Where does your Valk/bike sleep at night?

[msb]

Thought it would be interesting to see where everyone's bike(s) call home. I'm sure there are some pretty impressive garages/shops/sheds, or even just some inventive spaces created to keep 'em safe at night, so let's see 'em. I wish I had an extra bay so I could bring the Mrs's daily driver in  for the night during the Winter months without having to cram the two bikes together and lose precious puttering space. Oh well, at least I've "allowed" her room for her Miata, and she can always use her remote start to heat up her other Mazda on those cold mornings

[Chrisj CMA]

Your garage is fantastic. Any Valkyrie would be proud to live there. That is quite the accomplishment for sure.

My garage is a wood shop and not suitable for any motorcycle

So the Cobra bike lives in the family room

[Oss]

currently the o1 interstate and the 04 bmw r1150rtp sleep in the unheated 1 car garage with the bushtec trailer, lawn mower, snow blower, pressure washer my toolboxes
 and a large storage unit

The 99 I/S is under a Honda Valkyrie Interstate cover in the driveway  I will probably move it back so it doesnt get hit by a car by accident once the ice comes... and it will

This is the BMW  
It is missing the little yellow lens just behind my seat   Cant find one anywhere. It fell off in the Bronx on one of the mooncrater sized potholes a few years ago.
Turned over 78000 miles on Sunday

[Beardo]

This is where my bike sleeps...currently having a 5 month nap.

Also my home office since March.

[cookiedough]

nice office!   

I've got 4 cycles and push mower on one side of garage to make room for my wife's SUV once the snow flies soon on the other side of std. 20x24 ft garage.   The other 2 cycles and 1 ATV is in my enclosed trailer outside.    oh yah, have a 16 foot extra wide scanoe on the side with the cycles as well.  I have a few inches to spare is about it not enough to walk around on that side of the garage.  Oh yah,  a big 5hp 1970's snowblower as well in front of the scanoe, forgot that.         Way too much crap in one space for sure do not want to send pics or you all be telling me like my wife says SELL SELL something.    

I absolutely HATE, HATE cleaning out the garage this time of year making room for all of them for 2 of the 3 cars sit outside all winter long in my driveway as well.  Keep telling the wife I want to get pre-made a 12x20 foot garage shipped in already built and semi-truck drop off in my backyard but she keeps saying NO.        12x20 might be 'just' enough if I get the 17 foot fishing boat in there as well somehow sitting in my mom's garage the past 12 years....  It is only 7 feet wide so have 3 feet to spare to get 2 cycles in there as well one on each side of the fishing boat in front where boat tapers in closer.

[vanagon40]

My detached garage. I try to keep it just above freezing in the winter. I took these photos in 2007 and I am sad to report the garage doesn't look any better (or even much different) today.

[..]

In my unheated attached double garage with my Mazda 3 hatchback and lawn mower, generator etc.

[cookiedough]

My detached garage. I try to keep it just above freezing in the winter. I took these photos in 2007 and I am sad to report the garage doesn't look any better (or even much different) today.

hey, at least you have shelving and pegboard and items hung up on the wall.  All that needs cleaning up is that table just a tad.....         I also have hung up 2 kids kayaks with rope on the rafters 6 ft. high just barely able to clear my forehead I strategically places them both in the middle 8 feet long when I had less stuff (cycles) between 2 vehicles in the garage about 10 years ago...

[sandy]

Check my link below.

[scooperhsd]

My Valkyrie has the garage, along with some of our "stuff" when we moved in  a couple years ago.

[Jack B]

I don't have a good picture and right now the garage is full of summer stuff. (Wintertime here)
But I have a 24x30 garage for the bikes my car etc, plus a 28x23 for the every day cars.

[cookiedough]

Jack,  is that carpet in a garage?  How do you keep it from not getting full of dirt? 

you replacing both front and rear tires at the same time or what?

[Bret SD]

Since moving into our new digs last Dec mine sleeps in the garage along with the GL1100.

