my bike is slow to warm up

weetsie

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i got a suzuki 125 single a few months ago and it was fine when i first got it but now that its colder it takes forever to warm up, it wont start without the choke on and takes a good 5 minutes before i can rev it without it cutting out. even once im on the road its extremely under powered for another 5 minutes at least.

is this something i have to just deal with or is there something i can replace or clean? :confused:
 
Sounds perfectly normal to me.
Bikes run very lean, hence the fact you'll probably be getting close to 100mpg out of it.
Harking back to my days with carburettors, I remember having to run with the choke on for ages and full throttle being met with a 'BWUUUUUUURP' and nothing else.
I always try and warm my bikes up before I ride them, rather that 'start and hop on'.
Start them up, then do up my jacket, helmet, gloves etc.
Even then, they are very cold blooded animals and need time to warm up.
 
That does seem a long time to warm up. What model is it? Is it air or water cooled?
 
My CBX 750 (air-cooled 4-stroke four) is ready to ride within about 30 seconds, summer or winter, as soon as it idles smoothly with no choke.

My TDR 250 (water-cooled 2-stroke twin) needs 2 or 3 minutes though, or it's like riding a kangaroo. Once the Temp needle is off the stop it's ready to go, but it does seem to take ages
 
Sounds perfectly normal to me.
Bikes run very lean, hence the fact you'll probably be getting close to 100mpg out of it.
Harking back to my days with carburettors, I remember having to run with the choke on for ages and full throttle being met with a 'BWUUUUUUURP' and nothing else.
I always try and warm my bikes up before I ride them, rather that 'start and hop on'.
Start them up, then do up my jacket, helmet, gloves etc.
Even then, they are very cold blooded animals and need time to warm up.

I'm very weary of this if the bike is on a side stand and has stood all night :)
 
Yes, having a bike sitting there stationary and warming it up is the wrong way. The best way to warm up a bike is to jump right on and ride it moderately.

In your opinion.
In my opinion, any old wives' tales about it not being the best way is surpassed by the fact that the bike will respond better to a bit of warming up.
Can't say I've had any problems doing this, in 26 years of riding, 10 years of racing and over 40 different bikes...:rolleyes:
All my bikes are warmed up a bit on the stand, road or race.
None are started up and ridden off cold.
 
having a bike sitting there stationary and warming it up is the wrong way. The best way to warm up a bike is to jump right on and ride it moderately.
I have to disagree with you there.
In my experience(and every biker i have ever known), it is best to warm the engine up on the stand, because if you try to ride from stone cold, the throttle can be unresponsive, which can(unlike a car)be a safety issue in certain circumstances on a bike.
I completely agree with FZR400RRSP - it is always far better/advisable to warm up for a few minutes before riding.
 
Right ,it was something that was recommended to me ,if the bike has been standing all night ,it stands to reason the oil is heading south and to one side :)

With modern oils and their cling properties, I really don't think it's an issue.
Just people harking back to the old days.
If you feel that bothered about it, turn the bike over with the kill switch off for a few seconds.
That'll pump some around before firing it up.:thumbsup:

But riding off totally cold is not something I'd recommend or do.
Throttle response can be all over the place.
 
Sounds perfectly normal to me.
Bikes run very lean, hence the fact you'll probably be getting close to 100mpg out of it.


my bike wont ride off cold, any throttle will make it cut out and even once i can ride it as soon as i come to a set of lights and drop the revs it cuts out. :rolleyes:

my first road bike was a derbi sm, 50cc 2 stroke which never had any problems, started first time every time no choke and was fully responsive instantly even through winter.

that is probably why i think my current bike taking 5 minutes to warm up is a problem.

thanks guys
 
my bike wont ride off cold, any throttle will make it cut out and even once i can ride it as soon as i come to a set of lights and drop the revs it cuts out.

This is far from normal. Sounds like you need to get the fueling sorted.
 
With modern oils and their cling properties, I really don't think it's an issue.
Just people harking back to the old days.
If you feel that bothered about it, turn the bike over with the kill switch off for a few seconds.
That'll pump some around before firing it up.:thumbsup:

But riding off totally cold is not something I'd recommend or do.
Throttle response can be all over the place.

When i stripped and rebuilt the "z" i used fully synthetic ,i still wouldn't start it on the side stand after standing all night ,but hey that's just me :)
 
In your opinion.
In my opinion, any old wives' tales about it not being the best way is surpassed by the fact that the bike will respond better to a bit of warming up.
Can't say I've had any problems doing this, in 26 years of riding, 10 years of racing and over 40 different bikes...:rolleyes:
All my bikes are warmed up a bit on the stand, road or race.
None are started up and ridden off cold.


It's not an old wives tail. :)Most motorcycle oil pumps are not sufficient enough to pump oil around the engine while the bike is stationary and not in gear, especially when the oil presure builds up after a short period of time with the engine running - potentiall starving the top end of the engine of much needed oil.

A motorcycle oil pump is very dependent on the moving parts of a fully engaged (in gear) engine to contribute to the oil circulation around the engine.

Often when a bike is stationary, oil sits mostly in the sump/gearbox and as the bike is in neutral while warming the engine; very little moving parts are actually moving in the gearbox and because if this oild is not circulated efficiently.

