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Warming up

To warm up or not to warm up

  • Let it warm up like your papa told ya.

    Votes: 22 16.7%

  • SCREW THAT I"M RIDING RIGHT NOW!

    Votes: 17 12.9%

  • Maybe a minute while I get myself situated.

    Votes: 87 65.9%

  • Idle at stop lights. That'll warm it up.

    Votes: 6 4.5%
  • Total voters
    132
My bike warmup procedure is maybe 10-20 seconds of idle and then pulling away easy at low rpms. No mid-high rpms until more fully warmed up.

But this is with Jap bikes, Harley's probably benefit from more warmup TLC. :twofinger
 
limey said:
My 2c:

1. Basic Physics says the bike will warm up faster under load.

2. Most engine wear occurs while below ideal operating temperature. Also the more stress you subject the parts to while they are below operating temperature, the more they will wear.

So for me letting it sit and warm up idling is going to mean none of #1. I.e. You are keeping the engine at temperatures where wear occurs for longer.

Flogging the bike will warm it quickly, but also cause a lot of wear due to #2.

Thus, the happy medium. Carbed or FI, just start it up, give it a few seconds to get everything oiled, and ride off gently. This way, the bike will warm quicker than idling, but you won't cause extreme wear by flogging it before it warms up.

If a carbed bike won't idle you've backed the choke off too much too soon.
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I used to wait with both cars and bikes
But now i do this start then ride easy insted of wasting gas and sitting with vehicle on and warming up
 
I have a Wiseco piston so I give it a bit more time. I start it up, ride it across the street to the empty parking lot (to not annoy the neighbors) and let it warm up while I put on my gloves and format the card on my GoPro.
 
Gear up, start bike, walk over and close garage door, get on bike and ride away..
 
On modern computer controlled, fuel injected engines...start up and get moving immediately. And just be gentle with it until it's at normal operating temperature. Which it will be at a lot sooner than if you just let it idle in your driveway for xx minutes.

I can't believe in this day and age, this is still a thing up for debate.
 
I'm just here to see that somebody actually still rides a Buell Blast.
 
While I don't rev too high, or pin it right after starting it up, I do tend to take off within 3-15 seconds after starting her up.
 
let it warm up for a minute, ride gently for the first few miles.
 
Dr. Evil said:
Warm up is mainly about oil temperature and piston ring fit. The oiling system was designed to work when the oil is within a certain range of viscosity, and cold oil is outside this range. Furthermore, the piston rings don't quite fit the cylinder properly until they come up to temperature, and revving hard before this can cause what's called "blow-by" where hot combustion gasses get past the piston rings and into the crankcase. Over time, these combustion products can change the chemical properties of your oil, which means, among other things, a potentially reduced useful life span for it.
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I wonder how a Prius (or any hybrid) gets around this. I've seen people cruise along in electric mode then hammer it to pass a truck or something. It is obvious the engine is dead cold because of the mist out the exhaust.

Dan
 
wedosurfer said:
For the Blast I tend to let it warm up until it idles smoothly because it is carb'd. (~2-3minutes)

The X1 on the other hand, I fire it up and let it sit for as long as it takes to adjust my gear before I take off. (~10-20seconds)

What do you tend to do? Why? I always grew up being told that vehicles needed to be warmed up before running around. My dad's refrence was always "how would you like it if I woke you up and then made you run two miles immediately"
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On my X1 I would let it warm up while I finished gearing up. Zipping up me suit, helmet, gloves, look over the bike, etc. So a few minutes. The bike just doesn't run for shit without a warm up (still runs like shit after warm, but slightly better).

On a modern bike, like the 1000RR I replaced it with. I would just hop on, start, and go.


HeatXfer said:
Hit the start button, ride off when the rattling quits
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If you wait for it to quit rattling, then you would be pushing it.

TheRobSJ said:
On modern computer controlled, fuel injected engines...start up and get moving immediately. And just be gentle with it until it's at normal operating temperature. Which it will be at a lot sooner than if you just let it idle in your driveway for xx minutes.

I can't believe in this day and age, this is still a thing up for debate.
Click to expand...

Except it is an X1, which is not a modern computer controlled engine. It is an ancient engine design running Alpha N EFI. This is old technology in the 80's.

Kurosaki said:
I'm just here to see that somebody actually still rides a Buell Blast.
Click to expand...

The only Buell I ever liked.
 
I use my bike for everyday transportation to go to the store, the gym, dinner, etc., so if I waited to warm it up each time, it would take me forever to get anywhere. I let it idle enough so I can turn off the choke without stalling, so about 10 seconds. And then I take it relatively easy for a while.
 
This "warming up" subject gets vague terms tossed around.

Where is the start moving place? Going into a city street? What is the speed limit and the accepted behavior there?

Anyone not know how to cool it (no loads applied) for the time it takes to warm an engine?
 
It all depends on the bike. My Ninja 650 Fi would warm up really quick it had an automatic choke and would take a minute or 2 to get ready for riding, loved that thing for that.
My KTMs would take 3-4 minutes before reaching 3 bar - operating temperature status.
My Ducati was very quick to warm up even so it was hot blooded.
My Aprilia takes 5 minutes or so to warm up to 168F operating temperature with a manual choke even so its FI, it would stutter if I ride it below 120F
 
I just roll away slowly.

Makes it easy on the neighbors, and I don't live on a highway. Plus I don't own a Harley that might fall apart.
 
even with shitty CV carbs I warm up less than 30 seconds.
 
The manual in my BMW 7 series said NOT to sit and warm the engine up while sitting there and idling. It says to take it easy on the pedal mashing until the car is up to operating temps.

I usually let my bike warm up for 1 a min or so.
 
This is the correct way to do it, IMO.
Nice gentle riding\driving until its warm.
Start up is a difficult time on an engine, and just idling is not the best method.
 
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