Was wondering what warm up temp. do you look for before going out on a ride. I have heard that if you do not warm up your bike to certain temp you risk carbon build up on the valves ?? Is there any truth to this ??
Not sure about carbon build-ups, (unlike carbed bikes with leaving/driving with the choke on) but just due to oil viscosity reasons and engine damage, I WON'T ride my bike until it's 160+ (degrees). Thick oil and metal parts not up to their warm/expanded clearences is asking for premature wear, at a minimum.
I read on Motorcyclist magazine that a 2 minute warm up is enough. It says something about oil being effective at a certain temp and about 2 minutes would be good enough for this. I'll try to look for the issue and post the article.
I read on Motorcyclist magazine that a 2 minute warm up is enough.
I think It depends on where you live.
If it's a warm, CA climate, that's probably a good guage to go by. Somedays, It's 42* outside, when I'm warming up for my first session of the morning at a track day....
I'll probably burn in hell for it, but when the dashes disappear on the temp (ie 35C/95F) I hammer it. I figure that if the metal bits of the engine have got hot enough to warm the coolant up to nearly 100F, it must be hotter than that, and good to go.
With multi-viscosity oils, lubrication really isn't much of an issue when it's cold, compared to the straight-grade crap we used to run, decades ago.
I'm more concerned about the aluminum piston heating up quicker than the cylinder, and scuffing it. I suppose the bearing clearances might have tightened up around the crankshaft, too.
Canuck51 you are probably right that the oil is warmer than the coolant and the bike is ready to roll. I think no matter what, the worst thing one can do is ride hard before while the temps reads - - or do the full throttle start-ups. Those are the worst. The engine is singing before the oil pump can do its job and spread oil around the engine. Avoid the squidly high rpms starts and you are already ahead of the game. Same goes for you car/truck/suv. Too often people turn the key and they are off in a flash. Take a few seconds to let the oil circulate before you head out to wherever it is you are going.
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03 RC51 for street duty/ 00 RC51 for track duty
It's not just a matter of warming the oil, but to warm it *enough* to get water vapor/molecules to evaporate from condensation and natural formation, due to cooler ambient temps vs the engine, commonly produced in the warming and cooling process of an engine.
Hang a clear see-through clutch cover on your bike, and you'd be amazed at the tan-colored foam that's in there on warm up, due to water vapors.... water doesn't lubricate very well....... I was amazed to see it myself on a bike that had a see-through clutch cover.
I agree: Oil heats quicker than the coolant. Leaving it warm up before hammering it is just good insurance.
Condensation in oil is normal and natural, but if it builds up over time from not enough engine heat, the sight window will start to get a milky white film and that is not good. I too am a freak about babying the engines in my all of my vehicles, except the race bike, but of course I let that warm up good and plenty before I hit the track.
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03 RC51 for street duty/ 00 RC51 for track duty
The standard is every 3000 miles or 3 months..........
When I rode street, i changed my oil every 2K, or 2 months, which is about the time that the oil was so dark, you couldn't see through it in the sight-glass.
Now, all i do is track days, and the oil and filter is changed after every 2 track days. Seems extreme, but I figure the abuse the bike takes on the track, the $20 to change the oil/filter is worth it.
The oil is drained into a dedicated, black plastic pan, and the metal chips/slivers are examined and counted. (not tiny speckles, but the bigger stuff) Records are kept of each change. Honda oil and filters work just fine for me....
If the metal chip count begins to increase or they get larger in size, i know something's going on. (bad....very bad......)
A little extreme, maybe, but I'm paranoi.............ah.....you get it.
Here's my theory: If the oil was just engine oil, I'd do the 3K thing. However, motorcycle oil has to lube the engine, lube the transmission and bathe the clutch, where small particles are constantly deposited into the oil and left to circulate through the engine, until the filter collects them...... the $20 oil change lets me sleep better at night.
I do mostly "Street" here in the UK and a fair amount of mileage in northern and central France (Le Mans) once or twice a year (the roads are awesome).
She gets a full oil (Castrol GPS full synthetic SAE 10W-40) and filter change every 1000 miles whatever, I guess this is more than sufficient to keep her optimum!!!
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2008 1098
Full carbon Termi's
Pazzo's
I usually let it idle for a few seconds before I hop on , but when I ride I keep an eye on the temps and the rpm I let it get to, I ride it about as low in the rpm as the choke would get it to if it were on.
I usually let it idle for a few seconds before I hop on , but when I ride I keep an eye on the temps and the rpm I let it get to, I ride it about as low in the rpm as the choke would get it to if it were on.
sitting in the driveway warming up there is little load on things. think what the load is when you are driving.
I don't know about the bike, but in a car the warm-up isn't so much for the oil but to allow the engine's internals to heat up and expand before you beat on it.
When the engine is cold, the internals are relatively brittle and the stress of high revs/high piston speed/high impact fatigues the metal faster. Plus if it's cold, everything's contracted in there (think shrinkage) so you want all that precious aluminum to be nice and warm and cozy before you start flogging it.
Once the car builds up oil pressure, assuming it's not freezing cold and your oil isn't 200W150, you should have plenty of viscosity to drive normally for the next minute or so it might take for the oil to be nice and...uh...lubey
At what temp does the RC's gauge show numbers? On my old bike it would register at 104, and that's when I started riding...calmly until it reached 150+
I like Rigor's oil change method. In my transmission project I had to remove the oil pan to do the work. I was shocked to see how many large metal shavings were sitting in the oil pan, right by the drain plug but never actually pour out during an oil change. A few large shavings is a good sign that there are tons more right behind them. Oil pans on the RC do not have a perishable gasket and are really easy to remove and put back on. If you ever have any doubt, remove the oil pan and clean out all the shavings and do the same to the oil pickup screen because that is where they all like to go, eventually. This is a good before or after the season task that shouldn't take more than half a rainy/snowy afternoon and all you have to do is apply some new liquid gasket and bolt it back up. After what I saw in my race motor's oil pan, I am thinking about dropping the pan on my street bike sometime in the future just to have piece of mind.
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03 RC51 for street duty/ 00 RC51 for track duty
Tommy boy you are certainly wasting good oil and money. 1000 miles? How would you take a trip on the thing?
The RC is fuel injected so can definitely start it up and ride it away after a few seconds. I guess by the time I get on it and turn it around and actually ride away it's at least a minute or two.
I like Rigor's oil change method. In my transmission project I had to remove the oil pan to do the work. I was shocked to see how many large metal shavings were sitting in the oil pan, right by the drain plug but never actually pour out during an oil change. A few large shavings is a good sign that there are tons more right behind them. Oil pans on the RC do not have a perishable gasket and are really easy to remove and put back on. If you ever have any doubt, remove the oil pan and clean out all the shavings and do the same to the oil pickup screen because that is where they all like to go, eventually. This is a good before or after the season task that shouldn't take more than half a rainy/snowy afternoon and all you have to do is apply some new liquid gasket and bolt it back up. After what I saw in my race motor's oil pan, I am thinking about dropping the pan on my street bike sometime in the future just to have piece of mind.
I'd also reccomend sticking a magnet in the pan if there isn't one in there already, just to keep those shavings from circulating back through the crankcase.
Warm up / Start up temps ??
I was amazed to see it myself on a bike that had a see-through clutch cover. 
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