why do bikes run better after a thrashing?

[Cosmik de Bris]

Some days the bike just runs nicer, smooth and zingy rather than lumpy and unzingy, I guess the humidity, temp of the day etc have an influence on how nicely the motor runs. But, the motor always feels really nice after I've thrashed it a bit, i.e. zingy.

So what is it that does this, what changes in the motor to make it feel like this?

Cheers

[caspernz]

Removing the cobwebs will do that

[Moi]

Many years ago there used to be a Jaguar/Daimler service agency on the corner near the Domain - some will now guess who I'm talking about. Due to people I knew I used to get to see and chat with the owner and the talk was about cars. He once said that Monday morning the cars would be parked outside the workshop and the owners in the office moaning about how awful their Jag/Daimler ran while they were out on their Sunday drive...

The cars were left for the day for the garage to fix them... someone was assigned the "job" and would take each car for a blat down the southern motorway to about Papatoetoe and back which would blow out all the "cobwebs" as caspernz so nicely put it. The owners collected their cars at the end of the day and were pleased with what the garage had done. I never did ask how they charged for it!

[Ginge09]

Cool air helps. It's more dense so you get more oxygens into the engine per induction stroke.

Bike runs better in the early morning.

[roogazza]

Many years ago there used to be a Jaguar/Daimler service agency on the corner near the Domain - some will now guess who I'm talking about. Due to people I knew I used to get to see and chat with the owner and the talk was about cars. He once said that Monday morning the cars would be parked outside the workshop and the owners in the office moaning about how awful their Jag/Daimler ran while they were out on their Sunday drive...

The cars were left for the day for the garage to fix them... someone was assigned the "job" and would take each car for a blat down the southern motorway to about Papatoetoe and back which would blow out all the "cobwebs" as caspernz so nicely put it. The owners collected their cars at the end of the day and were pleased with what the garage had done. I never did ask how they charged for it!

Mid sixties I did my time as a mechanic for Shelly's (Jaguar Agency at the time). I recall taking Jags out for a tune up !!!! Down the motorway all sorts of shit flying out the exhaust.
Owners would come back and say how great the car was running and what did you do ? haha.
Pottering around town in them did no good whatsoever.

Sometimes I'd say yeah, cleaned the plugs !!!!!

[Grumph]

Sometimes I'd say yeah, cleaned the plugs !!!!!

You've got it...unburned deposits on the plugs raising the resistance across the electrodes.
A good thrash getting them up to optimum heat removes most of the crud.

Plugs have got a lot better since those days - in a Jag, ideally, you'd have run a hot plug around town and changed to a cold one for a trip.
Remember that the specified heat range was supposed to cover use on the new motorways - so was probably a bit colder than ideal.

[Swoop]

The cars were left for the day for the garage to fix them... someone was assigned the "job" and would take each car for a blat down the southern motorway to about Papatoetoe and back which would blow out all the "cobwebs" as caspernz so nicely put it. The owners collected their cars at the end of the day and were pleased with what the garage had done. I never did ask how they charged for it!

I had a mate at a big BMW dealership in Auckland, who went through exactly the same process...

[slofox]

Cool air helps. It's more dense so you get more oxygens into the engine per induction stroke.

Bike runs better in the early morning.

Wot 'e said. Cold air is the cats whiskers. Which is why I really like riding in frosty conditions...apart from frostbite, hypothermia and paralysis due to freezing your nuts off.

[Moi]

Wot 'e said. Cold air is the cats whiskers. Which is why I really like riding in frosty conditions...apart from frostbite, hypothermia and paralysis due to freezing your nuts off.

Not to mention ice on the road...

[george formby]

Wot 'e said. Cold air is the cats whiskers. Which is why I really like riding in frosty conditions...apart from frostbite, hypothermia and paralysis due to freezing your nuts off.

Cold, damp air on me 2t's. Noticeably perkier in rain and damp conditions. More motor, less grip.....

[Drew]

Sometimes I'd say yeah, cleaned the plugs !!!!!

Which either needs done every 1000ks or not at all on a jag. Fuck they strip the threads like a cunt.
Nice easy head to get off though, with a clever cam chain system and heaps of room.

[ellipsis]

...dunno...this is good tho..

[Cosmik de Bris]

Cobwebs? Yes but what are they? Cool damp air, yes, but that doesn't suddenly happen after a fast ride. The plugs seem to be the best answer.

Cheers

[caspernz]

Look at it in terms of the human body maybe? Prolonged periods of inactivity have an obvious result, performance goes down. Prolonged periods of activity, performance goes up.

Same for a mechanical device, use it the way its maker intended. It just feels more alive...

[Drew]

Look at it in terms of the human body maybe? Prolonged periods of inactivity have an obvious result, performance goes down. Prolonged periods of activity, performance goes up.

Same for a mechanical device, use it the way its maker intended. It just feels more alive...

No. Just no.

That fails as an analogy. Since biological things are tuned through use and repetition, and mechanical components wear with the same treatment.

A motor that goes best after a thrashing is likely tired. Once things get proper hot they seal better perhaps. Though one would think as soon as it cools down it all needs to be done again.