You swap wheels for the season or keep a second set for track days. The tyres you take off end up in the corner by the door, leaning against the wall next to a jerry can and an oil heater. By spring the sidewall has fine cracks and the tread has gone flat on one side.
Riding isn't the only thing that wears a tyre out. Light, heat, ozone and fumes age the rubber, and storing it the wrong way bends it out of shape. If you're laying the bike up following our guide on how to prepare your motorcycle for winter, this post covers what gets stored next to it.
Upright or flat
Keep tyres without rims standing upright, side by side, and turn each one a quarter turn every few weeks. Stacked without rims, they crush under their own weight, and the bead on the bottom tyre loses its shape.
Wheels with rims can be hung or laid flat on top of each other, ideally only a few high. Don't leave a full wheel resting on one spot of the tread for months. Let a little air out as well, but don't let them go flat.
Cool, dark and one wall
Rubber lasts longest somewhere cool, dry and out of the sun. Keep tyres away from windows, heaters, welders and electric motors, which give off ozone. Put fuel, oil, solvents and chain lube on a different shelf, not underneath them.
A fixed spot is what really keeps things tidy. The R rack takes a full set of wheels and your panniers on one wall, so you don't have to move them every time you ride in. The floor stays clear for the bike, and in spring the wheels are all in one place.
