Warm up? Or Ride Away?

[Softail99fb]

I put my gear on, then fire the bike up. When it's 45-48 degrees out I can push my enricher in all the way in about one minute, no sneezing ever. I take off easy for 5 miles then I consider it warmed. I won't go above 2,500 until then.

And it's rare I ride when it's that cold anymore. I used to be a ride captain and flag support for the PGR but other interests took me away. It's a cold bitatch at 75mph for 3.5 hours to a mission! Then it would warm up to a whopping 55 for the ride home that afternoon.

[grouser]

I don't like it when I get a call in the middle of the night and half to go from a dead sleep to full bore,,,,,,, so I figure my bike appreciates a good warm up before I push her,,, it depends allot on how cold it is,,,,, is the first few miles up hill with the motor under a load or downhill with no load,,, but generally I let her stretch out before riding, and I do it at a fast idle

[Chief Illiniwek]

Originally Posted by Dave63

The ile time to get "warmed" is about the amount of time it takes the average person to zip their jacket, put their helmet on and do the strap, put gloves on, sit on the bike, pull up the kickstand, and adjust the mirrors. That's generally fine.

Don't go beating the shit out of it until its warmed up completely, just due to cylinder growth and oil temps. As stated, that's a good way to push/damage a head gasket.

Ambient temps will determine if that's going to be 3 minutes or 3 miles.

I like this too.

[distantThunder]

+1
I warm up all the engines in my vehicles ... bike and car.
It ain't hard to do - just switch it ON while you're still gettin stuff together.
I usually have my bike running while I close up the garage, and pull on my coat, helmet and gloves. By that time it's good to go.

dT

[DonDoucette]

Originally Posted by Dave63

The ile time to get "warmed" is about the amount of time it takes the average person to zip their jacket, put their helmet on and do the strap, put gloves on, sit on the bike, pull up the kickstand, and adjust the mirrors. That's generally fine.

Don't go beating the shit out of it until its warmed up completely, just due to cylinder growth and oil temps. As stated, that's a good way to push/damage a head gasket.

Ambient temps will determine if that's going to be 3 minutes or 3 miles.

Yup... buddy of mine rode his Buell chopper before letting it warm up enough, launched a steel reinforced head gasket and shredded the wrap on his pipes, he said the flame coming out of the side of the engine were impressive.

[JRO]

Depends on the time for me. If its 5:00 am I just take off. If its later in the day I will let her warm up. I try not to piss off the neighborhood first thing in the morning.

[Baldrick]

Originally Posted by JRO

I try not to piss off the neighborhood first thing in the morning.

Well said that man! A good reason to ride away - GENTLY!

[dynaglydr]

What they said ^
When I got my 01 Dyna with a carb, the dealer and mechanics told me to warm it up until the rocker box felt warm. Today with my Electraglide and EFI, I do what Dave says. Just like newer cars, there's no warm up time, but don't reem the piss out of it either.

[EODGuy]

To avoid this completely I just never shut mine off. The wife complains about the exhaust leaking into the house from the garage and the noise complaints from the HOA are starting to pile up, but screw 'em! When I wanna ride the bike needs to be ready!

On an unrelated note, I'm not getting anywhere NEAR the standard 3,000 miles to an oil change. Any thoughts? :-)

[dozerhand]

Originally Posted by Dave63

The ile time to get "warmed" is about the amount of time it takes the average person to zip their jacket, put their helmet on and do the strap, put gloves on, sit on the bike, pull up the kickstand, and adjust the mirrors. That's generally fine.

Don't go beating the shit out of it until its warmed up completely, just due to cylinder growth and oil temps. As stated, that's a good way to push/damage a head gasket.

Ambient temps will determine if that's going to be 3 minutes or 3 miles.

Great to know I've been doing it right.

later, dozer

p.s. in cold temps it takes a little longer because I move a lot slower