[Panza]

I'm at work now and I feel guilty for leaving my motorcycles just resting on the dirty garage floor when I have at least three perfectly usable stands for my girls. To be honest, why do we do this in the first place? I think it's to prevent flat spots, even then I don't even know why still.

 

[DJ Shrug]

You lift your tires off the floor so they don't touch the dirty ground. /s



Yeah you don't have to, just take the time to move the tires every once in a while to prevent flat spots. In all honesty, leaving it resting on the floor will only make your tires plastically deform (or at least slowly recovering elastic deformation) if they're really sitting for a LONG time. Putting some cardboard underneath the tires or anything that the tire will imprint into will help prevent flat spots.

Why are flat spots undesirable? Riding on tires with flat spots have noticeable bumps, that's it. You could probably make some arguments for uneven tire wear or safety issues, but really, its no problem.

 

[MotoMillion]

Leaving your bikes sitting over the winter just a couple of months probably won't flat spot your tires. But it is good practice to elevate the bike.

 

[nband]

I've never done this and never noticed any flat spotting or other negative results. I'm in the Pacific Northwest and having more than one bike I usually pull one of them out every month or so in a dry day but my r6 sat for around 6 MK ths at one point w/o any issues. I could see if they were sitting for years it having an effect. Perhaps someone can prove scientifically that it's bad but I doubt it. We can come up with theories as to why it's bad... at the end of the day it doesn't hurt to put the bike on stands but I wouldn't sweat it too much.


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[dougo1199]

I have always been told that the cold concert (for those of us in the cold climates) will prematurely age the rubber. Slowly drawing out the elasticity or something. But since so many tires on the market today are made from 100% man-made synthetic rubber not sure that still holds true.

 

[DarR]

Mine are off the ground if for anything to keep the Pit Bull guys employed.

 

[TheX]

No point.

 

[PatrickR]

My stands just sit in the corner unless I'm working on or cleaning the bike.

My apartment garage has a cheap floor coating that sticks to hot tires though. It sucks, happened 3 times already. I will use the stands if I pull straight in but thats rare. It's easier to just leave the bike outside for 5-10 minutes.

 

[Kevin.H]

In the colder climates the low temperature drops your tire pressure which will increase the magnitude of your flat spots. But tire technology is to the point where you have nothing to worry about unless you're storing in excess of a year.

Tires on wood? Does nothing. In the grand scheme of tire carcass vs. load, the minuet weight dispersion that wood offers is laughable.

Wood under a stored car is meant to be a vapor barrier and that was lost intranslation by people making assumptions rather than getting informed answers.

I put my bikes up for winter storage because I wrench on them. Not because it will ruin the tires if I don't. That and it looks nice

 

[BullAnt]

I wouldn't bother lol I just took our scooter out that sat unused for over 12mts, tyres had 15 psi I rode down to the garage pumped them up and good to go thank fully it had a shorai lithium battery otherwise it would have been dead. But being a Honda lol she fired up better than my 959 does

 

[dougo1199]

My bikes always sit on stands. During the riding season it makes it easier to check tire pressures and lube the chain before each ride. Also aids in cleaning the chain and wheels, which I believe was previously mentioned.