This might sound a little stupid, but can a motorcycle be damaged from cold temperatures? It's 23F out right now, so not extremely cold, but it's pretty chilly; my bike is parked out front (I haven't got a garage at my new apartment here), and was taken for a ride just a few hours ago, when it was 10 degrees warmer. Are temperatures like that in any way dangerous to the life of a bike?

Might not be awesome for your battery, but everything else should be just fine. But what do I know, I live in southern California where it is still in the 80's...

Quote from: ralph13 on November 19, 2008, 09:07:10 PM
This might sound a little stupid, but can a motorcycle be damaged from cold temperatures? It's 23F out right now, so not extremely cold, but it's pretty chilly; my bike is parked out front (I haven't got a garage at my new apartment here), and was taken for a ride just a few hours ago, when it was 10 degrees warmer. Are temperatures like that in any way dangerous to the life of a bike?

At 23F (-5C), I wouldn't worry about harm to the bike.

The colder temperatures will help with the battery storage (they are less prone to discharge when cold). Plastic may become brittle and crack at very low temperatures, but 23F is probably not cold enough for that. As a reference, this site lists the minimum working temperature of ABS as -4F (-20C).

I am not familiar with details of the effects of low temperature on rubber (i.e. tires, brake lines, etc.), but I'm sure that at the temperatures you mentioned there is nothing to worry about.

I can't think of any reason why other components would be sensitive to low temperature.

We people in winter don't want to hear about you awesome SoCal weather Fred ...  f%$k YOU WINTER!!!!!

And it won't hurt your bike its just cold.

Changes in temps shouldn't do any harm to the bike but it can help loosen/tighten/change settings.  Don't forget TCLOCKS and adjust as appropriate.

No coolant to worry about, just keep the battery charged.  Beyond that, yes, the plastic does become a little more brittle.  It isn't going to break if you touch it, but might shatter a little more if you crash.   

Use a battery tender, keep your battery electrolyte topped up, allow it plenty of time to warm up and go ride!

QuoteWe people in winter don't want to hear about you awesome SoCal weather Fred ...  f%$k YOU WINTER!!!!!

amen!!!

there's snow on the ground and my nipples tore my shirt.  I don't want to imagine you knobby kneecaps poking out of your cargo shorts. 

Get it under a tarp and it'll be fine.

tires get squirrely when its cold and let the engine warm up longer before take off.

you should be good to go.

don't worry about cold temperatures. the steel, aluminum, and brass (is there any brass after all?) in the gs will be just fine. if you had a huge DIFFERENCE in temperature, like the wheel being 100F and the wheel bearing being -100F you'd be wobbling around

there are actually some benefits to super cooling metals. heat (or lack of heat actually) treating metals with super cold makes them tougher, last longer, etc

you won't be able to stand riding in temperatures that would damage your bike, by the way