I now have 400 miles on my brand new 2008 GS, and like everyone said it's very cold blooded. To warm it up and get the oil circulating throughout the engine and transmission I put it on the center stand, start the engine, put in first, and run the choke/idle up to a steady 2.5 k RPMs. I run it like that for a minute, then I put in in neutral and I'm ready to go. there is no sputtering or stalling and I can ride off with no choke and full lubrication of the engine and transmission. I feel that the engine warms faster because, while it's not under a heavy load, the engine is under load and warms faster and more evenly.
unless its bellow 40F My GS starts w/ full choke, I drop it to about 1/2 or whatever gets it down to about 2.5K let it run while I put on my helmet and gloves (about a min) and choke off... off I go. No need to put it in gear.
Today after my 95 sat for 5 months in storage I put the battery back in, full choke, turned the key and barely even hit the started and she fired right up! left it at half choke for about 2 mins, then choke off and off I went... thats after sitting 5 MONTHS!
:cheers:
a simple carb rejet will cure your bike's government mandated cold-bloodedness. Especially if it's a USA model. Put in the #40 pilot jet that the rest of the world's models use, and you will have easy startup and fast warmup. You will be amazed and thrilled at the difference. Please see the wiki for jetting opinions.
http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.Rejetting
Maybe mine took so long because it's new, mine was a Buddha Loves You to warm up before I started doing this.
Quote from: 5thAve on April 08, 2009, 06:07:09 PM
a simple carb rejet will cure your bike's government mandated cold-bloodedness. Especially if it's a USA model. Put in the #40 pilot jet that the rest of the world's models use, and you will have easy startup and fast warmup. You will be amazed and thrilled at the difference. Please see the wiki for jetting opinions.
http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.Rejetting
YES!!!! Should be one of the first things every new owner does...after hacksawing the mudflap of course. :D
I dunno I usually draw a circle around it in salt, light some candles, and sacrifice a chicken. Seems to work most of the time. :angel:
I suspect there's a case of new stuff ritual going on, but it probably doesn't add too much to run it on the centerstand and in gear. It may warm up a little quicker with a load, but if you just idled for the time it takes to get it up an in gear you'd probably have the same effect. Serious bad times, if for some reason it slips off of the centerstand.
How exactly could it slip off the center stand-----you mean like if it was struck by an errant meteorite or something?
Quote from: ojstinson on April 08, 2009, 07:16:27 PM
How exactly could it slip off the center stand-----you mean like if it was hit by an errant meteorite or something?
Eh, it could happen, but is not likely. Some day you could be parked on a bit of an incline and it could get bumped, anything like that... I warm my bike up by just starting it when I walk out, putting the rest of my gear on (earplugs, helmet, gloves) and then riding off. On really cold days, I ride the first block or two with the choke still on a bit, but no big deal. I don't think there should be a need to go through all that you're doing... If the bike really won't run unless you do that, you've got a problem and if you can get away with not doing it, why bother?
What's the bother, my bike is always on the center stand anyway----it's no more bother than what you do--it warms while I'm getting ready. And I don't Have to do it, it just rides off better than messing with the choke while riding.
Is this the equivalent of a newby "blanket party".
I think what most members here are wondering is Why dont you just let it run with full choke for a few minutes, turn choke off, then get on and ride. Its the same as your method but even simpler. I do it all the time on my 07 and i have no problems with sputtering or anything.
To keep the engine from dying I simply have my idle adjusted to 1500 rpm, that way when cold it doesn't tend to die as much. I start the engine on full choke then immediately back of to around 1500-2000 rpm and ride away, as soo as I make the first stop I can back off the choke completely and the bike idles slowly but always rock solid without dying on me. 1500 isn't too fast an idle and sounds more steady than the recommended 1200 plus I feel better because oil pressure is up higher. Harley's had a terrible reputation for wearing out engines because people kept lowering idle's to get the trademark coughing up a lung sound, turned out it was because they were starving their engines of oil because of low oil pressure at low rpms.
idling with it in gear ? i wouldn't do that myself. my luck generally is well south of 'good'.
how do i start ?
check the tars..
check the oil level...
put on gear (cause finding 1/2 a quart low and rummaging around in full leathers is a pita)...
start bike, hold the throttle open just enough to get 2,000 rpm's..
once it idles, ride away
i'm jetted rich enough to start without choke on a 32F morning. :)
How do you idle it in gear? Don't you have to sit there holding the clutch in? That would seem like a real PITA holding in the clutch while sitting on the center stand. I live in Fl strart the bike put maybe a 1/4 choke put on helmet gloves and off. Because of my knee I can't get it up on the center stand to save my life so yeah for me that is really out of the way!