Lets see.. there's shelving loaded with tools and equipment.. more high shelving everywhere I can fit some..  and there's no room for my honey's car in there.   

I've also got pairs of kettlebells in there, they go in 4 kilo increments from 8k to 48k, 3 maces, a pullup bar and hanging rings. Also 2 thick horse stall mats delineating the training area.

Luckily she stuck to the deal that she calls the shots inside the living area, and the garage is mine (other than the boxes of stuff she stores in there) 

[DDT (12)]

Mike,

Very nice looking space you have there! ALI more often than not lives each night on some motel parking lot somewhere in North America... Due to current, pressing rider maintenance issues, however, she will for the next few weeks be in hibernation inside my landlady's garage. After that...? Dunno...

DDT

[hubcapsc]

My 1500 lives in this little shed I built for my Harley back in the late 90s... I recently
souped the shed up to be "critter proof", the 1500 stays clean and dry and my
parts stash now stays clean of squirrel nests 



I built similar, but bigger, shed for the 1800 so that it doesn't have to live under
a pole barn anymore... one day (real busy lately) the new shed will have power. I
installed the doors (a nice set of pre-hung double doors like for a real house). This
picture is a month or so old, there more work been done, and I've worked on my
bikes in there some too... no more working in the dirt  ...



-Mike

[Patrick]

All my stuff hangs out in the upper barn. The everyday vehicles and shop are in the lower barn.

[Jess from VA]

All my stuff hangs out in the upper barn. The everyday vehicles and shop are in the lower barn.

So where do the cows sleep?   

[msb]

My 1500 lives in this little shed I built for my Harley back in the late 90s... I recently
souped the shed up to be "critter proof", the 1500 stays clean and dry and my
parts stash now stays clean of squirrel nests 



I built similar, but bigger, shed for the 1800 so that it doesn't have to live under
a pole barn anymore... one day (real busy lately) the new shed will have power. I
installed the doors (a nice set of pre-hung double doors like for a real house). This
picture is a month or so old, there more work been done, and I've worked on my
bikes in there some too... no more working in the dirt  ...



-Mike

Aha...I was hoping for a photo of your completed shed build...looks great Each with their own private living quarters...fortunate bikes

[msb]

Mike,

Very nice looking space you have there! ALI more often than not lives each night on some motel parking lot somewhere in North America... Due to current, pressing rider maintenance issues, however, she will for the next few weeks be in hibernation inside my landlady's garage. After that...? Dunno...

DDT

Bruce...ALI would certainly be the least bored of all bikes, not having to stare at the same 4 walls most nights. Also probably why she's performed so well for so long, not being parked for extended periods waiting to do what these bikes were built to do

[msb]

This is where my bike sleeps...currently having a 5 month nap.

Also my home office since March.

And here I thought you've been "working" all these months from your home office, when you've actually been "working out"...

[carolinarider09]

[Patrick]

All my stuff hangs out in the upper barn. The everyday vehicles and shop are in the lower barn.

So where do the cows sleep?   

The cows and horses used to sleep in the lower barn but they were gone by the time we bought the place. From what I hear since they slept together there were some strange looking creatures coming out of that building.
The only thing sleeping in the upper barn that I had built are non living mechanical creatures. There are times when one or two will seem to take on a life of their own though.

[msb]

Your garage is fantastic. Any Valkyrie would be proud to live there. That is quite the accomplishment for sure.

My garage is a wood shop and not suitable for any motorcycle

So the Cobra bike lives in the family room

The most pampered of all...

[pais]

Your garage is fantastic. Any Valkyrie would be proud to live there. That is quite the accomplishment for sure.

My garage is a wood shop and not suitable for any motorcycle

So the Cobra bike lives in the family room

The most pampered of all...

Might you be referring to the bike or the 4 legged furry friend that is hunkered down quite comfortably, apparently napping?

[Chrisj CMA]

Your garage is fantastic. Any Valkyrie would be proud to live there. That is quite the accomplishment for sure.

