Whaaaaat ... I reeled off 3 copies last year I belive to pass on to 3 non listers ... They loved it.
Cool.
Srinath.

drivemcfriend

I sent a pm offering my help. I'll be out of town until next Tuesday.
Get your bike back and don't let those guys touch it.
You can page me at 831-771-3423 since I won't have computer access.

So, the mechanic came back and said that since I was not going to go for the rebuld right away he would check the valves (which is cheaper) and then proceed from there. What was before smelling like a bad trick is now getting really stinky: shouldn't one check those first, and then,if need be, think about rebuilding?...  

So I'm going to get the bike away from there next Saturday: again thanks to the board for your help!

Bob Broussard: got the PM, thanks. Replying today.

Oh yea with geniuses like that as a mechanic ... I'll bet he did a compression test with the throttle closed.
Cool.
Srinath.

I think that your jetting may be off which requires the long warm up. Also, I think that the long warm up could do some dammage to the cylinders/pistons/rings. When the bike is idiling without moving, the cylinders can overheat due to no airflow even though the oil may not yet be hot. I try to limit the parked warm up time to no more than 5 minutes. If the bike is still acting cold, just go easy on it untill it warms up, it won't hurt anything and it will help the bike warm up faster without dammaging it.

In my opinion (based on very little) ideal warm up time is about 1-2 minutes in the hot summer and 2-4 minutes in the cold winter before I hop on it then 1-2 miles before I really start beating on it. Good luch and take your bike some where else. Anybody is better than this guy!

Ok I dont quite agree with that. There is that extra bit of heat with the leaner jetting yes ... and the jetting is leaner at the lower end of the rpm scale yes ... but I belive you'd not make enough heat in that range to worry bout anyhting though. If it was leaner up in the 4-6K rpm - 1/4 to 1/2 throttle range ... you'd get you motor cooked good when stuck in traffic ... You aren't that lean in that range really. I jet up to 125 mains, meaning a 4-6% increase, essentially stock isn't bad at all to cause you many issues. Down low ... I jet up closer to 15%+ (2.5 up out of 40 and remember its squared as its area not dia) and then mix screws, and needle and mains also affect the low end too.
Now for a bike with the low miles mcfriend has ... I'll more than likely think its generally fine, heat causes it to wear more in a shorter mileage ... not cause catastrophis failure in a short time. You may have maybe a few extra 1000 miles of wear ... not enough to die.
Cool.
Srinath.

Ah-ha!
now we're getting somewhere. And unfortunately for me it might be leading to my wrong behavior.
I noticed that the warm-ups are long, and that was confirmed on this board and on the user manual (which talks, if I am remebering correctly, of 5 minutes in the summer to 20 minutes in the winter). So I was convinced that my 5 minutes with choke on (which ususally keeps the engine in the 3k-4k rpm range) was the right thing  :dunno: , I couold have shorten it, but then I would have to drive for the first few miles with chocke on to avoid it dying, and that looked to me as a worst idea then letting it warm up longer by itself (it could affect the the spark plugs, etc...). Keep in mind that the whole setup on the bike is stock.

So I might have brought this upon myself... :x but hopefully with the right help I'll get the right way of warming up once and for all.

Drive

Hey everyone,
I have the same warm-up problem on my bike. It takes forever to warm up. (2004F with <2K miles). In summer I'd let the bike warm up for 3-5 minutes and then still have to ride with the Choke on for the first few miles before the bike warmed up enough to not die at stop signs. This has improved slightly over time (and because I know when it's about to die and give it some gas) but still happens occasionaly. My bike is completely stock and I bought it with 233 miles on it. I don't abuse it, and I had the 600 mile service done at the stealership.

I know that the stock settings are very lean, and have read all the posts on rejetting/uping the mains. I have never gotten more then 50 miles a gallon, and recently (it's been really cold) only got like 35 miles(some of that is definitely due to how I was riding and the cold temperature with really long warm up times) which seemed really low. However, could there be something else that causes my bike to be colder then most? Should I also be checking my valves (I have no idea how to do this, but wouldn't mind learning)? Does low gas mileage suggest something is wrong?

Thanks in advance.

yep, it means that yoru valves were on the tight side when they did the service. and you need to clean yor air filter. get like a oil pan of gas and get it good and wet in there to get  all the crap out and then dry it really good with compressed air. then check and clean yor plugs.

Has anyone mentioned the fact that these are CARBED bikes and that they, by nature, take a bit longer to warm up? By nature these things are cold natured. Also, it takes ANY bike around 15 minutes to warm up fully, no matter wether it's fuel injected or carbed, air or liquid cooled.

Hi all,
   just wanted to drop a note to let the board how it went.
Well, I got the bike out of there and hopefully she will never see the inside of that place ever again...

Then I was able to enlist Bob B. and in less than half a day he found that the valves needed to be adjusted, he did it (and added a modification to the anticipation... details from him) and now, that the rain gave us a break here in CA, I tried it out and it runs quite good, better than when I got it, actually!  Warm-ups a re about a minute and then it runs smoothly and strong:

aevans17: someone else a while ago mentioned here the same type of issues and it again turned out to be the valves: if you can get some decent mechanic to adjust them, chances are that you'll be a happy camper--I know I am now  

I want to just add a note about Bob's: not only he fixed the bike for about one tenth of what I was asked, but he makes also an excellent lunch conversation! Can't recommend him high enough: thanks Bob!  

Happy holidays everybody!