Leaving a bike standing?

[CorriganJ]

I know a lot of people do it, but can I expect problems?

I live in Europe. Whenever I visit England I have to rely on friends family and taxis to get to anywhere. I'm seriously considering picking up a cheap 125 I saw advertised locally in the next few days, but It might be up to 6 months until I ride it again. Or less, who knows? Well, that's the point, it will be used rarely. Is it going to cause me problems?

[doggone]

Probably not if it's in a reasonably dry shed and a trickle charger on it.
If someone will be about get them to put the charger on roughly one day in two weeks.
On all the time is much better than letting it run down.
The engine won't be bothered at all though pumping a bit of oil round once a month by running it for a few minutes is probably better if it can be done.
Eventually something bad might happen like a tyre go down and left sitting could get a permanent flat bump in it.
Mice in airbox is another surprisingly common occurrence.
If worried about fire risks take the battery off and trickle charge away from it. This gets more important as it ages and if conditions are less than ideal (mice again)

[mentalboy]

[CorriganJ]

Thanks both - the battery is already dead, so that could solve two problems - i.e. why it is cheap, and because it has a kickstarter, I don't need to charge it. It will be stored in a dry garage.

[mentalboy]

[Teflon-Mike]

[CorriganJ]

Well, I bought one.

What I origionally saw was a 2008 YBR for €800. With a dead battery, private seller.

What I ended up with was a 2006 Honda XR125 with a full service and fresh MOT from a dealer. It was more than the YBR, but I think a good price and a better buy. I love the bike. It feels like a bigger bike, I hear they are pretty indestructable bikes, and it should hold its value. Insurance is nice and cheap. I'm not a teenager any more.

And I'm a British citizen, I'm just working abroad for the next 6 months. Full car license and a CBT. You may be right about taxis being cheaper but, in my head, it FEELS like wasted money. Whatever money I spend on the bike, I should get back when I sell it.

Plus, I was going to buy a motorbike in the summer anyway so that I could pass my full test. All I did was buy it a few months early. So I've taken the expense early, but I've also saved it from later on. And saved the hassle from later as well.

Of course, mechanical costs could get me. But, I hope very little will go wrong with it. Wish me luck...

EDIT: Just looked up the MOT history using the Reg (couldn't do it in the shop) and it hasn't been on the road in a few years. It's getting a full service tomorrow, but is it a bad sign that it hasn't been ridden? I guess noone can say for sure over the internet. Judging by the garage I got it from (a one man band, just a mechanic buying and fixing them, no sales team, and a TON of stock waiting to be bought) it's probably been had by the garage that long. What do you reckon?

[Polarbear]

I used to leave my bikes all the time when in the Merchant Navy. Anything up to 10 months at a time.

Early on I used to empty the carbs, take the battery off, and charge it up.

Then I just used to take the battery off.

Then, with optimates I just used to leave it plugged in.

I never ever had any issues.
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Teflon-Mike]

XR125 is basically a push-rod CG with knobly tyres. This is good and bad.
Good is that CG bits are cheap and plentiful, and its simple to work on.
Bad is that the knobly tyres make it even more of a thief magnet than most 125's... cos of ideas of 'off-road'...
Which could go some ways to explain your MOT/Tax gaps... b-u-t.... this is a little 125 that's nearly old enough to have its own driving licence, and 125's tend NOT to fare too well in the hands of, well, learners!
They have an anticipated service life of about 7 to 10 years, at approx 3K miles a year. But most are pretty chucked by the time they are 5, cos Learner's, well they is learning, and will make mistakes... which on a bike means crashing! Which dont tend to help the paint stay shiny very well, but on top of that, they are not just learning not to crash, but also how top ride and how to look after a bike.
Learner bikes tend to suffer a lot of clumsy gear-changes and clutch contrpol, and ratrher reactive braking, that sees them stretch clutch cables, wear out clutch plates, wear out selector forks, etc etc etc... then there's the CG 'legend' for 'low' maintenance an awful lot take to mean 'no' maintenance, and things like tappet adjustment and oil changes tend to get neglected, drive chains stratched or left to get so loose they fall off, brakes over adjusted or never adjusted, and pads or shoes never replaced.... Odds of a 125 surviving, let alone surviving 'well' into the margins of antiipated service life, beyond 7 years aren't high... and any that do are likely to either be incredibly rare, well looked after examples, or scrap heap dodgers bodged to oblivion, OR they will have been rebuilt, possibly a couple or more times.
So Condition is ALL and regardless of the implied providence, care aught be paid to any 125 to haul it out of 'maintenence overdraft' before bancrupsy strikes....
Get a Heynes Manual for it; find the routine maintenance list, and go down it soing EVERYTHING on it, to be sure its done and done properly, before it can get any worse.... that's my advice.
Beyond that?
Well its a 125.
More it' a 125 with knobbly tyres....
GET GOOD LOCKS
I would be more worried about making sure it didn't get nicked while I was away from home, than whether the battery would go flat or valves gumm up.... and I would, on a fourteen year old 125, be more worried that there wasn't already a pretty big hit list of 'niggles' to tackle, than whether the petrol might go stale in the tank in the few weeks I didn't use it!
On which topic, its already 15 years old; how rusty is the petrol tank inside? Id be planning to POR15 treat/line the tank as precaution against rust and silt in the tank clogging the carb, and nibbing Sooooo many pottential problems in the bud... really in the list of possible problems? You probably already have, let alone what are likely to manifest themselves?.... Like I said, its frying big fishes stuff!
All the best with it, b-u-t, get that haynes manual, and get your hands mucky, don't get over excited...
Best of luck and have fun.... I'm sure you will.... its certainly a bike likely to offer plenty of opportunity for 'some' kind of fun... though whether its the kind you expect is another matter! lol.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[CorriganJ]

Cheers for the warning! I'm handy with a spanner, let's see what happens...