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Idle warm up to extend engine life?

DimitriT

DimitriT

Forum Sage
Past Site Supporter
A friend claims that idling to warm up actually hurts the engine
because it prolongs the time it takes to reach temperature. He
claims that the right thing to is to get on and ride it as soon as
possible, thereby bringing up the oil temp quickly.
 
I dont know about that but I was told if your bike isnt ridden everyday to leave the run/off button to off and hit the starter until your oil pressure light goes off, then put it on run and start the engine. Supposedly this gets oil to all the right places in your engine while all the moving parts are bieng lubed with less stress than the usual high idle.

Todd
 
I'm probably as guilty as anyone of cranking and riding off too quickly, but I know that the better method is to allow things time to warm up properly. When that engine first cranks up, it's cold and has very little lubrication except for what film remains from the last run. To be taken into account are the different heat expansion rates that are present with various metals in the engine.. aluminum, steel, iron, sometimes magnesium, sometimes babbitt. These metals all heat and expand to their normal dimensions at different rates and need time to soak heat into all of them. Cranking and running under immediate load, forces parts that have metal to metal contact to begin working at maximum stress with inadequate oil film separating the surfaces.

The analogy breaks down pretty quickly, but you'd be doing as much damage to drive your bike to the local park, get off and begin a 4-minute mile run without stretching and loosening up. You or the bike may not fail the first time it's done, nor the second or the third, but one day something will let go. Jes my 2-cents worth :)
 
For what it's worth (and this is one of those topics where everyone will have a different view... kind of like asking what's the best engine oil to use!), my practice has always been to warm the engine up fairly gently until it will hold its idle without any choke, then ride it gently for the first few miles before giving it any stick. Using this as my start-up 'regime', I have had excellent life out of all my motorcycle engines.

Mike.
 
I just take it in stages. Of course, the stages take a little longer when it's cold out, but the general idea is to ride gently to warm up the engine and suspension before starting the day's abuse. It also follows the natural progression of traffic from my quiet neighborhood to interstate mayhem.

I usually start my bike and leave the choke on just enough so the bike is idling at about 2,000 rpm while I get my gloves on. Just before I start moving, I give it a bit less choke so the idle is below about 1,500 rpm for the minute or two of gentle riding to get out of the neighborhood.

At the stop sign onto the street, I flip the choke all the way off, and then ride reasonably until the first stop light about half a mile away.

After the stop light, I ride more or less reasonably quickly with traffic the mile or two to the highway. Then it's open season! :twisted: :twisted:

When it's cold out, I notice that the suspension seems to take a little while to warm up as well. Bumps during the first few miles are killer.
 
With my GS1100, I usually don't have a choice but to let it warm up. It is so "cold natured" that it runs really rough for about three minutes, then starts to smooth out. I give it the amount of time it takes to maintain a smooth idle without the choke. If I try to get in a hurry, it'll stall with quick throttle bursts and nearly put me over the handlebars. I've learned to just wait.
 
Warm it up only as long as it takes to hold an idle, then ride it gently until you feel it is fully warmed up. This allows all parts of the engine and transmission to warm equally and is better for the engine. Excessive idling is not good for any gasoline engine, including cars.
 
As stated by most above, warm it up to hold a decent idle (stalling can be dangerous in traffic) then take it easy for a few miles before reaching higher rpm's.
 
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