My garage is a wood shop and not suitable for any motorcycle

So the Cobra bike lives in the family room

The most pampered of all...

Guilty as charged. This morning was COLD for us Florida boys. 25 degrees at wake-up. I didn’t even feel like breakfast. Had that chill to the bone feeling, so..... I decided to give the fat girl an unnecessary full coat of wax. 20 min of rubbing the wax down. Did the trick. All warmed up and the bike is lookin her best  for the weekend. I guess that is pampered.  



There is 15 years between those two pictures.  Wow how time flies!!

[hubcapsc]

25 degrees at wake-up.

It's "only" 28 here  ...

We have some cats that live at our house. The definition of drama is: mixing cats.

Over the summer a cat someone dumped showed up. She turned into "the neighborhood cat".
She lives at our barn, we feed and water her since we're there twice a day, and the
next door neighbor is actually a vet, so she vets the cat, shots and stuff... but now it is
winter, and it might get all snowy or slushy or 15 degrees any time. I hate the idea
of that friendly cat living outside/in-the-barn. Anywho... I made her this the other day...



I wish we had power over there, there's plug-in heated "cat mats" that solve the cold
problem...

-Mike "where does your cat sleep at night  "

[Jess from VA]

Years ago, I made the same thing for our stray (but way too wild to be adopted into the house, despite the wife's best efforts, and injuries) cat years ago.  The swinging cat door went in the shed wall and my big rubbermaid box got a single door.  And sherpa insulation and a regular human heating pad (110), turned to extra low and placed underneath a lot of in insulation (which you could hardly feel, but which the cat appreciated in our colder (than yours) winter).

It worked pretty well, except for the fat racoon which must have worked a long time to get his big fuzzy ass through that small cat door a couple times.  Which caused some real drama between the cat and the raccoon (who couldn't get out of there fast enough), and later some real screaming between the wife and the fat raccoon (who didn't want the cat house, just the cat food and water).

And then came the miracle of life in early spring with a big healthy litter of cat babies.  Which it's amazing how many people you ask who don't want them.  After we took real good care helping with her babies, the cat lost enough of it's wildness to let my wife (only) touch her, but she still never wanted to live in the house.  And was bold enough to charge right up to two pit bulls on leashes who had the audacity to piss in my yard (next to the sidewalk).  And stood her ground despite the owner being barely able to hold those two snarling bulls back from charging her under the split rail fence.  That cat had the heart of a lion (and the claws too).  

The tortoiseshell queen.   (don't even think about it)


We (she) had a pile of cats, but this was the best one, hands down.  

Why is rabbit not afraid of the panther?  Because he knows he's smarter than the panther.

[Chrisj CMA]

Funny how a thread changes. Now it’s s cat thread. Don’t get me wrong, I love cats as much as the next guy. I mean, they taste just like chicken    sorry, just had to

[The emperor has no clothes]

Funny how a thread changes. Now it’s s cat thread. Don’t get me wrong, I love cats as much as the next guy. I mean, they taste just like chicken    sorry, just had to

Clearly you haven't tasted cat from the street side bbq's in Olongapo. They come in many variations. 

[hubcapsc]

And then came the miracle of life

This cat would be at the shelter if we couldn't vet her... 

-Mike "vetting includes fixing..."

[Jess from VA]

And then came the miracle of life

This cat would be at the shelter if we couldn't vet her...  

-Mike "vetting includes fixing..."

That happened later.  That winter, no one could touch or catch her without a very serious fight (short of shooting her, which seemed extreme).

My install of the cat door and heated box (and food) inside was done only assuming the cat would figure it out on her own, as she wouldn't be handled or shown anything.  It only took a couple days, as expected.

