how long can you leave a bike sitting for

[bigdom86]

how long can you leave a bike to sit without starting it up? i have surgery soon and it won't be fired up for atleast 3 weeks, would this be ok? its a cbr125

thanks

[Ichy]

I have one that has sat for 7 years. I reckon it could do another 7 easily without starting it up.
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[Ichy]

3 weeks is nothing. It might just need a bit of a charge when you get back to it but otherwise it'll be fine.
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[bigdom86]

so you reckon it will start up fine and i can ride it as normal? i use it for work so cant be messing around in the morning

[Triton Thrasher]

[Ichy]

I left my bike for far longer than that without any problems. Seriously, three weeks is nothing. The battery might need a bit of a boost at most.
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[bigdom86]

sorry for the noobish questions but if it doesnt fire up how would i charge it?

[Ichy]

bump start or a battery charger. Chances are it'll be fine. Don't worry.
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[Rogerborg]

Don't be tempted to start it up and run it for a few minutes every day, you'll just flatten the battery. Give it a good long run, fill the tank, forget about it.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Nexus Icon]

Mine sat for 3 months after back surgery and fired right up. 3 weeks should be fine.

You could hook it up to an optimiser while it's sat there if the battery is getting a bit old now, to make sure it has juice, but everything else will be fine and if the battery is strong that'll be alright too.
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Greetings from Shitsville!

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

I hadn't started one of my cb500s for a year until a couple of weeks ago (although the battery had been on a cheap ass Aldi trickler). Unbelievably - to me - it started on the button and sat there idling like it had been a couple of days.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Wednesday Biker]

My bike lasted 11 days before it wouldn't start,battery was 6 months old.
I've left it 3 weeks before and since and started first time.So dunno what was up with it.
My old 125 I left 3 months before with no problem.
You should be fine really.

[Lord Percy]

To muddy the waters a bit...

I left my bike for about 3 months then it wouldn't start. Ended up being some weird electrical thing which nobody ever got to the bottom of, aside from knowing that the solution was to pull a wire out of the relay box then simply reconnect it again.

Then at a later point I left it for a similar amount of time and the same problem happened again. Pretty weird.

[Wonko The Sane]

My brakes bind a little bit after the bike has been sat for a week or so but other than a quick wipe of the disks with brake cleaner and a spot of lube on the chain before parking up it's fine

the brakes stop binding by the time I've got to work when I next get on it.
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[Aceslock]

[Val]

[Polarbear]

When I was at sea the longest I ever left a bike was 7 months. All I had done was remove and fully charge the battery before I left. When I came back I recharged the battery, replaced it back on the bike and started it. No issues.

I have to say the bike was in a garage that was part of the house and did keep quite warm.
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Victory Cross Country American tractor.

[talkToTheHat]

Consider that petrol lawnmowers might be used every other sunny summer Sunday and then forgotten about over winter.

If you have a fuel petcock (tap) turn it to off, and if you are a forgetful type put some kind of "turn back on before riding" flag. A strip of old high-vis vest does for me. Particularly useful on the exhaust bung that goes in before washing.

As mentioned above you might need to charge your battery, or start bike using jump leads or a booster pack. Be very careful not to touch the red +ve lead against the frame or engine. My bike is old and has the starter accesible at the front, so i just connect the -ve lead to frame bolt i know is a good earth, and touch the +ve to the terminal on the starter motor. Battery is so well hidden car jump leads wont go in there.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[andyscooter]

my old 50cc was sat in the garage for 12 months

recharged the battery and it started and ran fine
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gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[Doovy]

My aunt's RXS was sat in her shed for 14 years. It didn't start.
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