To Warm Up or Not to Warm Up

[huron52]

If I am at or riding around home I will give it the time to come up to two bars. At that point the revs have come down and it is willing to take off the way I like it to. The only time I don't let it warm up if I am at a motel and I am leaving very early in the morning and I don't want to distub any of the other guests. But then I take off slowly and if the speed of the traffic doesn't allow me to take it easy I will pull off and let it warm up in a parking lot.

 

[FJRMGM]

Castrol now recommends that you start the engine and then proceed with no warmup and drive normally (not hard) to get the engine up to operating temps as quickly as possible because the oil contains additives that require it to be warm to work. Let the driving be the warmup.

I have a friend at work that rides a '99 twin cylinder BMW and he comes out to the parking lot, puts his helmet on, sits on the bike and hits the starter and is going before the bike has been running for two seconds.

Claims BMW owners manual says "no warmup on the twins" so he took it quite literally.

The real question is - what does MotoMan recommend?

 

[MikeYork5]

If I am at or riding around home I will give it the time to come up to two bars. At that point the revs have come down and it is willing to take off the way I like it to. The only time I don't let it warm up if I am at a motel and I am leaving very early in the morning and I don't want to distub any of the other guests. But then I take off slowly and if the speed of the traffic doesn't allow me to take it easy I will pull off and let it warm up in a parking lot.

:dribble: I have a somewhat similar approach - I start my bike then I ride to two bars, by the time I'm done I'm warmed up, I could give a **** about the bike.......

 

[Scab]

I start my bike then I ride to two bars,

Finally. Some relative information that could be beneficially applied.

 

[FJRottie]

The real question is - what does MotoMan recommend?

That has got to be a joke.

Everyone has a different answer, so do what floats your boat.

Some mechanics and techs that I know float boats say- Your engine warms up better/more efficiently under load (i.e. moving). At a reasonable temperature (not cold) start moving within 30 seconds. At colder temps wait a minute or so. Don't reach high RPMs until the engine temp is up to proper operating levels as indicated on your gauges.

...which is what a few others have said. YMMV.

 

[otrfjr]

I start my bike then I ride to two bars,

Finally. Some relative information that could be beneficially applied.

I never make it past the first bar.

 

[tyronewildman]

Another reason not to warm it up (from yesterday's paper).

https://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/st...armup0306a.html

We are a mess here in Hotlanta, later, De

 

[Reg# 43897]

Excessive idling is only gonna dump too much fuel into the oil. Let the ride be the warm-up with a restrained throttle hand until such time as there is some heat built up into the oil... Seems common sense to me.

John.

 

[weekend rider]

Both ways are correct so chose which is best for you, just do not pin it while cold

weekend rider

 

[v65]

Both ways are correct so chose which is best for you, just do not pin it while cold
weekend rider

You will never have an excuse for a new bike that way

 

[brazos parker]

I'm not a "wrench" so I have no valid opinion one way or the other on this subject. However, I do know that Formula 1, IRL, Nascar and all other racers run "warm-up" laps before stressing the mechanical parts big time. I'll just go w/ the "big boys."

 

[TomBo]

One of the things that gets misconstrued is the warm up routine.

I believe the vehicle should be moving as to "warm up" ALL the parts. Not standing still idling.

But not racing until the engine is warm. In a car or bike I believe you can start and go with TODAY'S engines which have much tighter tolerances and better oil.

In the old days you really had to idle warm up a car and air cooled bike to smooth out the "bumps"

'"

 

[ibsunburnt]

Always warm up...we even do it here in Phoenix!

 

[boogahboogah]

I have changed my starting (Braap Braap) routine because I think (Braap Braap Braaaaaaap) my neighbors appreciate knowing when (Braaaap Braaaap Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap) I have gone out to enjoy a ride on (Braap Braap Braap Braap Braap Braap Braap Braaaaaaaaap) my motorcycle. I just know they're (Braap Braaaaaap Braaaaaaaaaaap) jealous...

 

[Kevin Daly]

Both ways are correct so chose which is best for you, just do not pin it while cold weekend rider

Yes everyone's a winner!

