[Ninja_Wendy]

Wanted to get some opinions, I have a '07 250 with about 2000 miles on it. I am too impatient to wait for it to warm up. So I start it with the choke on (at about 3k-4k) for about a minute or less (sometimes about 10 seconds only) and then I ride up the street and then take the choke off. The choke is usually on for about 30 seconds. Then try to blow the first stop sign at the first turn up the street to keep it warming up. My question is, will that hurt the bike? I usually count 30 seconds and then turn off the choke so it isn't on longer than that.

 

[aftermath4788]

ive never heard of it happening. so long as you let it idle long enough to get the oil flowing i dont see why you would have a problem. i have a 06 250 that i always let warm up for about 10 minutes and thats only because it takes me that long to put all my gear on.

 

[atomic47]

start your bike up before you put your gear on. by the time you get it all on, you're bike will be warmed up.

 

[atomic47]

do you get antsy waiting for a red light to change?

 

[JimmyD]

The only reason you need full choke is to initially turn over the bike and get it started. A minute of full choke is very excessive.

On the vulcan I used to ride with half choke for a couple miles until the bike didn't stutter anymore under acceleration.

 

[Kevorkian]

Wanted to get some opinions, I have a '07 250 with about 2000 miles on it. I am too impatient to wait for it to warm up. So I start it with the choke on (at about 3k-4k) for about a minute or less (sometimes about 10 seconds only) and then I ride up the street and then take the choke off. The choke is usually on for about 30 seconds. Then try to blow the first stop sign at the first turn up the street to keep it warming up. My question is, will that hurt the bike? I usually count 30 seconds and then turn off the choke so it isn't on longer than that.

Keep the rpms somewhat low, meaning, don't rev it out and you will be fine.

It is the same as warming up a car, you don't really need to as long as you don't go crazy on the gas. Some older models, you won't have a choice lol.

 

[Ninja_Wendy]

do you get antsy waiting for a red light to change?

:biggrin:

 

[Ninja_Wendy]

The only reason you need full choke is to initially turn over the bike and get it started. A minute of full choke is very excessive.

On the vulcan I used to ride with half choke for a couple miles until the bike didn't stutter anymore under acceleration.

Unless I ride it right away, a minute is not enough for my bike.

 

[JimmyD]

Unless I ride it right away, a minute is not enough for my bike.

Does it still die if you give it half choke after starting?

To be honest, something isn't right if the bike requires full choke to keep it running, even when dead cold.

Some people say that full choke will wash away the layer of oil on your piston rings and do catastrophic things; while I'm not entirely sure how much merit there is to these claims, I'm certain full choke isn't doing the bike any good.

That being said I used to start the vulcan on full choke then go back inside to gear up and leave it running in the meantime... :?

If you leave your bike outside or in an unheated garage and the temperatures are below freezing you might want to change to a 5w-40 or 5w-50 oil for the winter. The lighter oil will help startup quicker.

 

[Ninja_Wendy]

Does it still die if you give it half choke after starting?

To be honest, something isn't right if the bike requires full choke to keep it running, even when dead cold.

Some people say that full choke will wash away the layer of oil on your piston rings and do catastrophic things; while I'm not entirely sure how much merit there is to these claims, I'm certain full choke isn't doing the bike any good.

That being said I used to start the vulcan on full choke then go back inside to gear up and leave it running in the meantime... :?

If you leave your bike outside or in an unheated garage and the temperatures are below freezing you might want to change to a 5w-40 or 5w-50 oil for the winter. The lighter oil will help startup quicker.

It's not cold here yet. It's typically been around 60 or more when I've gone out with it. Only went out once when it was 42. Full choke would probably be closer to 5k but I have it around 3k when warming it up. Normal idle is set around 1700. It will warm up after maybe 3 minutes at 3k rpms. I don't think there is any problem with the bike. I am just lazy to wait for 3 minutes. I don't like to have the choke on longer and that is the main reason why I have most of my gear on before I turn it on. I thought that 10 minutes of choke would be bad for it. I take a LONG time to get all my gear on and pack my stuff in the side bags. Then it's always, oh wait I gotta get the garage door opener, oh wait, I forgot my phone, etc...

 

[love2ride]

I dont wait for it to warmup. I start it(set choke so that RPMs are @ 3k), put gear on, and go. Usually a couple miles later I close the choke.

 

[JasonFMHS]

I dont wait for it to warmup. I start it(set choke so that RPMs are @ 3k), put gear on, and go. Usually a couple miles later I close the choke.

Thats what i used to do.... never seemed to have any adverse affects... just don't push it too hard until its ready.

 

[adamp961]

start your bike up before you put your gear on. by the time you get it all on, you're bike will be warmed up.

+1 You must be watching me LOL

 

[SilverBullet]

The only real damage that can occure is fouled plugs if you leave it like that or on to long.

Like others have said warm up while you gear up and you shouldn't have to worry anymore.

 

[JTpaintball70]

I used to do that with my old 500R. The only problem I ran into is that I fouled 4 plugs over the course of that winter

 

[Ninja_Wendy]

I get too paranoid to run the choke for more than 2 minutes. Also it seems like when I start it and then walk away, the idle rises. Like the bike is mad that I walked away, ha ha.

 

[TEN-R]

You probably won't have your bike long enough to experience the damage that you're causing. It has nothing to do with fouling plugs although that can occur. Running and putting a load on a cold engine increases the internal wear substantially due to insufficient lubrication and oil that has not yet reached operating viscosity. Also, close tolerance internal moving parts like rings and bearings have not yet reached operating temperature and will have more movement and wear.

 

[stefano]

Some people say that full choke will wash away the layer of oil on your piston rings and do catastrophic things

As far as I know, and as others have mentioned, leaving the choke on too long tends to have the opposite effect... as you are effectively running a richer mixture (more air and fuel) in the low rpm range, you are pumping more fuel into the cylinders than they will actually be able to burn and will therefore tend to foul your plugs.

I refer to my experience with my 50cc 2-stroke scooter, but I do like others have said: I start the scooter up with the choke before I gear up. Once I've geared up I hop on the scooter, rev it once or twice with the choke and then kill the choke and rev it a few more times. For my scooter this is sufficient to keep it from dying.

I suggest you try the same - start it up before you gear up, then rev it once, kill the choke, rev a few more times. This should be sufficient. If it isn't, you may need to adjust/have the carbs adjusted to run a richer fuel/air mixture.

 

[NCDave]

Wendy, you're not hurting the bike at all by shutting off the choke quickly. The choke is to get the bike started. Beyond that, once you're riding, it only serves to use more gas.

As for oil circulation, as long as you don't run the RPMs high to allow the bike to properly lubricate, you are not doing any harm to it. Just don't go racing the engine.

The harm of letting a bike idle too long is just as bad as over-revving if not lubricated. That is because the bike's oil pressure isn't high enough at idle to properly lubricate the top end either. A happy medium is the best way for the bike to warm up.

In addition, you want to allow the tires to warm up as well, so running hard after starting isn't a good idea anyway. Just casually ride for the first 10 minutes or so, then start carving curves and blasting past cars at 110!

 

[ervins]

+1...I get my gear going and once my bike hits 104 degrees, then it is ready to go...If not, I am waiting until it hits that number. The most important thing is tire warm up...I go through back streets just to warm the tires up.

start your bike up before you put your gear on. by the time you get it all on, you're bike will be warmed up.