how long do you let your bike warm up?

[se7enty7]

mine stays in a garage... around 60 degrees is as cold as it gets (maybe 55... at lowest..) and I start her with choke, after about 10 seconds lower the choke to halfway... then after a minute or two (after putting on gear) I ride off.... is that long enough?

[scratch]

Sounds good! That's almost what I do! I count to 30 and then gradually lower the choke while counting to 60. On really cold mornings, like today, I counted to 60 and then gradually lower the choke til I get to 100.

[MarkusN]

Not being a friend of wasted O2 I take off as soon as she accepts throttle. In summer this is immediately, in freezing temperatures it may be 20 s. I then reduce choke gradually over the first two miles or so. If there are no traffic lights or other reasons to stop after taking off you can reduce choke to zero as soon as you have taken off.

[Laura]

I think I do about the same as you do, se7enty7. I don't time it though, I just look at the rpms, and when they start going up, I start gradually taking the choke off. And then after the choke is off I let it run for a minute or two, and then I ride pretty gently for the first mile.

[Dima26]

I do similar. I normally start with full choke (T<60 F) or half-choke (T>60 F). Then I wait 30 sec and gradually decrease the choke over 5-30 sec, depending on the ambient temperature. Then before putting it in gear I slowly increase the throttle. If it is cold, it bogs around 2,000 RPM. If it is warmed up a little, it does not do this. Then I take off.

Dima.

[Daniely]

Generally, i start the bike with my choke on in the garage (california) by the time my helmet and gloves are on the choke is off and im on my way.

[Michael]

I start with the choke fully on and as soon as it fires wind it back to half choke.  After that I adjust the choke to keep the revs between 1500 and 2000 while I'm putting on my helmet and gloves.  Then I take off.  If I'm at home and know I won't be stopping once I take off I wind the choke right off as soon as I'm out the gate.  If I'm at work, where there's a bit of stop-start to get onto the straight, I leave it on what it was when I took off for about the first 500yds or so then close it once the traffic frees up.

[pizzleboy]

In the middle of summer, I don't use it at all.  When it's really cold, like 30's and 40's, it can take 5-10 minutes.  Assuming it starts at all.

I stored both my bike yesterday, and had to boost them both with my truck.  Also ran a hair dryer on the carbs and cylinders for 30 minutes prior.

[D-Day]

Install a Dynojet kit, and you just put the choke on, start it, turn the choke off, and ride away.  

Best $80 you can spend.:mrgreen:

Paul

[djplumking]

Man, you guys are lucky...I've got the most cold-blooded machine. Generally I keep the choke all the way up until the revs really kick in to about 4K and you can hear it's full warmed up. Otherwise I'm sputtering and putzing for a little while before it continues to warm up...at times it can take up to a couple minutes before it'll go.