long term bike storage
 

I have an opportunity to buy an '05 KLR with all the mods for RTW done (panniers/dohickey/everything) with 2500 miles for a good price. My biggest concern is what needs to be done to the bike to keep it in good shape if sitting and not running for a year and will it affect it's reliability. The thing is, I just retired, 38 years old, and my pension is only $1300 usd a month. I have a contract job offer in Serbia for a year and I'm not sure if I should buy the bike now and put it in my storage that I already have or wait until I get back. Thanks. -Shane

Remove the battery. If you can put it on a tender, fine. If not, it might be toast anyway after that time.

Drain the carb, totally, bowl especially.

Either fill the fuel tank lipping full, or drain it and slosh a coating of light oil inside, covering all surfaces.

Pour a thimble amount of oil inside the cylinder and put the old spark plug back in.

Overfill the crankcase with most any oil.

Lift the bike so that the tires are off the ground - block under the skidplate, etc.

Remove the chain and place it inside a bag with a liberal coating of oil. If you can't do that, just coat the hell out of it with a heavy oil like gear lube.

Clean the bike well and spray it down with something like WD40.

Keep it in a dry place and cover with a tarp.

Well it depends on how good of a price you are getting on it.If it is a steal i would say to buy it.Putting it in storage shouldn't be a problem as long as you drain the fuel tank and carb completely.Depending on how long you store it you should replace the rest of the fluids when you return.Remember
if it's a good deal you don't want to regret it later on down the road......