Engine warm up
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,827
Likes: 34
From: Iowa
RE: Engine warm up
If you look at the Evo motors and see oil seaping from the gaskets you will think differently!
People who had shovelheads and irons bought Evos and did the same thing not letting them warm up and blew gaskets like crazy! Iron/shovels,you didn't need to, they had each section of the motor bolted seperatly. The Evo came with long bolts threw the center and aluminum motor. The aluminum need to warm and expand to seat the gasket seals for a proper seal between componets. An explosion in a poorly sealed area (like a cylinder) would result in blown gaskets! Seen it all the time. I dunno about the O ring style gasket on the TC but I am sure HD did this tohelp the problem. In my sporty I wouldn't touch the throttle till the oil tank was warm. Idiots who start the bike and sit there and throttle jocky the motor are just asking for problems down the road. I start mine, have a smoke, then ride easy for the first few miles. I think everything should warm up before just taking off. Especialy my baby, you guys do what you want and maybe HD has it fixed, but they are still aluminum motors and my baby is getting warmed up!
Funny story,
I just had a friend go look at a neighbors sporty that the guy had oil leaking and wanted him to look at it. The guy never owned a HD before and had been going out to a cold shed this winter and starting it all the time, ripping on the throttle! It never got to operating temp and he never left the throttle alone. There was oil leaking from every gasket, base, head, and rocker box. Looked like a line came off.
P.S. the clunk from putting it in gear means that the cold/hi idle is still on and is still warming ....
People who had shovelheads and irons bought Evos and did the same thing not letting them warm up and blew gaskets like crazy! Iron/shovels,you didn't need to, they had each section of the motor bolted seperatly. The Evo came with long bolts threw the center and aluminum motor. The aluminum need to warm and expand to seat the gasket seals for a proper seal between componets. An explosion in a poorly sealed area (like a cylinder) would result in blown gaskets! Seen it all the time. I dunno about the O ring style gasket on the TC but I am sure HD did this tohelp the problem. In my sporty I wouldn't touch the throttle till the oil tank was warm. Idiots who start the bike and sit there and throttle jocky the motor are just asking for problems down the road. I start mine, have a smoke, then ride easy for the first few miles. I think everything should warm up before just taking off. Especialy my baby, you guys do what you want and maybe HD has it fixed, but they are still aluminum motors and my baby is getting warmed up!
Funny story,
I just had a friend go look at a neighbors sporty that the guy had oil leaking and wanted him to look at it. The guy never owned a HD before and had been going out to a cold shed this winter and starting it all the time, ripping on the throttle! It never got to operating temp and he never left the throttle alone. There was oil leaking from every gasket, base, head, and rocker box. Looked like a line came off.
P.S. the clunk from putting it in gear means that the cold/hi idle is still on and is still warming ....
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,479
Likes: 4
From: SoCal
RE: Engine warm up
Until the rocker covers are warm to the touch. The selling dealer explained that there's a lot of metal expansion at startup, and this should ensure good o-ring sealing and insisted that this is why I never experienced leaks. They weren't a bad bunch, so I always tried to humor 'em. 
Tourer
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 302
Likes: 0
From:
RE: Engine warm up
If I start and ride off right away, sometimes the motor hesitates like it's going to stall. A real problem when I'm already commited into a turn out of the parking lot. Scares the hell out of me so I let her warm till I feel some heat in the top end.
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 978
Likes: 1
From:
RE: Engine warm up
If yu run an oil TEMP gauge, you'll discover that the needle stays on cold for a rather long time (10 -15 minutes) before it shows any temp at all...ya gonna idle for that length of time?
Spark it up, allow half a minute to make sure something doesn't fal off or oil sprays out someplace, the twist the wick and rock and roll!
Spark it up, allow half a minute to make sure something doesn't fal off or oil sprays out someplace, the twist the wick and rock and roll!
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,827
Likes: 34
From: Iowa
RE: Engine warm up
Yup,5-10minutes when I first get it out, then ride easy! Be suprised how fast 10 minutes go by while getting ready! Didn't say it had to be at full operating oil temp but man that metal has to warm and expand. I am not arguing.
See ya at the service department....
See ya at the service department....
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 801
Likes: 1
From: USA
RE: Engine warm up
ORIGINAL: roxnatwist
If your bike is fuel injected, you shouldn't let it "warm up" at all. There is no benefit to letting it sit and idle.
If your bike is fuel injected, you shouldn't let it "warm up" at all. There is no benefit to letting it sit and idle.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,647
Likes: 11
From: Stockbridge, GA (Atlanta)
RE: Engine warm up
when I got my motor built one of the things that was bad was the oil pump -- the builder said it was a direct result from not letting the motor warm up -- now I don't know chit about motors but I do know how much it costs to repair one.
On my build he suggested I like it warm up until heat comes off the rocker boxes -- he's an old school kat and that is what I do. In the mean time I'm inspecting the bike going back in the house to get all the stuff I forgot etc.
On my build he suggested I like it warm up until heat comes off the rocker boxes -- he's an old school kat and that is what I do. In the mean time I'm inspecting the bike going back in the house to get all the stuff I forgot etc.
Tourer
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 332
Likes: 1
From: Pa
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,813
Likes: 6
From: Rio Grande Valley-Texas
RE: Engine warm up
I leave the house at 5:30 am and don't want to wake up everyone. Start the motor, back out of the garage, hit the button and watch the door go down. Finish backing out to the street and then slowly putt to the corner. 25mph down to the next corner about 1/2 mile. 35 mph zone for the next 3/4 miles, after that its the Highway! Zoom..Zoom..Zoom.