While a bike is stationary and not in gear mostly the head (top end) of the engine will heat up but without the benefit of proper oil circulation from an oil pump that is substituted by the internal motion of the engine/gearbox as if the engine was indeed in gear and powering the bike.



Now often when a bike is left over night, all the oil in the motor settles in the sump. With the idea of engine preservation we assume by warming the oil we protect the motor but if the oil you are trying warm is not circulated around the motor as quickly after ignition of the motor then we run the risk of damaging the engine.

Now your little oil pump can't circulate the oil around the engine fast/efficently enough without the help from all of the internal components of the engine spinning together - which would happen if you was actually riding the bike. When the bike is stationary and in neutral gear a good portion of the motors internals are not turning and forcing oil to spread around the engine quickly enough potenailly starving a portin of the engine of oil..

All that is needed is a 30 second warm up, then a gentle ride with modest throttle openings until the engine is fully warmed up.

 
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In your opinion.
In my opinion, any old wives' tales about it not being the best way is surpassed by the fact that the bike will respond better to a bit of warming up.
Can't say I've had any problems doing this, in 26 years of riding, 10 years of racing and over 40 different bikes...:rolleyes:
All my bikes are warmed up a bit on the stand, road or race.
None are started up and ridden off cold.


In that case I would guess you never had a bike long enough to see the damage you were causing :rolleyes:
 
In that case I would guess you never had a bike long enough to see the damage you were causing :rolleyes:

LOL!
Damage...
LOL!

:rotfl:

Honestly, if you could actually prove what you're saying, it wouldn't be so funny.
Personally, I think you're talking tripe and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between two stripped down bikes of the same mileage, one ridden off cold and one warmed up on the sidestand.
Really, I'd stake my mortgage on you not being able to tell.

Therefore, you'll forgive me for laughing.
 
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LOL!
Damage...
LOL!

:rotfl:

Honestly, if you could actually prove what you're saying, it wouldn't be so funny.
Personally, I think you're talking tripe and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between two stripped down bikes of the same mileage, one ridden off cold and one warmed up on the sidestand.
Really, I'd stake my mortgage on you not being able to tell.

Therefore, you'll forgive me for laughing.

Like i said it was advise given to me ,weather you take it or not that's up to you :)

As to forgiving your laughter, don't worry about i've come across all sorts of ******s :)
 
Common sense really , do you have small man angry syndrome ?..did you read post 17 ?

Yes,but I dont accept that either. As far as I'm concerned saying that a bike needs to be moving for the oil pump to work properly is utter nonsense. A bike could sit on idle for months or years, no damage would occur. I've also seen engines run on dynos without them being in any gear. Not fitted to a bike, just the engine. Neutral gear, thrashed to full revs and no pump problems. I'm 6 foot by the way. If I come across as angry it will be because of the rubbish and bad advice being given to a young biker here. Recommending he rides a stone cold bike is just asking for trouble, compared with highly debatable and pretty baseless arguments about engine wear if he let's it warm up a bit.
 
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I always ride my bike off (gently) as soon as I start it up. This question gets asked loads in bike mags, and the experts always recommend the same.

Maybe he was unlucky but my friend seized the engine on his K5 GSXR1000, becuase he went in the house to take a phone call while the bike was running in the garden and overheated, it had only done 8k.
 
A motorcycle engine is very strong, and either preference to warming will likely never directly cause a premature engine failure but arguably one method can potentially cause more engine ware which along way down the line eventually leads to engine failure. Personally my 97 TL1000S has done 55000 hard miles with very little maintenance and often missing services. There is not a day goes by where the engine does not hit the rev limiter but she is running as sweet as she ever did. Now if I warmed the bike for 5 mins after starting every time, I am sure she would still be running sweet though in most examples if I stripped the motor, I would expect to see a little more engine ware in particular parts of the engine vs a motor warmed with my method by simply riding the thing. Now for me I do not have any proof and to prove it would be almost impossible but how I come to my conclusion is common sense.

YouTube - Infrared movie of a motorcycle engine warming up.

Infrared view of a Motorcycle engine warming up, note how hot the top end of the motor is VS the sump where the gearbox is housed, leaning to my point that oil is not pumped efficiently around the motor. If you was riding the bike in gear with all of the internals moving at once, that oil would circulate the bike faster, picking up the heat from the top end of the engine, and passing that heat to the rest of the motor, namely the gears in the sump of the motor. When attempting to warm the engine while stationary, all that oil is sitting in the sump cool, doing nothing, with a very hot top end of the engine that is starved of oil and getting hotter, causing a heat disparity between the sump and top end of the motor. Remember the top end of your motor has lots of moving parts that need to be soaked in oil too! Oil also not only lubricates and engine, but also contributes to keeping an engine cool. If you ride the bike from cold, you would see the motor warm up more evenly and quicker, which is how it is designed and what is best for it.

Note: that engine is only a small single cylinder engine which has a tiny head vs a big 1000cc multi cylinder motorcycle engine. Often the oil pumps from small bikes are no stronger/bigger than on larger capacity bikes.
 
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