Starting bike every few days

[overworkedmonkey]

Guys,

If I don't ride everyday i.e. generally ride on the weekends, do I have to start the bike in between days so that the battery does not go dead, etc? If so, how long do I leave it running for? I know each bike is different however am curious about the CBR250RR

[Taz]

Get a battery tender eg Remac or oxford and leave it plugged in. No flat battery ever again.

[p.dath]

You shouldn't need to do anything. You shouldn't need a battery conditioner either. If the battery can not hold a charge for 1 week then I'd get it replaced.

It's not until the bike will be sitting for 3 months or so before you really need to do anything special.

[overworkedmonkey]

You shouldn't need to do anything. You shouldn't need a battery conditioner either. If the battery can not hold a charge for 1 week then I'd get it replaced.

It's not until the bike will be sitting for 3 months or so before you really need to do anything special.

So should the bike turn over immediately? Tried it this morning and had to give the starter a few tries and have the choke open for less than 15 seconds. This was after approximately 4 days.

[Hawkeye]

So should the bike turn over immediately? Tried it this morning and had to give the starter a few tries and have the choke open for less than 15 seconds. This was after approximately 4 days.

With the bike sitting, the petrol in the carb tends to evaporate. Therefore when you first try, it needs to get petrol into the carb again. This can take a couple of turns so don't worry.

[overworkedmonkey]

With the bike sitting, the petrol in the carb tends to evaporate. Therefore when you first try, it needs to get petrol into the carb again. This can take a couple of turns so don't worry.

Sweet. Learning heaps. Thanks.

What I usually do is start the bike and open the throttle below 4,000 revs for a few seconds and then close the throttle followed by letting the bike idle for a few minutes. I do open and close the throttle again a couple more times to let the fuel run through the engine. I then switch of the bike.

Any chance I can flood the bike?

[Katman]

Sweet. Learning heaps. Thanks.

What I usually do is start the bike and open the throttle below 4,000 revs for a few seconds and then close the throttle followed by letting the bike idle for a few minutes. I do open and close the throttle again a couple more times to let the fuel run through the engine. I then switch of the bike.

Any chance I can flood the bike?

Don't start your bike unless you're taking it for a ride.

The constant starting on choke and shutting it off before the engine has had a chance to reach full operating temperature will just gradually foul your plugs up.

[AllanB]

A week between rides is fin, however a battery tender is a good idea if you are not frequently riding in the winter as the cold temps appear to to harsh on batteries.


Starting ....... each bike is a bit different.

Experiment with what works best for your bike - some like full choke no throttle, some half choke and a tad of throttle. Once fired up just let it run at a quick idle (again depends on the bike, 4k sounds high) until it will ride without bogging. Again some like a bit of choke until you are down the road a half km or so some are fine without any.


Or get a fuel injected one ..... push the button and away it goes!



Kick Starting a engine - now there is a mans way of getting going - my old 750 twin Kawasaki had a kicker and electric - I liked to kick from cold - one time I split a pair of pants right up the back kicking it over.

[Juzz976]

Where are you that its so cold you need a choke?

[overworkedmonkey]

Don't start your bike unless you're taking it for a ride.

The constant starting on choke and shutting it off before the engine has had a chance to reach full operating temperature will just gradually foul your plugs up.

I only tend to start the bike after 2 - 3 days of disuse. So when you say foul the spark plugs, what does that mean exactly? Am a noob to mechanics.

[overworkedmonkey]

A week between rides is fin, however a battery tender is a good idea if you are not frequently riding in the winter as the cold temps appear to to harsh on batteries.


Starting ....... each bike is a bit different.

Experiment with what works best for your bike - some like full choke no throttle, some half choke and a tad of throttle. Once fired up just let it run at a quick idle (again depends on the bike, 4k sounds high) until it will ride without bogging. Again some like a bit of choke until you are down the road a half km or so some are fine without any.


Or get a fuel injected one ..... push the button and away it goes!



Kick Starting a engine - now there is a mans way of getting going - my old 750 twin Kawasaki had a kicker and electric - I liked to kick from cold - one time I split a pair of pants right up the back kicking it over.

Thanks only thing is that I am unsure what is right for a CBR250RR. Have read a few forums and they suggest starting without the choke unless it does not turn over followed by open the throttle open for a few seconds to let the fuel flow into the engine. Allow it to idle between 3 - 5 minutes. However SMOKEU suggested letting the bike idle can actually do more harm than good.