[msb]

Funny how a thread changes. Now it’s s cat thread. Don’t get me wrong, I love cats as much as the next guy. I mean, they taste just like chicken    sorry, just had to

Yes,it is interesting to see how threads branch off into different discussions...which is not necessarily a bad thing. That being said however, let me stay on this altered topic a bit while bringing this thread back around eventually to the original topic of Valkyrie living quarters
Cats...I'm not a big cat fan. I don't hate them, I just have reasons now not to not like them very much, even though we always had cats when I was a kid and I enjoyed having them. Our next door neighbour has had several cats but I don't consider them to be "good" pet owners as they just let them roam around the neighbourhood. Cats are smart and very independent, and will do what they want to do. When we moved into this new house almost 5 years ago, I finally had a nice new good sized garage that I would be able to set up exactly the way I'd always wanted to but was unable to because of all the kids' stuff and other crap that people with growing families have to store somewhere. With our daughters' long since established with houses and ample storage of their own when we moved here, I was free to set up this garage to accommodate the Valk and the Mrs's classic Miata in comfort along with my fishing gear, and make it into a true man cave. I spend a lot of my time in there and on our little dead-end street of 14 houses, me and one other guy have a standing rule that if you walk by and we're in our garages with the doors open, it's an open invitation to come in, share a beer, and shoot the sh**. Heck, the Mrs and I have even had "drive-in" nights watching the odd movie sitting in her Miata with a big bowl of popcorn (at our age, watching the movie and eating popcorn is about all we're able to do in that little buggie though )
The only thing that has put a bit of a damper on me enjoying this long sought after dream of hanging out and entertaining in a nice clean, well-organized gagarge, is those darn aforementioned cats!! The very first Spring we were in the house, a couple of them started coming into the garage when the door was open...I caught one spraying the back wheel of my Valkyrie and at other times they would camp out in the Miata and leave their hair all over the interior and I would have to buff out scratches where they walked over the hood and trunk. They would also come into the house if we weren't vigilant during the Summer when we spend a lot of time on the back deck. I don't mind cats in the yard as they help to keep vermin at bay, though the Mrs got pretty tired of digging up their crap from the vegetable planters...but they're not welcome in the garage or house. I finally had to get a little terse with the neighbours and let them know that this couldn't continue, and I started scaring off the cats with an air hose or with the water hose when they would walk up the driveway towards the garage. Two of the cats are no longer around (again, the neighbours are not good pet owners and unfortunately for those cats, they have fallen victim to their larger and more ferocious cousins...bobcats and cougars which are known to patrol our neighborhood here up on our little mountain). The other cat is still around, but I think he's gotten the idea that he's not going to be a friend of mine, so he mostly keeps clear...we seem to have developed a bit of a mutual respect for each other (although I will never forgive him for spraying my Valk )
So, sorry Jess and Mike/Hubcaps...I'm not a big cat fan. I would never harm (like shoot or anything like that), but I doubt I'll ever go out of my way to befriend them either although I respect you for doing so.

Continuing to steer this thread back to the original topic somewhat, I'm on the hunt for a decent bike lift...one that will safely support the Valk, but that can perhaps be wheeled off to the side of the garage when not in use. I thought I saw one in the past that even "folded" up a bit to allow for easier storage...

[hubcapsc]

I'm on the hunt for a decent bike lift...one that will safely support the Valk, but that can perhaps be wheeled off to the side of the garage when not in use.

I have one of those aluminum sears ones. I guess some factory in China is
churning them out, because other vendors (Harbor Freight too maybe) have
ones that look just like it. I like it a lot, it is strong and easy to move. My new
bike shed is pretty small, but I don't believe the jack will be in the way...

-Mike

[Jess from VA]

Mike (MSB), I like most all animals, so long as they don't abuse me or my property.  Then I don't like them (and eliminate them).  A few get transported, but most go in the trash.

My efforts, with regard to my cat story, were entirely the wife's desire and not mine.  But you know how the wife's desire often becomes the husband's duty.  Though this cat was worth the effort.

I should have shot the wild dwarf angora bunny she brought inside that practically destroyed a spare bedroom, before I ever pointed it out to her.  It tried to hump the cat every chance it got, and tore up most of the carpet and some of the subfloor, trying to dig it's way out of the room.  And the smell was terrible.