Mary
The only time you need to touch the clutch is when you are starting the engine---you don need it to put the bike in gear and get the wheel spinning, or to take it out of gear. It's not a big deal, it's just something that works for me. I just don't see a problem with having the oil circulating throughout the engine and transmission and warming up at the same time.
Quote from: ineedanap on April 08, 2009, 06:22:52 PM
Quote from: 5thAve on April 08, 2009, 06:07:09 PM
a simple carb rejet will cure your bike's government mandated cold-bloodedness. Especially if it's a USA model. Put in the #40 pilot jet that the rest of the world's models use, and you will have easy startup and fast warmup. You will be amazed and thrilled at the difference. Please see the wiki for jetting opinions.
http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.Rejetting
YES!!!! Should be one of the first things every new owner does...after hacksawing the mudflap of course. :D
That comment makes absolutely no sense whatsoever----was it supposed to?
[/quote
That comment makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
FYI I have an uncle that is minus 1 thumb due to an mishap with a motorcycle running in gear on the center stand.
Just make sure you keep anything important away from the chain while you are doing this. (pants leg, sleeves, face, hands etc.)
Yes indeed, anything involving a running chain and a body part could prove to be costly and painful.
I just don't get the "cold bloodedness". Mine is an '02 with stock engine/filter/exhaust:
Get on bike
Start bike with 1/2 to near full choke depending on temp so idle is around 2-3k
Put on gloves (helmet and other gear is already on)
Back choke off a bit, drive away pretty normally (keeping revs fairly low) and back choke off more over the next couple minutes
I almost never have mine idle for more than 30 sec.
The oil is circulating as soon as you start it.
:dunno_white:
Okay let me get this straight you put the bike up on the center stand. Just let the wheel go chain moving and everything? That seems like a recipe for a Darwin award! One trip and an appendage has just been eaten!
On my bike unless you are on the throttle it dies so I have to hold the clutch in. I also have to engage the clutch to get it in gear. Is my bike different than everyone elses or am I missing something?
I mean the minute or so you do this why don't you just do one loop around with the choke on just a wee bit. Well, doesn't even matter it is warm down here and bike starts right up!
Hope you never have an accident!
Mary
You people wear me out ----Mary, you don't need to pull in the clutch to shift a bike transmission, there are people who drag race bikes that only use the clutch to get off the line.
It's on the centerstand, it's not going anywhere, I don't put my fingers into the moving chain, there is nothing short of a runaway Yak that's going to knock it over.
Rotational inertia and gyroscopic precession are scary things. I'm not a fan of the idea of an uncontrolled spinning mass that doesn't need to be there. The wheel has enough inertia that you could probably knock the bike over with precession alone if your RPMs go high enough. If you bike starts idling high on a warm day and you go to grab the handlebars, you could easily torque the bike enough to cause the back wheel to precess and knock the bike over. If you're unlucky, it could fall on you, if you're lucky, it will fall the other way and just get all dented up. My bike will jump to 3 or 4 thousand RPM once it starts to warm up on a warm day. In first gear, that's something like 15 miles an hour. That works out to the rear wheel spinning at something like 17,000RPM. Think about those experiments at kid's museums with the bicycle wheels with handles attached. Remember how little force it takes to get them to torque you around? You've created the same exact thing with a heavier wheel that is potentially spinning much faster for no apparent reason. It seems silly to create risk where risk doesn't have to exist.
Quote from: ojstinson on April 09, 2009, 05:00:34 AM
The only time you need to touch the clutch is when you are starting the engine---you don need it to put the bike in gear and get the wheel spinning, or to take it out of gear. It's not a big deal, it's just something that works for me. I just don't see a problem with having the oil circulating throughout the engine and transmission and warming up at the same time.
with that statement im not sure why your worried about warming your bike up at all your going to be putting a new set of gears in way before your motor ever has a chance to give up on you.
