To warm or not to warm [bike]

[Dafe]

I used to warm up my bike until I read an article in the UK "Bike" magazine, which stated that it is not neccessary so long as you allow your bike to come up to temperature before thrashing it.
Now, I start my bike and wait 20-30 seconds before riding off gently.
Once my bike hits 88 degrees, there's no holds barred.

[pritch]

This sitting about in the driveway is all very well; engine is nice and warm, tyres are cold as a frogs tit.

I'd rather warm up engine and tyres at the same time...

[Sensei]

This sitting about in the driveway is all very well; engine is nice and warm, tyres are cold as a frogs tit.

I'd rather warm up engine and tyres at the same time...

Don't you leave ya tyre warmers on over night Ron

[sAsLEX]

This sitting about in the driveway is all very well; engine is nice and warm, tyres are cold as a frogs tit.

I'd rather warm up engine and tyres at the same time...

Thats why your meant to keep your bike in the lounge, where its nice and warm and dust and cold cant get to it!


Choke, gloves, helemt, off choke, ride off nice and slow weaving like a nutter for a bit to warm tyres

[LB]

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Bikes out of the garage and backed around onto the driveway ready to ride off.

Choke on, start her up. "LO" flashing on temp gauge.

Put on helmet and gloves.

Get on.

Wait for Hamish who takes slightly longer as he shuts the gargre door.

Pull in clutch a few times while I'm waiting to warm up the clutch plates (don't laugh at me too much if they don't need warming up....it makes me feel better to do it).

Turn choke 1/3 off, clutch in and ease away (slight downhill slope, no need to rev).

To bottom of street, turn left (150m?).

At post box another 100m further on, turn choke right off (if I don't turn it off here I forget all about it and find it on at the next stop!!)

"LO" flashes till it gets to 50 - which happens anywhere between 7 and 15kms, depends on the ambient air temperature.

I generally keep the revs under about 5,000 till up to over 60 degrees.

Note: my temperature reading is my oil temp, as I'm air/oil cooled, not water.
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[StoneChucker]

Wait for Hamish who takes slightly longer as he shuts the gargre door.

Say what? You MAKE poor Hamish close the garage door? Linda, you work that poor man too hard, is his life not hard enough already? hehehe [pt]

[Wolf]

This sitting about in the driveway is all very well; engine is nice and warm, tyres are cold as a frogs tit.

[Nerdy voice]Erm, Technically frogs are amphibians, not mammals, and don't have tits [/Nerdy voice]

[Hooks]

My old bitch needs about 5 mins on full choke most days (to reach 50C) the she feels so much nicer to ride and the stops at the lights are not filled with silence as she refuses to idle .... but then she could do with a bloody good tune up too ...

[Hitcher]

For a bike with a choke, I don't mount up and ride until the bike will idle happily with no choke. The STeed has Honda's PGM-FI, which has a cold-start fast idle, rather than a choke. Again, I don't mount up until the engine is running at warm idle speed.

[FlyingDutchMan]

I start it up, put the throttle to 2k and hold it there until the revs climb by themselves to 5k. Means oil is almost everywhere it needs to be, and then ride off.

[Ixion]

[Nerdy voice]Erm, Technically frogs are amphibians, not mammals, and don't have tits [/Nerdy voice]

These frogs DO. Haven't you heard of genetic engineering. Frogs with tits and pu**ies. Queue forms on the left guys, one kiss and maybe the frog''ll turn into a beautiful princess. Haven't you read the fairy stories? And if it doesn't, well, you've still got the essentials haven't you ?

[scumdog]

For a bike with a choke, I don't mount up and ride until the bike will idle happily with no choke. The STeed has Honda's PGM-FI, which has a cold-start fast idle, rather than a choke. Again, I don't mount up until the engine is running at warm idle speed.

I agree, especially if like me your running a 20-50 type oil, even worse on the old H-D when I use to run straight 50-weight oil
Just for an experiment try whizzing you engine over on the starter motor without its spark-plugs in (I know, for some of you getting the plugs out is too much of a mission) and then put them back in and after the engine has warmed up i.e. a short time after you have come back from a run.
You'll find that when cold the engine grinds over quite a bit slower - that's due to the extra drag the cold oil puts on the engines moving parts and the tighter clearances on them.

In hi-performance V8 engines with high oil-pressure it's not unknown to shear off the oil-pump drive if the engine is revved too much when cold - just due to the extreme load on it from trying to move thick oil too quickly.

(unbuttons white coat and hangs it up , cleans glasses, folds hanky before putting it away, straightens all six pens in pocket protector and puts on anorak before going outside to gargre)

[v.ros`]

Hi guys..

I let the bike warm up, until the temp reading comes up... usually appears around 36C and then i take off...

regarding the degrees... can someone tell me if its alrite if a bike goes over 100 degrees..?? is it harmful and can i do anything - meaning change oil or show it to a mechanic, as whenever im riding in the city, the temp usually skyrockets.

Regards

[Biff]

regarding the degrees... can someone tell me if its alrite if a bike goes over 100 degrees..??

Regards

100 degrees is ok for your bike (CB/R 600s in general) - but your bikes cooling fan should be on by now, or just about to come on (mine comes on at 100).

You want to start worrying when the bike hits around 120 degrees C +. Check your handbook for the max operating temperature. If my memory is correct I don't think you really need to panic until it gets to around 125-130 degrees.

But don't take my word for it - check your handbook or contact a Honda dealership.

[ManDownUnder]

Yup - warm up by idling while I shut garage door and fluff around for 20 seconds, then take very easy up the road gradually climbing to 100kph over about 1km... cruise at that for the next 1 km and then I'm set for the open road (which ironically is 80 kph)...

I was taught to treat an engine like a body. If you wake in the morning - are you ready to run - or would you prefer to warm into it?

You need to get the blood to the muscles (oil to the engine) you need to warm up a bit (get up to temperature sets fits and clearances to operating level) and THEN do what you want.

Strange, but I remembered it all these years...
MDU