Actually, there is a real physical reason why you should allow your engine to warm up at least a little. First, we all agree that as materials heat they expand (anyone what to argue that??). Knowing this, I recomend an experiment for those of you who like to question theories with observational facts. With a cold engine, fire up the bike and then put one hand on the cylinder wall the other on the header; can you keep both there equally long?? Not unless you like BBQ. So given that one piece of your bike is warming faster than the other, which do you think is expanding faster? Right! The headers. Now ask your self why? The headers are a smaller metalic mass; no where for he to be conducted away... and they take a direct shot of fire with every spark. The same is true of cylinder walls and pistons. But, while both take a straight shot of fire per spark the cylinder walls have much more metal mass that they can conduct heat to hence heat is conducted away from the cylinder wall much faster than the piston. Furthermore, because the cylinder is integrated to a liquid cooling system heat is physically cunducted away by a water pump and disipated by a radiator.

Ok professor, but why do I care? Well, young grasshoppers (sorry its the beer talkin), what was our first observation? As materials heat they expand. So if the piston is getting hotter faster, it will expand faster and well, there really isnt much room for a piston to expand, so as it expands the space for lubricant between piston and cylinder is reduced and we all know what happens when there is no room for lubricant.... Yes friction burns (sorry again). Oh no, that means more heat, more expansion, more friction. And in the worst case scenario the pistons seizes.

Ok so that is why historically you are not supposed to ride a cold bike and definately why you should never ride a cold bike hard. I remember this being a particularly big problem for 2 stroke dirtbikes when I was a kid. My friend learned this they hard way by seizing his engine :dribble:

My bet however is that this is not as big a problem today with the more precision engineering and manufacturing methods used on modern bikes.

:drinks:

 

[markjenn]

The only way you're going to immediately hurt a modern engine running modern oils is pushing it super hard when it is stone cold, but all you folks idling the engine to two-bars are doing your bike no favors.

Other than internet urban legend, this is an area where the authoritative sources are in completely agreement: Start your engine and as soon as the engine runs reasonaly smoothy and will take throttle and light load (tyipcally almost immediately after starting) ride off. Ride very gently initially, but add load as the engine warms.

The rationale is quite straightforward: Idling is bad as the engine is designed to run at higher RPM with load. Idling at cold temperatures is worse because you're running a very rich mixture and combustion is poor - all this puts lots of nasty combusion byproducts on your cylinder walls and into your oil, diluting viscosity and spreading corrosive elements throughout your engine. Further, an engine that is not up to operating temperature hasn't established proper working clearances which means warm up is a period of extra wear.

So to minimize the time the engine is running cold, YOU WANT TO GET IT UP TO TEMPERATURE QUICKLY, and this means riding, not idling. Just take it easy for the first mile or so and don't hammer it hard until it is fully warm. Simple as that.

Not to mention that you'll save gas, reduce emissions, and annoy your neighbors a lot less, especially if you have loud pipes on the bike. When I motel tour, one night out of three, there is some numbskull (typically on a Harley with open pipes), who cranks up his motor at 7AM and then goes in for his last cup of coffee. Fifteen minutes later, his engine now badly overheated, he'll blip the throttle for a minute before finally riding off. By this time, everyone in the motel is both awake (whether they want to be or not), and has a terrible opinion of motorcyclists.

- Mark

 

[wfooshee]

It would be nice to have an oil pressure gauge. That's how I judge the warm-up in my cage; not by the coolant temp, but by the drop in oil pressure, which doesn't happen until the oil warms up. Once the oil pressure's down to normal, it's good to go. But it's being driven (gently) in the meantime, not idling.

I think idling in the driveway goes back to carb days, a carb just couldn't cope with the mixture enrichment required for cold running, and motors would stall at inopportune times (4-way stop, first car in line when the light goes green, etc.) Or it would run too lean for the temp and over time, bad things happen from that. I remember our '67 Buick even had a COLD light on the dash, you weren't supposed to move until that went out.

Modern oils, and especially modern FI electronics makes all that moot. Drive, ride, whatever, immediately, just not balls-out for the first few minutes.