A lot of good advice here so far. I don't think starting the bike and letting it idle for 5 minutes is enough, either ride it 20 minutes or better or leave it alone. As far as the cover goes, if you use one consider getting a mechanics drop light, like this

and put a 40 watt bulb in it (60 watt if you can't find the 40) turn it on and lay it in the floor under the bike and cover (be sure nothing is going to touch it) This will generate enough heat to keep the moisture out.

 

I wouldnt start a bike in storage for only 5 minutes. Its not enough to get it fully warm, and will just lead to extra condensation in the oil etc.

As for riding in the winter in England, I don't. Once temperatures fall, the roads will be covered in salt to stop ice. This just causes all sorts of corrosion on any kind of exposed metal. A quick way of making any bike look very secondhand quickly. I've never in the past had problems with fuel going off so don't add anything to the fuel.

This is my firt Harley, and I haven't had it through the winter yet, but I will just attach a battery charger (optimate) and leave it until spring. I might change the engine oil first though.

 

Noooooooooooooooooooo don't say WINTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not done with summer yet!

 

I know, I wish I didn't have to. It's already down in the 60's here and raining all the time. Growing up in L.A. and being stationed at Edwards AFB when I bought my bike really spoiled me. I could ride year round there but here is a completely different story. Hopefully I'll have a couple more months of riding before I have to put it away.

 

You're absolutely right, Rick! On the other hand, Neal is right as well: as every good soldier does, "you'll have to think Winter in Summer!"

 

Another solution is to help with the cold weather humidity is to park your bike on some heavy cardboard. It helps absorb the moisture. If you can get it up off the floor, that's good. Wash and wax, check. If you can cover it, that's good. The battery tender is a must. The light bulb tip works to. As was mentioned previously, no need to change the fluids till spring, but do it then for sure. The fuel stabilizer is good. I start mine about every couple of weeks and let it run for a while. Usually about 10-15 minutes. Once it's warmed up a bit, I'll throttle it up a little bit for a while. Not full throttle, but I'll get it up a few RPM's and ease the throttle up and down just a little. It will get up to temp without riding it contrary to what some have said. Put a temp guage on it and see for yourself. I've never had a problem in the spring and I've been doing it this way for 40+ years. When spring rolls around, I wash, polish, and wax again, change all fluids, and give the bike a pretty good going over, and don't forget to check the tire pressure. If it's been sitting in one spot for the entire winter, the tires may flat spot a bit, but don't worry to much because once they rolll and get up to temp, they will round back out. Usually within a few blocks or so.

 

Yeah, you might have another couple of weekends, but the weather starts heading south come end of October. We don't usually see snow until Christmas time or later. It's just cold and windy and rainy.

My bike doesn't look as good as yours does, so I ride it throughout the year. It's hard on the bike, but even harder on me. It's life.

Enjoy what's left of summer. Let me know if you wanna go to BMF and you can come with some of the guys that I work with.

 

My bike gets stored frequently due to my work schedule being 8 weeks on followed by 8 weeks off.
Here's what I have done for years...

Put stabilizer in the fuel then top off the bike (if available use non-ethanol gas).

Go for a 10 mile ride then drain the oil while the engine is still hot and all the contaminates are still suspended in the oil. You don't want to give the black crap suspended in your oil an extended time to settle and form gunk in the bottom of your crank case.

Start bike and check for leaks.

I remove the spark plugs and squirt approx. 1 tablespoon of oil into each cylinder, crank it over a few times with the plugs out. Reinstall plugs.

I put plywood under the tires & jiffy stand.

Hook up battery tender.



Storing your bike clean, waxed and somewhere dry with a minimal temperature changes is best

 

if you have the dough you can get you one of them bubbles to keep it looking fresh and dust free


Harley Bubble



The Harley Bubble is designed to constantly flow filtered air over the bike, providing a dust-free, condensation-free environment that greatly decreases the chances of corrosion during storage. The bike stays clean, dry, and best of all, can be viewed even while it's being stored.

 

a ten mile run out by me is not an option, they salt the roads out here in the winter and it is nuts! i have 8 bikes, a 5 min start on them has worked great for over 10 years no problem... it is just to keep fresh gas in the carb/injectors more than to warm it up, plus we roll them outside to do it so that will fight the issues for flat spots in the tires. i have bikes that i ride year round by my harley is not one of them, that salt just eats away at paint and metal, just a mess!