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Warming up Bike
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Someone just told me today that you should let your bike idle for a while
before taking off (to let it warm up). I've just been starting it then
taking off both in the mornings and afternoon after work. Is it necessary?
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I normally start it , wait 30 seconds and move off gently until
indications are the thing is hot , this might be as little as 2 or 3 k ?
then thrash it as per normal :)
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As others have said it's all pretty much personal opinion. Living in
England it's probably a lot colder than your stomping ground all year
round but I do this in summer:
1) Wipe tears from eyes and walk outside to travel to work.
2) Kick bike into neutral
3) Position choke to required level
4) Press starter until engine bites
5) Wipe dew or rain from seat
6) Adjust Buff and put on helmet and fasten as necessary
7) Put on gloves
8) Climb on bike
9) Attach tank bag
10) Blip throttle and proceed down (hill) road in 2nd gear keeping the
revs down.
I assume the whole process takes about a minute.
For the first five minutes of my journey I don't like to thrash the
engine as I understand this is when most engine wear occurs.
In winter months when it's -8c the whole process takes a lot longer...
..And involves waterproof thermal clothing.
One first needs to clear lumps of snow out of the exhaust (otherwise
they just come out in a big explosion) and making sure enough ice has
been removed from the rear shocks for them to actually move (Tip: Also
chip the snow and ice out from the bottom of the wheels to help with
balance). Then one puts the choke to the 'maximum' position, presses
starter until the engine decides it can be bothered. One then spends
five minutes trying to dust, peel and chip the snow off of the seat,
tank and bar muffs and dressed like Buzz Lightyear wobbles to work
through the blizzard.
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or park the bike under cover...
or put a cover over bike...
the possibilities are enormous
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Mind you... the ER-5's engine did explode so perhaps giving advice on
how to warm up an engine properly is a bit rich.
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You could always give advice on crashing it instead.
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If you're lucky enough to own a bike without carb heaters then expect
to get about 2 miles before the petrol freezes in the carbs and the
engine conks out due to fuel starvation, wait at the side of the road
for ten minutes for the carbs to 'heat up' to to -8c again and then
repeat the process until you've reached your destination. Oh, I doubt
the engine ever gets to operating temperature without the petrol
freezing at this time of year. The faster you go, the colder the wind
which means the petrol freezes faster.
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Hitting the starter and immediately riding off isn't good for the
engine, neither I believe is letting it idle for too long when cold.
Might have been back in the 50s but technology has improved a bit since
then. Hit the starter, then by the time you have your helmet and gloves
on and jacket zipped up the oil should be well and truly circulated
enough for you to ride off. Until it's up to normal temperature, don't
rev it too hard or labour it.
Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX
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