Bikes in the city

R

rocketracer

New Member
Hey!


I'm moving to San Francisco soon from Seattle and I won't be having a garage of any kind :mad:. I was thinking of renting a parking spot in a garage but they probably wouldn't allow tons of parts to be laying around the ground everywhere. For those of you that live in big cities, how do you guys store and work on your bikes?
 
Chances are, if you leave a bunch of parts laying around in a public garage, they wont be there long.

Some people have rebuilt entire bikes in their apartments. Or you can rent a storage unit - but i dont think they have electricity.
 
No matter where it is, get an alarmed disk lock for it. Failing that, get a throttle/brake lock. All will effectively immobilise the bike to any would-be theives and the alarmed option is brilliant as a deterrant and for getting attention if somone is messing with it.

I would see about a spot in the garage, and work on your bike there. Keep a carrying-type toolbox with the essentials ready to go, hell, I can do most work on my bike with the underseat toolkit that I put together. Simply carry the part you want to fit and the toolkit down to the space, fit, and return after cleaning the area. Put down a drop-cloth if it'll be messy - big browny points for you if you do so.

With that setup, everything bar a full engine rebuild would be possible. For that, drain the engine of oil and remove in the space, then use a wheeled device to take to your floor/building/whatever. Put a cover over the bike before leaving so no-one will be the wiser.

Cheers - boingk
 
If your' life revolves around your bikes it just makes sense to have one in the living room right :)

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mysta2 said:
If your' life revolves around your bikes it just makes sense to have one in the living room right :)
Click to expand...

By god, that is a quotable statement!! HAHAHAHA!
 
boingk said:
No matter where it is, get an alarmed disk lock for it. Failing that, get a throttle/brake lock. All will effectively immobilise the bike to any would-be theives and the alarmed option is brilliant as a deterrant and for getting attention if somone is messing with it.
Click to expand...

It might make it a minor inconvenience for someone trying to move it, but any proper would be thieves would just pick it up, toss it in the back of a truck, and drive off.

I don't have a garage or anything, so my bike stays in the motorcycle parking at my apartment with a cover on it. As for parts and what not, I have a garage bay at work that I can keep stuff in and that's usually where I work on my bike, or at a friends place.

A self storage stall is probably your best bet if you can find one with power. Then you can keep all your tools and parts safely locked up, as well as have a place to work on it, for under a hundred bucks a month.
 
I lived in San Francisco for 25 years. When an alarm goes off, residents call the police and tow it away because it's disturbing the peace. No shit. Alarms only annoy people.
If you MUST park outside, get the biggest cable you can carry and lock it to something big guys can't lift your bike over the top of.

At less than optimum times, I found regualar home garages to park in (rent wasn't too bad). One place, I made an arrangement with a motoel manager to park under his parking deck stars. Homelss people already knew about the spot, but at least it was out of the wether and I don't think they cared about the bike (although one butt munch broke the plugs on my BMW with a brick...)

Parking ANYthing in that burg is war. People fight with meter maids. Hang over a bus stop a little and pay huge fines. People in cars will move your bike to make more room. Prettiest town in the USA (well- Seattle is awfully close), but it's a freakin war zone.

Use The Force.
 
Almost forgot- ask this question at BARF (Bay Area Riders Forum). You might make some new friends / get some ideas.
 
in my basement. if i was alone in an apartment, welll, id make sure i have either an elevator or a ground floor apartment =D
 
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