Quote:Condensation definitely forms after you shut down a warmed engine in the cold weather. The engine and the exhaust system will gather moisture at certain winter weather conditions, don't add more by starting it.
At the risk of starting another "oil debate" thread...
That's exactly why it's important to use an oil with a good detergent package. Problems due to moisture are EXACTLY what rust inhibitors and buffers are designed to eliminate. As far as moisture in the exhaust pipe goes, I don't see that as a major concern. It takes a while for the pipe to rust out as its coated with carbon deposits and is cheap/easy to replace. Besides as long as you heat the engine up enough when you start it to vaporize the condensation caused by initial startup, moisture collection is minimal anyway.
Tearing the bike down to individual parts and packing them all in cosmoline is the best way to make your bike last longer, but what would the point of that be? You bought the bike to ride, so ride it...
On the other hand, if you know you won't ride your bike thru the winter, certainly don't just start it, let it idle for a bit and shut it down.
Another thing I'd recommend is running some type of fuel stabilizer thru the bike so if it's gonna sit so you don't have to worry about bad gas destroying stuff. I run fuel stabilizer/carb cleaner in pretty much every tank of gas.
Recap: good oil and fuel stabilizer and don't worry about a thing, ride it whenever you can.