Using a camper van for winter storage

Last winter my Harley Ultra Classic spent too much time outside
under a bike cover and got some rust (mostly on the pipes).
Here in Vancouver, Canada we have rainy winters with occasional
wet slushy snow, like Seattle.

Indoor bike storage rates are steep here, especially with the option
to take it out temporarily in mid-winter, which is what I'd want.

So for this coming winter I scrounged an old Class B camper van that's
still well insulated and moisture sealed. It was parked outside all last
winter at the blueberry farm and everything inside stayed dry and non-
rusty, so I think it'll do the job, especially if I put in an electric
heat source now and then to drive off dampness. I'll have to gut the
interior to make room.

Of course the hard part is getting the bike in and out. The rear door
opening is 4 feet high, and the top of the Ultra's fairing is 49" from
the ground, after removing the windshield. (Times like these I wish
I'd bought a Road King). However I can temporarily compress the front
forks an inch or so with ratchet-type tiedown straps. The tour pack's
lid has to come off as well.

Either all that or I get creative with the angle grinder and make
the doorway taller, creating a 3rd door which would swing upwards.
I'd also need some weather stripping to seal it.

Anyway I haven't decided how to move the bike inside.
The alternatives seem to be:

(1) Horizontal platform, something like one of these:
http://www.new-era-motorcycle-us.com/lift.html
First lift the bike, then roll it forwards.

(2) Ramp. For instance, straddle the bike and either ride it up
under its own power or use some kind of winch. A local discount
auto parts supplier has a 660 lb electric cable hoist on sale
for $88.

I have a folding metal bike ramp (1000 lbs capacity) and with a plank
on each side for my feet I think I can keep it steady.

Parking the van's front wheels on steel shop ramps during loading/
unloading would lower the back end (it's a stretched van),
tilt the floor at a slight slope and lessen the angle between
the ramp and the van's floor.

Another factor in my favor is that the top edge of the fairing is
back somewhat from the front wheel, and if the rear wheel is still on
the ramp (and therefore lower), the fairing will be proportionately
lower as well, so there's a possibility that I might not even need
to compress the forks, or at least not as much.

(3) Sling (as from an engine hoist). Lift bike and then roll hoist,
or back up the van.

I want to be able to get the bike in and out on my own. Well, according
to Occam's Razor the best solution is the simplest, which I think is
the ramp, as it uses the least amount of equipment.

Any suggestions appreciated. TIA,

Sean_Q_
'99 FLHTCUI / '06 S40 / too many round tuits

 

What a way to end a Rube Goldberg story. ;-)

The simplest solution would be to coat the parts likely to rust with grease,
Vaseline or WD40 or similar and throw that cover back on it again. Do NOT
park it in the shade. You might be amazed what a little sunshine each day
will do to keep the moisture out.

 

That's a coincidence, I just moved about 30 klics south of Vanc, still
on the Canuck side but for first time in years, don't have a garage. I
suspect I'm close to that blueberry farm as I hear the explosions in the
early morning which I was told scare the birds away! Got rid of five
scoots in the process of moving, still have two, a cherry Passport C70
and a still good Helix, which is longer than some HD's. No room to put
up anything but a small shed which will likely fill up with tools and
parts from bikes that I help friends with. In this climate my own
opinion is that it's a good idea to get the wheels four or five inches
off the ground with some insulation, say a plastic sheet under a minimal
deck (wood is fairly cheap here, I guess partly because of the
precipitation). Condensation seems a big factor here, at least to me,
and it's insidious with the sharp temperature changes we get through the
day all year round. I've worked on some rusty classics that were stored
in carports and it also seems that the wet winds can cause a lot of
corrosion too. A low deck makes it easy for me to take them out
whenever I want (which is basically whenever I have a short trip to
make, regardless of rain, as long as there isn't any of that black ice
that gives me nightmares even in the summer! As for the wet wind,
there's a corrugated plastic, construction looks just like the paper
cardboard kind, shipping services sell it and with a stapler it's easy
to make a box that fits well and is a snap to remove and throw back on
later. To that I'll add a low-wattage incandescent bulb inside the box.
In my case, I never go longer than about three weeks without riding in
winter, so I don't worry about preservatives on the metal or stabilizers
in the fuel, but I have this Ctek charger which I like because it seems
quite sophisticated (I'm sure it has recovered a couple of sulphated
batteries from friends' bikes) and I try to remember to put it on my own
rides a couple of days every month in winter.