Quote from: fred on April 09, 2009, 01:29:28 PM
Rotational inertia and gyroscopic precession are scary things. I'm not a fan of the idea of an uncontrolled spinning mass that doesn't need to be there. The wheel has enough inertia that you could probably knock the bike over with precession alone if your RPMs go high enough. If you bike starts idling high on a warm day and you go to grab the handlebars, you could easily torque the bike enough to cause the back wheel to precess and knock the bike over. If you're unlucky, it could fall on you, if you're lucky, it will fall the other way and just get all dented up. My bike will jump to 3 or 4 thousand RPM once it starts to warm up on a warm day. In first gear, that's something like 15 miles an hour. That works out to the rear wheel spinning at something like 17,000RPM. Think about those experiments at kid's museums with the bicycle wheels with handles attached. Remember how little force it takes to get them to torque you around? You've created the same exact thing with a heavier wheel that is potentially spinning much faster for no apparent reason. It seems silly to create risk where risk doesn't have to exist.
Fred, I need you to tell on which planet and in which universe a bike going 15 miles a hour has a rear wheel speed of 17000 RPM----do you happen to be a science fiction writer by any chance?
Quote from: joshr08 on April 09, 2009, 01:35:57 PM
Quote from: ojstinson on April 09, 2009, 05:00:34 AM
The only time you need to touch the clutch is when you are starting the engine---you don need it to put the bike in gear and get the wheel spinning, or to take it out of gear. It's not a big deal, it's just something that works for me. I just don't see a problem with having the oil circulating throughout the engine and transmission and warming up at the same time.
with that statement im not sure why your worried about warming your bike up at all your going to be putting a new set of gears in way before your motor ever has a chance to give up on you.
Josh, you are an extremely funny guy, but seriously folks BA Dump Ba Dump--I had no idea a motorcycle forum could be this much fun. Anyhoo----Mary claims that you can't shift a bike w/o pulling in the clutch, I told her that is simply not true. I Never said I do that, I said it's possible---I said some bike drag racers do it------Get IT!
Nope this is it for me. You wanna ruin your clutch like that sure ya can but I'm not I had to do it in my truck when I got hit by a car I didn't like it then and not gonna do it now because racers do it.
But, that is how the Darwin awards go right can't tell them the right way cause they don't listen so survival of the fitist! I do hope you don't have a pet my cat loves to jump on the bike when it's idling. Loves the vibration sick cat. Now your thinking a cat couldn't do any damage but I know for a fact when this cat runs and bounces off something she can move a love seat with me in it. So, one day she spazzes out and one gets mauled in the wheel two the bike does manage to go over in the garage and causes mayhem.
Just hope I never read about it in the Senitnal what can I say. YOU CAN'T TEACH THEM DAMN FLORIDIANS NOTHING!
oh wait I reseamble that remark.
Mary
Quote from: ojstinson on April 09, 2009, 02:02:26 PM
Quote from: fred on April 09, 2009, 01:29:28 PM
Rotational inertia and gyroscopic precession are scary things. I'm not a fan of the idea of an uncontrolled spinning mass that doesn't need to be there. The wheel has enough inertia that you could probably knock the bike over with precession alone if your RPMs go high enough. If you bike starts idling high on a warm day and you go to grab the handlebars, you could easily torque the bike enough to cause the back wheel to precess and knock the bike over. If you're unlucky, it could fall on you, if you're lucky, it will fall the other way and just get all dented up. My bike will jump to 3 or 4 thousand RPM once it starts to warm up on a warm day. In first gear, that's something like 15 miles an hour. That works out to the rear wheel spinning at something like 17,000RPM. Think about those experiments at kid's museums with the bicycle wheels with handles attached. Remember how little force it takes to get them to torque you around? You've created the same exact thing with a heavier wheel that is potentially spinning much faster for no apparent reason. It seems silly to create risk where risk doesn't have to exist.
Fred, I need you to tell on which planet and in which universe a bike going 15 miles a hour has a rear wheel speed of 17000 RPM----do you happen to be a science fiction writer by any chance?
