Winter motorcycle storage!

[Gimlet]

Does the Rocket 3 have a convention starter sprag like most bikes, or has it a retractable worm drive engaged with the crown wheel like in a car engine?
If it's a conventional bike-style ramped bearing sprag ring, presumably too many failed spin-ups due to low battery power are going to wreck the sprag clutch? (As has happened on my Ducati).

 

[TURBO200R4]

just my opinion
the bendix is just for start up to let the flywheel go to 1000+ rpms with out the starter going to 8000 rpms.
a little story on a late model ford i hooked up a starter wrong and it let the starter stay engaged when i cranked it and i needed time to pour more atf in the transmission so the starter lasted about 1.5 minutes before it let all the smoke come out totally destroyed.

 

[Gregger]

Does the Rocket 3 have a convention starter sprag like most bikes, or has it a retractable worm drive engaged with the crown wheel like in a car engine?
If it's a conventional bike-style ramped bearing sprag ring, presumably too many failed spin-ups due to low battery power are going to wreck the sprag clutch? (As has happened on my Ducati).

Neither... It has a solenoid that throws out the bendix directly which then is driven by the starter motor. No sprag and no worm drive. The same starter is used by several auto makers.

 

[Mongler07]

One of the issues riding a motorcycle is that most of us don't ride at or below freezing... Helps negate the need for big battery power...

BRO.... speak for yourself, i ride most year round but only once "nice days" but i DO fire her up from my garage and most days its "nice 55*For more" the bike and the battery are still sitting at like 30*F when i go to start it up. Besides its nearly impossible to find a battery that is not less than what you need for cold starting. i would love to see what your point was in the real world aka show me a battery that goes into our rockets that does NOT have more than enough CCA to start in some COLD AF conditions.

 

[Mongler07]

basical

Does the Rocket 3 have a convention starter sprag like most bikes, or has it a retractable worm drive engaged with the crown wheel like in a car engine?
If it's a conventional bike-style ramped bearing sprag ring, presumably too many failed spin-ups due to low battery power are going to wreck the sprag clutch? (As has happened on my Ducati).

basically it has a honda car starter in it. no sprag

 

[Gregger]

BRO.... speak for yourself, i ride most year round but only once "nice days" but i DO fire her up from my garage and most days its "nice 55*For more" the bike and the battery are still sitting at like 30*F when i go to start it up. Besides its nearly impossible to find a battery that is not less than what you need for cold starting. i would love to see what your point was in the real world aka show me a battery that goes into our rockets that does NOT have more than enough CCA to start in some COLD AF conditions.

The point I was making had to do with "most of us" not driving a cycle below freezing like we would a car. Because I often start my car in winter with the temps between -10F to -40F... I want the biggest battery available (and a block heater). I would never expect the battery in my bike to start it with temps like that. Several years ago in January, I pulled the bike out of the shed with the temps around -10F to trailer it south. The engine would barely turn over. My car had no problem. I had to put a tarp over the bike and a heater for an hour to loosen it up then vroom. My car with a 2.0 litre engine had an 800 CCA battery in it. My bike with a 2.3 litre engine only has 310 CCA. Thats a big diff in starting capacity for similar sized engines... Our little cycle batteries usually don't have to contend with the cold and neither will I if I don't have to.

 

[Mongler07]

The point I was making had to do with "most of us" not driving a cycle below freezing like we would a car. Because I often start my car in winter with the temps between -10F to -40F... I want the biggest battery available (and a block heater). I would never expect the battery in my bike to start it with temps like that. Several years ago in January, I pulled the bike out of the shed with the temps around -10F to trailer it south. The engine would barely turn over. My car had no problem. I had to put a tarp over the bike and a heater for an hour to loosen it up then vroom. My car with a 2.0 litre engine had an 800 CCA battery in it. My bike with a 2.3 litre engine only has 310 CCA. Thats a big diff in starting capacity for similar sized engines... Our little cycle batteries usually don't have to contend with the cold and neither will I if I don't have to.

And yet nearly all "healthy" batteries you can get for the rocket will do the job.
That was my point

 

[zenbiker]

Good afternoon! Dear colleagues, how does anyone store their rocket in winter? I'm talking about the wheels. Does anyone hang a motorcycle with a jack or stands so that the wheels don't touch the floor? Or how does the instruction recommend to put on the plaques? Please share your experience

Riding 63 years and have owned 30+ bikes. All bikes were stored all winter and never had an issue with a tire malforming.

 

[Dr.D]

If your are that worried about tire flat spots then just move it a bit every other week. Really any tire deformation will self correct after a good ride as tire temperatures increase with use. My tractor will flat spot over the winter but always corrects after use in the spring.

Batteries and fuel condensation with water are more critical problems.

 

[Mongler07]

Riding 63 years and have owned 30+ bikes. All bikes were stored all winter and never had an issue with a tire malforming.

I have seen it, but only on OLD tires, that whent flat or the bike sat for years.

If your are that worried about tire flat spots then just move it a bit every other week. Really any tire deformation will self correct after a good ride as tire temperatures increase with use. My tractor will flat spot over the winter but always corrects after use in the spring.

Batteries and fuel condensation with water are more critical problems.

The issue is that like most bad practices for storage no additional air is added. Motorcycle tires are tiny compared to a car. They can lose up to 10 maybe even 20 psi in the cold combined with just normal loss from the nature of rubber. The flat spots really are just memory of cold rubber. Like you said, warm it up and ride, problem gone. So putting 10 psi more air on really helps the problem be less.
I think it has to do more with ageing rubber than anything else. But I don't know. A center stand really does the job though but taking off most of the pressure from the tires.