This page tells how I was sent
to Korea with the U.S. Army
and what I did to store my motorcycle
until I can ride it again.
Being in the Army, I was sent to South Korea during
late September 1999 and this is where I'll be until September
2001.
Once I decided to store my motorcycle,
I asked around for advice. Besides going to local motorcycle
shops, I went to local boat shops, figruing people stored boats
for the winter too. I also checked with storage facilities to
see if the had any advice. I received good advice everywhere
I went, and putting it all together was up to me. The best advice
I received was from a specialy motorcycle shop in Dallas, Texas
that did custom chroming. These guys had some old Harleys on
the showroom floor which were there for the 2-and-a-half years
I lived in Texas, and the bikes were tip-top. These guys were
the experts and gave me input on the best way to store a bike.
So, if there's such a shop near you, go see what they do to store
their motorcycles.
As for my bike, it is in a Texas storage
facility, measuring about 5-feet-by-10-feet. It is important
to get it up off the ground, to help preserve the tires (most
people say leaving it on the ground will produce flat spots on
the tires), so I strapped it down on two eight-inch square blocks
of wood, each about three-feet long -- they support the frame
front and rear, so the tires do not touch the ground. I fastened
eye-bolts through the wood and used tie-down straps to keep it
in place -- it won't fall over because the three-foot blocks
of wood keep it balanced pretty well. The battery is out and
is sitting on another block of wood. The bike has a fresh oil
change, a full tank of treated gas, and I "fogged"
the engine like they do when they store boat engines for the
winter. "Fogging" entails going to a boat store and
buying a spray can of fogging oil -- just follow the directions
on the can, and remember to take the plugs out and spray some
into the cylinders too. Next, I drained the carburator and sprayed
a synthetic lubricant up the exhaust pipes and on any other shiny
part I could see, and then covered the bike with a sheet to help
keep the dust away.
In a box next to the bike are all the
necessary tools and what-not I figured it would take me to get
it started, along with my helmet and gloves. There's also about
four beers left in the box too, left over from when me and my
buddy prepared the bike for storage.
I'm thinking two different ways right
now: I might go back this coming Spring and have it shipped over
here, (which I did not do) or, I might go back for a month in
the Spring or early Summer (which I also did not do) and go for
a nice, long trip all by myself. The good thing about it being
stored in Texas is that when the Army sends me back to the States,
I get to go pick it up and ride it wherever my next place of
duty will be. It also has 4,937 miles on it, so when I do link
back up with it, I'll go get the 5,000 mile service performed,
and I'll be on my way.
I chose to store it, and asked everybody
who owned anything with a motor in it for advice, and did what
I thought was best from all the advice I received. I had lots
of offers from folks to keep it in their garage and start it
once in a while, but that sounded just plain stupid -- what fool
would do something like that? Starting it once each week probably
would do more damage than good.
As for bikes in Korea, driving here is
unbelievable -- Koreans can squeeze four lanes into a two-lane
road. It would have been certain death for me to bring it over
here, although I could have. I'm living in the South end of a
city named Taegu. There are a few Harleys over here, mostly driven
by servicemembers, although there are also many Koreans who own
them too. I see more Honda Gold Wings driven by Koreans than
anything else, though, when it comes to bigger bikes. The standard
bike here is a 125-cc Yamaha-Virago-looking cruiser made by a
company named Daelim. It is real funny how they make them --
they are all chromed out, even with polished solid-disk rear
wheels and really trick front wheels too, and some even have
beefy rear fenders and fake dual exhausts that make them look
like something they ain't. After they put all this crap on them
to dress them up, I don't know how that small engine gets them
around town.
Being in the Army, I was sent to South Korea during
late September 1999 and this is where I'll be until September
2001.
