's.

 

Gael

[eakins]

smallest storage that will fit the bike in phoenix is your ticket!

remember anything east of big bend is flat and boring.

[eakins]

Nice pics, Sebastian, of that ride to Oregon! California looks good. I keep a bike in the Colorado Rockies. I was looking at Albuquerque or Phoenix, too, but northern CA is cool. Anything is possible at this point, eh? Maybe a different place each winter. Who'da thunk living in this fridge would open so many possibilities?

 

colorado, northern cali, oregon would all suck in the winter