[AllanB]

Years back bikes often needed a fairly prolonged warmup before you could ride.

Now days - how long does it take to pop on your jacket, helmet and gloves. 1 -2 minutes are you should be away.

As above some carbed bikes are pigs on cold starts and require choke for a period down the road. Others do not.

Just experiment with yours and see what works best on a cold engine.

[overworkedmonkey]

Years back bikes often needed a fairly prolonged warmup before you could ride.

Now days - how long does it take to pop on your jacket, helmet and gloves. 1 -2 minutes are you should be away.

As above some carbed bikes are pigs on cold starts and require choke for a period down the road. Others do not.

Just experiment with yours and see what works best on a cold engine.

Thanks although am unsure what I should be expecting when I am experimenting. Would like to avoid damaging the bike especially if I know what I should be expecting especially on days I don't ride which is pretty everyday except weekends.

[Gremlin]

Starting the bike for such short periods is actually an excellent way to kill the battery, as it doesn't come close to actually charging (needs to be ridden for that).

As said, if it is ridden infrequently, then a battery tender is for you, but we're talking more than a single week. If the bike starts without choke that's completely fine. A choke simply makes the air fuel mix richer, so the choke has to be turned off after a short while otherwise the mix is too rich for it to run.

[overworkedmonkey]

Starting the bike for such short periods is actually an excellent way to kill the battery, as it doesn't come close to actually charging (needs to be ridden for that).

As said, if it is ridden infrequently, then a battery tender is for you, but we're talking more than a single week. If the bike starts without choke that's completely fine. A choke simply makes the air fuel mix richer, so the choke has to be turned off after a short while otherwise the mix is too rich for it to run.

Thanks Gremlin. Will give it a go without starting the bike for a week and will see if I can start the bike. So assuming I do forget to turn off the choke, what can happen? Am curious to know.

[p.dath]

So should the bike turn over immediately? Tried it this morning and had to give the starter a few tries and have the choke open for less than 15 seconds. This was after approximately 4 days.

It may not turn over immediately. That is not an issue.

As others have said, don't start the bike unless you intend to take it for a ride.

I tend to use a little choke to begin with to keep the engine revs up and promote a little bit of oil pressure, in the hope that the oil will get nicely around the engine. Others will have different opinions in this area, and there is no one correct answer.

The engine does not need more than 1 minute of idle time before you commence riding it. It definitely does not need 5 minutes of warm up time.

[BuzzardNZ]

Only ride my bike every other weekend, less in winter. Does not have a battery tender/charger. Got 3 years out of my last battery riding like this.

[Edbear]

After sitting for 8mths my C50T started in about 3sec. The battery was still fully charged. Of course mine is fuel injected but I was still very impressed! My guilt was that I had left it that long, but having a car accident and breaking my back kinda meant I wasn't in a position to start and run it regularly. Now I fire it up every few weeks. I'll put the auto trickle charger on it now though as the battery can't charge up properly even if I let it run until properly warmed up.

[Gremlin]

So assuming I do forget to turn off the choke, what can happen? Am curious to know.
The bike will run extremely rich, and once warm, simply die. You'll try to start, and it won't.

The reason running it at idle is bad is because the charging for the battery usually doesn't start until around 3k, ie, you need to go for a ride, and not 5min around the block either.

[scumdog]

You shouldn't need to do anything. You shouldn't need a battery conditioner either. If the battery can not hold a charge for 1 week then I'd get it replaced.

It's not until the bike will be sitting for 3 months or so before you really need to do anything special.

Wot 'e sed.

Even up to six months can be OK.

[bsasuper]

Its actually a good thing if it does not fire up first time after a couple of cranks, it gets the oil pressure up.:yes:

[F5 Dave]

Most wear occurs on startup. So starting your bike every day is madness.

Some bikes get a little temperamental if left a while but if they still start then yer ok.

If the battery is old then get a new one or buy a tender.

If it just is very hard to start then likely there is a tuning issue like valve clearance. Otherwise don't sweat it.

[BMWST?]

Thanks Gremlin. Will give it a go without starting the bike for a week and will see if I can start the bike. So assuming I do forget to turn off the choke, what can happen? Am curious to know.

nothing will happen if you have left it on from the last short little run.If you leave the choke on and ride off the bike will start to run badly,or it may not respond properly to larger throttle openings.