 

Just what "a little sunshine" is, is relative. Don't know where you
are, but here in the so-called lower mainland, which is full of
"micro-climates" that vary every five miles/ten klics or so, that might
consist of fifteen minutes of blinding low sun for every five hours of
light rain, ie., extreme condensation!


It's different everywhere you go, I think. As spring tapered off in
Capetown, I had to pull over to the side of the road as the locals who
knew the roads flew by. Wipers were no use, I thought I driving a
submarine! It's odd how people complain about the rain/aka liquid snow
in vanc, ca, which is generally light compared to the eastern cities.
It is relentless and can seem oppressive until you get used to it in the
sense that it often continues for thirty days straight, although I
remember February's that had none.

I know this group is about sportbikes, which I like even though I've
never owned one, but to me it's all about the kind of transportation one
prefers or savours. When I first came here, I thought the umbrella was
the right appliance for foot travel. Soon learned that the hoodie is
much better, that is, two hoodies, so one can dry while you wear the
second. Maybe that's why i like old wreckers, cheaper to have two when
usually there is some major problem with one of them. Each to his own,
I say.


Personally, I wish I lived in Capetown. I imagine those downpours and
big sun afterwards prevent all surface corrosin and all one has to
remember is to grease axles and such once a year.

 

That sounds like a low ball estimate for the materials required to
build a shed. I can't imagine building a simple plywood shed with a 2
X 4 frame for less than $500.

Then it still has to be painted, and a wooden shed would soak up about
$50 worth of paint...

I bought a 7 X 10 metal Arrow shed on sale for $300, and local pre-
fabricated wooden sheds cost around $1000.

Rubber Maid sells plastic sheds that can be assembled in an hour or
so, but they cost around $1000.

The problem around here isn't rain, it's the fierce summer sun. It
gets up to 140 degrees inside the metal shed in the afternoons during
the summer, so I insulated the steel shed with styrofoam sheets
(another $100) and I cut ventilating holes front and rear and screened
them and I added a $30 exhaust fan to move air through the shed.

Now the inside air temperature is the same as the outside air
temperature.

Then I built an open ramada between my car port and the steel shed so
I could have a shady place to work in the mornings before the
temperature gets up to 100 degrees or more.

A ramada is a sort of pergola with a roof. The Indians still make them
today with forked tree branches and brush roofs.

I built my ramada out of 2 X 4's and corrugated white plastic sheets
and plastic lattice and I spent about $500 on it.

The concrete paving block floor cost another $100...

 

Sell the van for whatever you can get for it and find an enclosed U-
Haul trailer.

U-Haul occasionally sells off their older trailers and it would be a
helluvalot easier to load your 800 pound motorcycle into a trailer
than into a camper van with a rear entry that's 24 inches above the
ground.

 

No, really ??

No, it isn't.

 

Oh, right, didn't mean only sportbikes, could have said conventional
bikes or somesuch.

 

Its really hard to get a bike into a 5ft x 8ft enclosed U-haul trailer.
You need a ramp as well, that's wide and more muscles than I have to
push it up the ramp or not drop it on the way down.

If you go the trailer route their open ones with the drop tailgate/ramp
are much easier.

Surely its easier though just to throw a tarp over the top of the bike
to keep the water off and leave the ends open for circulation.

Ian Singer


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I bought a tarp garage 10'x10' at Princess Auto a couple of wks ago and I
may go back for a 10x20 at $200. Not sure how durable these particular ones
are but my neighbour had a Trans Am in one for 10 yrs before Hurricane Juan
partly dismantled it. (no damage, just blew part of the tarp out of place).
These are dirt cheap now...
I also like Krusty's idea of a cheap trailer. With quality hitch lock of
course - HD's are attractive enough to thieves without providing the trailer
too!! ;-)
hth

 

The U-Haul trailer could be lowered down to almost ground level by
removing the wheels and storing them in the trailer with the Harley.
That would make it a
lot easier to run it in and out...

 

Where I live in Ontario, Canada, any shed or similar structure bigger
than 8ft square needs a building permit and dimensions are outside
including any overhangs.

If it is one of those things with an aluminum frame that people put in
their driveway they are as ugly as sin and should not be allowed in
front gardens.

Ian Singer

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=========================================================================
See my homepage at http://www.iansinger.com
hosted on http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=10623894
All genealogy is stored in TMG from http://www.whollygenes.com
Charts and searching using TNG from http://www.tngsitebuilding.com
I am near Toronto Canada, can I tell where you are from your reply?
=========================================================================

 

Here you go: 6x8 steel shed at CDN trash on sale this week for 225


http://canadiantire.shoplocal.com/c...number=1&rapid=585052&prvid=CATIRE-080905ENG#