Support Rear Tire?

[hkd51]

I have put my bike up on the jack stand for the winter and was wondering if I need to support the rear tire/shock? With it sitting unsupported for long periods of time cause any problems?

[Squidley]

I would say no, it wont hurt anything. I know with my hotrods in the winter I would block them up and keep the tires off the ground. The tire will thank you and all your doing is extending the shock to it's end, which it's designed for.

[dynodon]

There are some good reasons NOT to let a bike or car sit on jack stands (or the center stand). Especially cars. Lots of car bushings on the suspension are designed to be in a neutral position when the car is on its suspensions.

 

when you lift a car off the ground, you put all those bushings in tension that can cause premature failure. Bushings that are designed to slip instead of just flex are not a problem.

 

Tires won't be hurt by sitting with their weight on them. Some will have a short lived "flat spot" that should go away in a mile or so, even in cold weather.

 

Springs won't fatigue from sitting on their suspension because springs age with motion, not from sitting in tension.

 

Finally, you do expose parts of your suspension, like the forks or shocks, to air that don't normally see it. That is why construction equipment should be run to their shortest position (think bucket on a loader etc) for the hydraulic rams rather than let them sit extended.

 

I collected this info from decades of storing old cars and listening to others that have done it even longer. The same stuff should apply to bikes.

[sarges46]

Just roll the bike onto a piece of plywood....keep the tires off freezing concrete. I didnt one year and it may have been a partial cause for cracking around the rim.

[hkd51]

Thanks for the replies! I want to leave it on the jack stand so that I can work on it over the winter when I get an hour here and there. I think that I'll block the tires though just so that I don't get any extra air in the shocks.