I keep it garaged but this bike reeeally hates cold starts and even the garage is too cold for it to start smoothly this time of year. I've looked at thermal strips you fix to the engine and plug in to warm the oil/block before you start it up but I figured I'd redneck engineer something tonight as a proof of concept before I spent any money on anything.

Found an old heating pad (like your mom put in your bed when you were sick) and bungee-corded it to the oil pan. Plugged it in to a timer set to cut it on high about 1.5-2hrs before I leave in the morning. Anyone see any blatant hazards here beyond my gf insisting I'm gonna burn the house down?

1/12/2011 11:32:24 PM

why would you waste 2 hours of electricity to warm your bike? drive your truck or deal with a cold start. but functionally, you've recreated the block warmers you're talking about

1/12/2011 11:40:03 PM

come on! give him a macguyver award .

I assure you a crankcases oil gets hotter than a heating pad. I cant be the only moron who has fished a drain plug out of an oil change drain pan (it fits in the funnel hole so perfectly ! ).

1/13/2011 1:18:04 AM

^either I buy

-two hours of the equivalent of a ~100W lightbulb and spend way less time letting the bike warm up
-a much longer warm-up period for the bike, or
-warming up a diesel truck and paying for the difference in gas over the course of the day

If it's a toss-up between the first two, I'm gonna go with the former because I don't like wasting time and I'm sure my neighbors don't want to hear an open-piped twin idling on choke for extended periods of time at 7am

^oh, of course. Obviously a heating pad isn't gonna put my block at operating temp, but if it raises the average temp any significant amount before I try starting it's gonna cut way back on warm up time

[Edited on January 13, 2011 at 7:14 AM. Reason : asdf]

1/13/2011 7:13:13 AM

I keep a heater in the garage. I bet the bike would start and warm up better if it was sucking 70 degree air when you fire it up.

Warming up a diesel truck? Your Dodge have a block heater? Mine keeps the coolant 120 degrees, warm enough to melt snow and ice buildup off the hood and windshield. Once I start the truck it cools to about 100 as the coolant start circulating some, but comes right on back up and once she hits 140, usually thats enough to make heat you can feel. I didnt use the block heater at all last year, this year if that truck is parked at the house, its plugged in.

1/13/2011 8:16:36 AM

Have you checked the A/F ratio and jetting? On the old GS, I had to run it slightly richer during the winter or it would take forever to get off the choke, and even then it wouldn't run quite right. I ended up tightening the idle air screws down a bit and it smoothed right out.

You may just have to change one or both for the winter, then put it back when the temps go up above 70 or so. Also make sure the carb jets and the choke ports are clean, and that you have no leaks in the boots. All in all, if it's having a rough time in the cold, it may just be too lean. Could also be indicative of a valve issue, but that's more invasive to check.

How long is it taking to get the bike from choke to normal idle? Well tuned, it probably shouldn't be more than the time it takes to put your gear on, maybe 3-5 minutes, tops.

1/13/2011 8:31:56 AM

^^yeah the dodge does but my apt. complex wouldn't take too well to me running a 100ft extension cord from my garage to my truck...only room for the gf's car in our driveway

^im sure it needs an a/f adjustment and I doubt it was rejetted when the guy I bought it from put the V&H pipes on it. I'm actually taking it in for a scheduled valve adjustment next time it rains so ill wait till that's done to start fiddling with it

1/13/2011 12:03:26 PM

You guys get so confused by carbs. Run it richer it will be fine then.

1/13/2011 12:51:09 PM

Quote :

"oh, of course. Obviously a heating pad isn't gonna put my block at operating temp, but if it raises the average temp any significant amount before I try starting it's gonna cut way back on warm up time "

I was just saying its not going to burn your house down (not to blame when it does).

1/13/2011 1:20:37 PM

ah, gotcha. inquiry wasn't so much into the chance of harming the bike as it was known issues with heating pad failure/fire

update: actually made a difference. didn't completely alleviate the problem but i did notice i could reliably de-choke it earlier. still not really worth all the effort when a simple adjustment could fix the issue altogether, but all the same it was a fun experiment.

1/13/2011 4:06:02 PM

1/13/2011 4:25:15 PM

My 31 year-old Honda spent the last three days covered in snow, sitting in below freezing temperatures

Fired up this morning on the first push of the button

Honda 4 life

1/13/2011 5:53:32 PM

Shit I started my Harley in Neg 4 yesterday turned over 3 times and fired right up! You ppl that say harleys run like shit.... psshhh

1/13/2011 5:56:16 PM

I think Harley criticism isn't that they don't run great

Just that they don't run often

1/13/2011 6:02:35 PM

or quickly, or efficiently, or cheaply, or really any other desirable quality

1/13/2011 6:25:26 PM

get a kerosene heater like igor posted

1/13/2011 6:33:09 PM

This is a Honda

1/13/2011 6:34:42 PM

My bike rolls out!!! 95ci motor is far from slow and I got it tweaked into running good!

1/13/2011 7:42:40 PM

Quote :

"get a kerosene heater like igor posted"

this. 150,000 BTU gets all sorts of tools warmed up quickly.

1/13/2011 10:36:51 PM

I think the point of this was a cheap solution using items he already had.
If he has to go out and buy something I think it's hard to argue against buying an actual block heater.
He wants to heat the oil, not melt the wiring.

[Edited on January 13, 2011 at 10:46 PM. Reason : l]

1/13/2011 10:45:55 PM

My ex500 is a PITA to start this time of year. It will start right up, but die immediately. I'll restart for two or three times then it'll barely keep itself idling and the tach will slowly climb. It'll be good to go after a couple minutes, but it doesn't like those first few turns of the engine for sure. It's reliable, I figure, just in dire need of a valve/carb adjustment. I can tune the carbs with my eyes closed, but I'm just too lazy

Whatever, I don't even really like the thing anyhow. It's a business relationship.

1/13/2011 10:58:23 PM

^^ yep, because of the last line of the ^ first paragraph


like i said, once the valves are done i gotta pop the tank off to remove the PAIR/block the reed valves so I'll mess with the A/F then. Really dont have time to pull the carbs but i suppose i will if that doesn't fix it.

[Edited on January 13, 2011 at 11:09 PM. Reason : clarification. love my bike.]

1/13/2011 11:02:17 PM

Aren't you the guy riding a VTX or something these days? Used to ride a Virago?

1/13/2011 11:06:09 PM

assuming you didn't look in my gallery, you've got a helluva memory

1/13/2011 11:08:07 PM

I gotta keep my e-motorcycle brethren straight.

1/14/2011 12:09:19 AM

My katana ran on 3 cylinders for about the 5 five minutes of riding in the winter..IT was either that or sit out there and watch the choke for 10 minutes while it warmed up

1/14/2011 3:23:29 PM