motorcycle storage

[Snubnose]

Living in Canada, and thinking of the upcoming ugly white and cold season ahead, I was thinking about motorcycle storage.
At the moment, unless you have a garage or a house with a shed and live in apartment type housing, youre basically screwed.
In this scenario, one has to solicit the services of storage facilities, and pay between $50 CDn to $200 CDn per month depending on how many bikes and the size of these bikes.

Today, I had a Brainstorm, (or brainfart) and thought, hmm ok, how bout putting up a shed in my stall?.. management probably would never go for that, too many restriction of the lease. THEN I thought to myself, WILL two bandits (a 600 and a 1200) fit inside a cargo van? if so, I can pick one of those up in running condition, for about $500 CDN, put it in my "VEHICLE PARKING STALL" and lock up both bikes for the winter?.

What does anyone think? will they fit?

[Maniac]

They should fit, if you stagger them. Side by side I don't think they'd fit since the handlebars would put them over the edge in width. The biggest problem will be getting them in and out of the van.

Second biggest problem is... you just made the bikes -real- easy to steal. I'd suggest disabling the van once it's parked, either by removing the drive shaft or pulling the distributor cap off and taking the rotor out, then putting the cap back on. It'll look functional, but that puppy isn't movin.  

If you can find some way of covering the windows, or hang a blanket or something in front of the bikes so they can't be seen, that'd be even better.

Don't forget to drain the gas, check the coolant, remove the batteries, and change the oil!

[PeteSC]

Yeah, the van might not be fun getting two bandits in......

  Down here in the US, you can get a new 6x10 enclosed cargo trailer for around $2100.
  This is a LOT easier than loading into a van.
 You may be able to find a used one......
  Of course,  you'll want to lock up the trailer, also.....and put a lock on the coupler that fits in the ball area.

  The Bandits need about 6 and half feet of floor space, length wise....and how close you can get them together depends on how much space you have, how limber you are, or how desparate you are to make them fit.

  I'm not sure if you have a vehicle that will tow a trailer if you bought one.   A 6x10 is about 1200 pounds.....
  You'd also want to check the height of the trailer, and the clearance in the stall.    If a full sized van will  fit, a normal, small trailer should.....

  I'm kind of in the same situation.  I live in an apartment I can get away with keeping one bike at, but have two.   I use my trailer to store whichever one isn't being used at the time.
  I looked into storage costs...and  found a place I can keep the trailer for $20 a month.......  A decent sized storage locker would cost 3-4 times that............

[dsartwell1]

Check with friends and relatives that have a garage. Usually somebody can make room for you. Even if you have to give them a few bucks, its better than paying for storage. Is there any way to get the bike in your apartment? A picture of a Bandit in an elevator at 4 in the morning would be priceless!

[Desolation Angel]

I think storing in a van is a clever idea, but I'd go for parking in the living room if I had no garage.  Friend of mine used to do that with his chopper.  Wash and wax 'em nice, then bring 'em in.  Hell of a cool thing to look at and even sit on as you watch the snowflakes outside your window!

This may be a problem if you live upstairs...

[Snubnose]

width = 80"
depth behind elevator door to back wall = 54"
depth from door wall to back of elevator = 51"
width of elevator door = 42"

Anybody good at math?.. will a bandit fit without too much struggle?.. and within a short period of time?

[txbanditrydr]

Laying it out in AutoCAD and using some rough measurements off my B12S I will say no..... it will not fit horizontallly.

Now, if you could raise the front wheel and reduce the projected footprint it might go fairly easily.... maybe some sort of furniture moving dolly would be in order.

[PeteSC]

I'm not sure you could do it
 Those are the dimensions of the elevator?

   The only chance you'd have would be to take the bike in at an angle...don't think you have enough room.
    I think you'd need about 7 feet, maybe a little more,  from the far edge of the open elevator door, to the far corner of the elevator.   You'd want to point the front wheel for the corner as you wheeled it in the door at an angle.

 There was some guy in Montreal, I think, that posted pictures of his bike spending the winter on the balcony of his high rise apartment on another forum.....

[txbanditrydr]

I should clarify....it will fit in the elevator at an angle just fine with a couple of inches to spare - You would have to cut the frame in half to get it into the space though.  

By "horizontally" I meant with both wheels on the floor.

[Snubnose]

what if I backed the bike in sharp at an angle to the elevator and then turned the wheel sharp when it gets close to in?



Just an illustrator sketch, I made sure to have the bike longer than the elevator is wide, by about and inch and a half, remember the mirrors fold in.

[PeteSC]

With the width of the door, you've don't have a lot of room to play with.
  The bars/mirrors are probably 34 inches or so wide, or wider....
  I odn't think cutting the front wheel hard will save you as much as you think.  You still have to get the bars in...and you'll be in a position you don't have much room to play with.
    Maybe you can measure the max length at an angle from the edge of an elevator door?

  This may be something you're just going to have to try.....

  Sorry, I've never put a bike in an elevator, but have snuck them into motel rooms a couple of times.

[txbanditrydr]

Gonna be tough to get it in........ per this drawing based on supplied dimensions.



Maybe if you took the front wheel off.... and turn sigs, mirrors, etc., etc.

[dsartwell1]

Aw hell, just try it and take pics whether it works or not.    

[Snubnose]

Aw hell, just try it and take pics whether it works or not.    

Dont want to do it just yet, still summer,only wanna do this once (well, twice, on removal from my apartment) see, camera are around, and I wanna do this at like 4 AM one morning...Its like Mission imposssible, has to be planned out, in case....I just need the soundtrack to go along with the plan during execution.".DA..DA..DAAA..DA....DA..DA..DAAA..DA....DA.DA.DA.....DA.DA.DA"?..  

[rorym]

Here we ride 13 months of the year, Minimum, 70F, max around 110f in summer, way to hot to ride until the afternoon or the mornings. I feel for you guys but cant get my head around white stuff thats cold falling out of the sky to stuff up half your riding year. Come down for a trip sometimes, I live just off the Great Barrier Reef, we dont bite and are actually a friendly lot (except when it comes to swimming titles) that rents bikes but remember, ON THE LEFT! ON THE LEFT! Lost some of your country men recently that strayed to the right lane. Not GOOD! There are enough of us (20 Million) spread over a country just a bit bigger than the U.S. that will give you a bed and a beer on your travels around the big Red Continent know as "Down Under".
Rory
 P.S. Big Hint, if we bag you, (Raze you, make fun of you) you know we like you.