Bike Shifting in Hesaraghatta

Hesaraghatta is where many Bangalore families keep a farmhouse or a weekend house, out past the lake on the north west edge. Many of those places have a bike: an old scooter for running to the village shop, a motorcycle for getting around the plot, sometimes a bike that was moved out there years ago when it stopped being needed in the city. They are ridden on visits and left standing in between, sometimes for months.

When the weekend house is sold, rented out, or emptied, the bike has to come back to the city or go somewhere else. And a bike that has stood idle for a long time is rarely ready to move.

The tyres are usually the first problem. Tyres lose pressure over months, and a bike standing on flat tyres develops flat spots or cracks in the sidewall. A bike with flat tyres can't be rolled up a ramp easily, and pushing it any distance damages the tyre and rim.

Then the fuel. Petrol left in a tank for months goes stale. It loses its volatility, leaves varnish in the carburettor, and in a partly empty tank, moisture can condense and cause rust. A bike with stale fuel may not start, and if it does, it runs badly.

The battery is often completely flat, or dead, after months without charging.

And there are the usual surprises of a rural shed: rats nesting in the airbox or chewing wires, wasps in the exhaust, rust on the chain, a seat split by the sun.

The drive out to Hesaraghatta is long, and the last stretch to many plots is rough. A crew that arrives to find a bike that won't roll, with no way to fix it on the spot, has wasted a trip. So visit about a week before the move.

Pump the tyres and check they hold pressure overnight. If they don't, have them repaired or replaced, or at least bring a pump on the day.

Check the fuel. If it's been months, drain the old petrol, or have a mechanic do it, and put a little fresh fuel in. You don't need a full tank for transport.

Charge or replace the battery. A charger connected for a day will tell you whether it holds charge.

Look in the airbox and exhaust, check the wiring, and clean and oil the chain.

Try starting it. If it runs, ride it round the plot. If it doesn't, tell us when booking, so the crew bring the right equipment to load a non running bike.

Bring the keys from the city. Weekend house bikes often have a spare key in the house and the main key in a drawer at home, and the steering lock can't be released without one. Check you have a key that works, and the RC and insurance papers, before you set out for the visit.

Then plan the access. Tell us exactly where the bike is, whether a truck can reach the shed or the gate, and what the last stretch of road is like. If a large vehicle can't get close, the bike can be ridden or pushed to the main road to meet it.

Our Hesaraghatta packers page covers moving a farmhouse or weekend house, half household and half garden shed. This page is about getting the idle bike ready to leave.

An electric scooter left idle at a weekend house can have its battery drained to a damaging level. Charge it slowly and check it holds charge before the move. If it won't, tell us. In the booking, name the brand and say if its battery detaches.