It takes forever for my bike to warm up.  Do any of you take off with the choke on and decrease it as you ride?  Will this damage anything?

you can ride it with the choke on.  just dont go hammering on the gas and you will be ok.

It warms up better with light load.  I put the choke on, putter, and usually by the end of the block it has enough warmth in it to take the choke off.  I still putter until it warms up more fully, though.

I agree with the others -- run a bit of choke for the first minute or so once you get going and you can ride almost immediately.

By "a bit" I mean that there's just enough to maintain a 1500 RPM idle when cold.  If I ride steady and over 4000 RPM, then I find that no choke is necessary, even if the engine is cold.

After about a mile or two, I slide the ckoke off -- she's up to temperature.  

I owned a Katana that required massive removal of fairing to change plugs. I learned to do everything I could to keep the plugs in new condition..

Full Choke..
Giving it No gas at all, push the starter and let it fire up..

Until you feel warm air coming out of the pipes and can turn the choke completely off without the bike dieing, you dont touch it..

Takes it about 2 to 3 monutes, but your plugs will last all season and will look like new (assuming your carbs are properly adjusted)

This is not a big deal on the GS where the plugs are readily accessable. When you move to your next bike, and have to do a two hour plug replacement every other month, you will see what I mean about keeping the plugs in good shape..