Along with the earthquake this week and the other horsemen of the apocalypse, we might have a hurricane coming to the East coast this weekend. I always feel torn during storms when I see scooters with covers on knocked being blown over by the wind. Unless I know the person, I don’t feel like I should remove the cover for them (to make it less likely to get blown over). And once it is blown over I don’t know whether I should pick it up (because it might just get knocked down again). You can solve my moral dilemma by planning ahead and parking your bike safely during the storm. Here are some useful tips…
Park near a solid wall with the kickstand on the other side. If you don’t like risking a ticket with sidewalk parking – this might be a good day to risk it, and park alongside your building (depending on your neighborhood – maybe you can’t do this all day and night in mid-town, but anywhere else there are buildings where this would be fine).
If you cover your bike (and I think you should), bungee or tie it down so that the loose parts of the cover don’t act like sails picking up the wind to lift your bike of its stand. 50 mph gusts of wind might not knock your bike of its stand – but it WILL if you have a cover on it acting like a sail. Bungee cords work, but some twine from the hardware store will work fine. If nothing else, packing tape works also and isn’t too hard to remove.
Before you cover your bike, throw some old thick blankets over the tank and tail. If your bike DOES get knocked over in the wind, it doesn’t have to get actual damage. Things like the tank, the front lower fairing, the exhaust, the side of the tail section (on some bikes) easily get scratched up if they hit the ground. So it’s a good idea to prepare for the worst when preparing for a hurricane. I always thought someone should make a foam padded bike cover for just such a purpose (feel free to take the idea and run with it – just give me a discount, I’ll take two).
Any other ideas? Share the wealth in the comments section!
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