Doh, off by a factor of 60. Still, 280 RPM is a lot for a wheel that heavy.
Quote from: Toogoofy317 on April 09, 2009, 03:25:15 PM
Nope this is it for me. You wanna ruin your clutch like that sure ya can but I'm not I had to do it in my truck when I got hit by a car I didn't like it then and not gonna do it now because racers do it.
But, that is how the Darwin awards go right can't tell them the right way cause they don't listen so survival of the fitist! I do hope you don't have a pet my cat loves to jump on the bike when it's idling. Loves the vibration sick cat. Now your thinking a cat couldn't do any damage but I know for a fact when this cat runs and bounces off something she can move a love seat with me in it. So, one day she spazzes out and one gets mauled in the wheel two the bike does manage to go over in the garage and causes mayhem.
Just hope I never read about it in the Senitnal what can I say. YOU CAN'T TEACH THEM DAMN FLORIDIANS NOTHING!
oh wait I reseamble that remark.
Mary
[/quote
You are A- OK in my book Mary, I don't care what anyone says.
Quote from: fred on April 09, 2009, 03:28:37 PM
Quote from: ojstinson on April 09, 2009, 02:02:26 PM
Quote from: fred on April 09, 2009, 01:29:28 PM
Rotational inertia and gyroscopic precession are scary things. I'm not a fan of the idea of an uncontrolled spinning mass that doesn't need to be there. The wheel has enough inertia that you could probably knock the bike over with precession alone if your RPMs go high enough. If you bike starts idling high on a warm day and you go to grab the handlebars, you could easily torque the bike enough to cause the back wheel to precess and knock the bike over. If you're unlucky, it could fall on you, if you're lucky, it will fall the other way and just get all dented up. My bike will jump to 3 or 4 thousand RPM once it starts to warm up on a warm day. In first gear, that's something like 15 miles an hour. That works out to the rear wheel spinning at something like 17,000RPM. Think about those experiments at kid's museums with the bicycle wheels with handles attached. Remember how little force it takes to get them to torque you around? You've created the same exact thing with a heavier wheel that is potentially spinning much faster for no apparent reason. It seems silly to create risk where risk doesn't have to exist.
Fred, I need you to tell on which planet and in which universe a bike going 15 miles a hour has a rear wheel speed of 17000 RPM----do you happen to be a science fiction writer by any chance?
Doh, off by a factor of 60. Still, 280 RPM is a lot for a wheel that heavy.
OK Fred, I'll buy that------you were just testing me ------Right?
Quote from: ojstinson on April 09, 2009, 03:42:32 PM
Quote from: fred on April 09, 2009, 03:28:37 PM
Quote from: ojstinson on April 09, 2009, 02:02:26 PM
Quote from: fred on April 09, 2009, 01:29:28 PM
Rotational inertia and gyroscopic precession are scary things. I'm not a fan of the idea of an uncontrolled spinning mass that doesn't need to be there. The wheel has enough inertia that you could probably knock the bike over with precession alone if your RPMs go high enough. If you bike starts idling high on a warm day and you go to grab the handlebars, you could easily torque the bike enough to cause the back wheel to precess and knock the bike over. If you're unlucky, it could fall on you, if you're lucky, it will fall the other way and just get all dented up. My bike will jump to 3 or 4 thousand RPM once it starts to warm up on a warm day. In first gear, that's something like 15 miles an hour. That works out to the rear wheel spinning at something like 17,000RPM. Think about those experiments at kid's museums with the bicycle wheels with handles attached. Remember how little force it takes to get them to torque you around? You've created the same exact thing with a heavier wheel that is potentially spinning much faster for no apparent reason. It seems silly to create risk where risk doesn't have to exist.
Fred, I need you to tell on which planet and in which universe a bike going 15 miles a hour has a rear wheel speed of 17000 RPM----do you happen to be a science fiction writer by any chance?
Doh, off by a factor of 60. Still, 280 RPM is a lot for a wheel that heavy.
OK Fred, I'll buy that------you were just testing me ------Right?
Let's just say this is the first day in a week that I've worked fewer than 13 hours. It is crunch time at work and if that wasn't enough, I've been sucked into another project that is also crunching. I'm hoping that sometime after the 17th I'll actually have a day off...