Do you warm your bike up before heading off?

[BadCompany]

Maybe you misunderstood the question.

The question is whether you leave your bike still to warm up before riding it. I say it make no difference but I am not advocating thrashing or even revving it hard as soon as you start riding it. just riding normally. There are cases (one just above) that leaves his bike for a full 10 minutes to warm up.

Yup. Just a wee 250, doesn't get warm very quickly. When I take off after ten minutes the temp gauge has barely moved.

[icekiwi]

Kick it in the guts....
Helmet on ,tuck my shirt in ,close the garage,feed the cat,kick the dog,put my boots on,find some socks,breakfast an by then its sitting round 50-60 deg an off to work...
New bike or not pays to get everything warm engines might have tighter tolerances but are still built to allow for thermal exspansion etc etc

[FLYMO]

yeah for sure
always had that beaten in to me
old timer at heart

[CookMySock]

On my old bike, a little too much throttle before she was warmed up would kill the engine. Not user friendly if you're taking your first curve of the day.

Dangerous too. Thats what the choke is designed to prevent.

ten minutes of warming up, and the difference is very noticeable, much smoother and more responsive take off.

See above.

DB

[Usarka]

Check you're oil viewing window (if you're bike has one).

On the side stand it is usually showing empty. Only shows correct level once the bike is upright.

What if that means the oil doesn't splash around as efficiently when on the side stand.....



(haha that'll f*ck ya)

[BadCompany]

Dangerous too. Thats what the choke is designed to prevent.

See above.

DB

C'mon, its past bedtime a little more help here :P What am I looking up for?

[DEATH_INC.]

Warming it up has nothing really to do with oil...it's all about the different expansion rates of different parts and even different areas of certain parts. The most wear happens if you load 'em up cold, cause the parts are different shapes than they are when they're hot, so ya get different high and low spots.
Husky did a test back in the 80's on a 430 (I think), they got two identical bikes, one was warmed for 5 mins before use and the other was thrashed from cold, I can't remember the exact figure, but the warmed up one lasted lots longer ( four or five times from memory) than the other.

[cowboyz]

FFS! Why is it coming up over and over again that if you dont leave your bike on it stand to warm up then the only alternative is that you must be thrashing it???????

Its not rocket science that if you thrash a bike when cold things are going to go pear shapped. What about riding it up the road when cold. Do people know how to ride up the road without thrashing a bike?

My bike pulls about 2000rpm in 4th at 50kph. The choke will take it to 2500. Whats the difference?

[DEATH_INC.]

FFS! Why is it coming up over and over again that if you dont leave your bike on it stand to warm up then the only alternative is that you must be thrashing it???????

Its not rocket science that if you thrash a bike when cold things are going to go pear shapped. What about riding it up the road when cold. Do people know how to ride up the road without thrashing a bike?

My bike pulls about 2000rpm in 4th at 50kph. The choke will take it to 2500. Whats the difference?

Easy, load is the difference. Loading it is what makes it wear....
Even riding carefully you put load on it...OK?

[smokeyging]

needs a lot of battery power for what ? starting do you mean ? I would not think so, unless it was old or something was really wrong with it and it was really difficult to start.


DB

When the oil is cold, it is also thicker, so the starter does need more energy from the battery to start the motor....does down here in the south in a -5 frost i can tell you.
anyway personally with all vehicles i have driven in the past i don’t warm them up neither, but just chug down the road at low revs, and i have’nt had a problem.....touch wood.

[Chrislost]

Maybe you misunderstood the question.

The question is whether you leave your bike still to warm up before riding it. I say it make no difference but I am not advocating thrashing or even revving it hard as soon as you start riding it. just riding normally. There are cases (one just above) that leaves his bike for a full 10 minutes to warm up.

one would assume that the less "cold" revolutions you do the better for then engine?
on saying that you would probably take longer sitting still to get the bike to the same temp...

in the end each to their own...


(i do wait for the steam to finish outa the exaust before riding)

[BarBender]

Warming it up has nothing really to do with oil...it's all about the different expansion rates of different parts and even different areas of certain parts. The most wear happens if you load 'em up cold, cause the parts are different shapes than they are when they're hot, so ya get different high and low spots.

Thats what I've thought re different expansion and contraction rates and engine reliability over time.
Agree with C.Lost. In my experience warming a bike is as personal and varied as riding style. I choose to let the my bike idle until it hits about 35-40 degrees and pootle around for at least 10 or so minutes. I ride with guys who start their bikes up, hit the road and progressively ride their chokes out. All good. Whatever cooks your mince.

[Patch]

Treat your bike like a woman - they enjoy it more when you warm them up

FFS! Why is it coming up over and over again that if you dont leave your bike on it stand to warm up then the only alternative is that you must be thrashing it???????

Its not rocket science that if you thrash a bike when cold things are going to go pear shapped. What about riding it up the road when cold. Do people know how to ride up the road without thrashing a bike?

My bike pulls about 2000rpm in 4th at 50kph. The choke will take it to 2500. Whats the difference?

Four words - Chill Pill

[Owl]

I like to warm my bike up before riding. Occasionally it will only get a minute, so I’ll nurse it until it’s up to operating temp.

[Pwalo]

FWIW I've been told by a couple of mechanics, that it's best to start the bike up, let it idle for a couple of minutes at most, and then ride off. Let it warm up a bit before giving it any serious revs, and all should be good. Besides riding off gently allows your tyres to get a bit of heat into them. Works well on the commute.

Wether oil is hot or cold the important thing is to have it reaching all parts of the engine, so as long as you're not idling your bike at 7k rpm to warm it up (racing bikes excluded), it's not a problem.