Do you 'warm up' your bike?

CJhaughey

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Can't beat Honda when it comes to building bullet-proof engines!

Apart from the VF series...

Steffano2002

Blondie919 wrote: »

I'd say Suzuki could beat them!! It's a well known fact that Bandits are bullet proof. And yes, I do have one

Had one too and head gasket went... Oil cooled means over-heating. Honda beat them hands down!

Steffano2002

CJhaughey wrote: »

Apart from the VF series...

Very true!

superfish

In Soviet Russia bike warms you !

amacca

Zascar wrote: »

I was reading in the manual of my bike that when the air temperature is less than 10 degrees, you are supposed to start your engine and let it run for a full 5 minutes before driving off. Normally I would let the engine warm up for a minute or two while I put my gloves and helmet on, but a full 5 mins seems a lot. Some others I read let their bike run like this every time regardless of the temperature. Some others let the bike warm up to 40 or 50 degrees before setting off - that could take 15 minutes or more!

So just how important is this? Is a minute or two and then some slow driving keeping the revs down ok?

Zascar...I have a 999 and a 748....whenever I start either I let them run up to temperature.

BUT this rarely takes 5 minutes never mind 15 minutes


the digital dash on your 749 should reach the 50 degree mark pretty quickly...takes a min or two on my bikes during which time im zippin g up the jacket...putting on gloves helmet etc


the main reason to do this as I understand it is to get the oil up to temperature and well distributed throughout the engine....bad if oil is not up to temp and you rev the nuts off the thing

keep the revs low for the first couple of mins on the road and everything should be fine...has been for years with mine anyway

Zascar

Nice one thanks. My last Monster 620 took at least 10 mins to get to 50 degrees which was the lowest number it displays. And that was with driving, I'd say sitting idle would take longer.

With the new bike I'll deffo let it sit for a few mins and then take it very easy for the next while also until she's warm - and then I'll give her a good thrashing!

hobochris

my Routine usally is:

Start the bike, put on lid, knock off the choke, put gloves on and hop on, by that stage she's warm enough

amacca

Zascar wrote: »

Nice one thanks. My last Monster 620 took at least 10 mins to get to 50 degrees which was the lowest number it displays. And that was with driving, I'd say sitting idle would take longer.

With the new bike I'll deffo let it sit for a few mins and then take it very easy for the next while also until she's warm - and then I'll give her a good thrashing!

if it helps + you probably already know this seeing as you have read the manual (something I have never done - i did read the haynes for the 748 though when I was disassembling/modding etc)

when you're up to speed the temperature reading on the dash should stabilize at approx 64 -70 degrees if yours is anything like mine ....that temp can be got down a couple of degrees depending on oil used...condition of rads....if a set of aftermarket coolant hoses used etc

mine reads 66 degrees dead when up to speed and air constantly blowing through the front...................has done for years now

the minute its at a standstill - its normal for temperature to rise rapidly (i found this really disconcerting at first) in start stop traffic the fans should cut in around 103-104 and then the temp should stabilize around the 101-102 mark if that helps

your arse will be cooked in traffic on a regular basis but its a small price to pay imo............that 749 of yours is a beauty.

Ratchet

hobochris wrote: »

my Routine usally is:

Start the bike, put on lid, knock off the choke, put gloves on and hop on, by that stage she's warm enough

yeah, good enough....i dont keep choke for long once revs are stable enough

Zascar

So what I've noticed is she warms up very very quickly. I'd probably only have to let her idle for a couple of mins and she's over 50 or so, and then a couple more minutes down the road and she's fine. My Monster would not get up to temp until I was pretty much arriving at work!

However, the thing is with a way bigger engine you don't have the change to give it any hard acceleration cause a slight twist of the wrist and you'll be doing twice the speed limit!

amacca wrote: »

your arse will be cooked in traffic on a regular basis but its a small price to pay imo............that 749 of yours is a beauty.

Thanks I'm delighted, you're absolutely right it roasts the arse off you as soon as you slow down. Would be nice in Winter but I can only imagine how uncomfortable it would be on a 30+ day driving through the city - would be almost unbearable. Is there anything you can do about it?

amacca

Zascar wrote: »

Thanks I'm delighted, you're absolutely right it roasts the arse off you as soon as you slow down. Would be nice in Winter but I can only imagine how uncomfortable it would be on a 30+ day driving through the city - would be almost unbearable. Is there anything you can do about it?

very little you can do when sitting in traffic in my experience...cept grin and bear it....I got used to it and barely notice it now but I suppose I'm not usually in traffic that long (town rather than city)

you can get more padded aftermarket seats made specifically for the model

corbin and sargeant (think I spelled them right) make nice but expensive seats to replace oem [up to £300 if you go for the tricolore detail + fancy pipework detail/stitching] that can give a bit of extra clearance and a little more breathing space to the inner thighs as well

have seen some people on forums install heat shielding under the seat (thin aluminium sheeting) but my personal opinion is its not worth the hassle..I'd spend the money on carbon fibre or a set of hoses or an open clutch cover/slipper clutch, hid lights, tail tidy etc if I was going to spend money and put up with the heat