We had no kids, and she was raised on a farm with abundant animals on the coast of the Black Sea, so we she had animals instead of kids.  First entering the US to my duty station in SoCA, I had to show her the base regulations prohibiting farm animals from base housing.  Because she was desperately wanting a nice little donkey for our backyard.  I'm not making that up either.  So we got cats instead of a donkey, which I guess was a decent compromise.

Back on topic.  My two interstates (tools, equipment, jack, small bench, compressor, grinder, power tools, overhead storage, propane burner heater, and a bunch of gear) go in a 10 X 12 shed like this.  Space is at a premium and there's lots of creativity in getting it all in there.  Wired for electric with lots of light and overhead fan.  It's far from glamorous.  An identical one next to it has mower, chipperVac, gas, generator, blowers, whackers, power washer, and all garden and lawn tools, hose, wire extensions, rope, cable.

[JimC]

Let's see, this thread veered off into the cat thread, the other winter garage thread veered off line into a muscle car thread. That's OK, we are all bored, and these threads bring up all kinds of memories. I figured I would ad mine here just because.

I am lucky, I have a 24x42 garage with vaulted ceilings, and heated floors. My garage is used for numerous reasons, cars, bikes, grand kids toys, and the occasional local VRCC meeting room. More than a few bottles of scotch, beer, and unknown amount of cigars have been consumed in the lounge section.





The good bike (with 10,000 miles on it) gets to go to Florida with me again this year so it won't stay there all winter... (I looked for 2 years to find one with low miles, this one had 6,700 when I bought it last year.)

The bike on the table is a one owner bike with 23,000 miles on it, and just about every option and all kinds of bling, but it was very neglected. PO covered it with plastic and left it in the back of a very damp garage for 10 years. It dosn't run yet, but turns over fine, who know, maybe this spring.

I am thinking BOBBER !

Jim

[NewValker]

Yup, next to the 550, next to the tractor, which is  next to the splitter, which is next to the snowblower, which is next to 5 cords of wood all stacked for winter. No room for wife’s car, but bikes are accessible for a surprise warm winter day ride.
And yes it’s a f-in mess, I used to care, now I’d rather ride!

Craig

[msb]

And yes it’s a f-in mess, I used to care, now I’d rather ride!

Craig

lol... 

[msb]

Let's see, this thread veered off into the cat thread, the other winter garage thread veered off line into a muscle car thread. That's OK, we are all bored, and these threads bring up all kinds of memories. I figured I would ad mine here just because.

I am lucky, I have a 24x42 garage with vaulted ceilings, and heated floors. My garage is used for numerous reasons, cars, bikes, grand kids toys, and the occasional local VRCC meeting room. More than a few bottles of scotch, beer, and unknown amount of cigars have been consumed in the lounge section.





The good bike (with 10,000 miles on it) gets to go to Florida with me again this year so it won't stay there all winter... (I looked for 2 years to find one with low miles, this one had 6,700 when I bought it last year.)

The bike on the table is a one owner bike with 23,000 miles on it, and just about every option and all kinds of bling, but it was very neglected. PO covered it with plastic and left it in the back of a very damp garage for 10 years. It dosn't run yet, but turns over fine, who know, maybe this spring.

I am thinking BOBBER !

Jim

Very nice! I'm pretty sure if I doubled or even tripled my current garage space I would find use for all the extra room. The Mrs and me still toy around a bit with  the idea of one more move, to be closer up North where our daughters and families have moved. When we browse the real estate ads, she looks at the kitchens and back yards, I look at the garages, shops, driveways

[Black Dog]

i have been privy to many of the gatherings in Jim's garage/shop, and let me tell ya, there is no better place to spend a cold WI winter evening.

We attempt to solve all of the political problems in the world, along with boosting stock prices of every well known scotch/bourbon/whisky, and beer manufacturer available...  We also hold wrench party's when needed 

Gotta schedule another one soon!

Black Dog
 












great place to hang out!

[0leman]

Here's where my Valk Sleeps.






She has her own area for resting and when I need to attend to her needs.