What makes a bike "coldblooded"

[Detroit Diesel Man]

I'm curious..what makes some bikes cold blooded and others arent...mine seems coldblooded.once its warm its great...



DDM

[Suzuki_Don]

It's to do with the color of your bike. Repaint it bright red and you will have a warm blooded bike and no further problems.

Cold Color = Cold Blooded bike

Warm Color = Warm Blooded bike

[Steve]

Actually, it has more to do with the color of the spark plugs.

Darker plugs = richer mixture = easier starting.

Yep, the bikes got real cold-blooded when they started leaning them out for the EPA weenines.
Richen up the pilot, or idle, mixture, it will start easier, with less "choke", and get off the "choke" quicker.

By the way, my bike and my wife's bike are both blue. About as 'cold' a color as you can get. Both start and run VERY easily.

I would rather think it's a rather cool color.

.

[Johno]

Battery and Valves

Make sure you have a fully charged battery. A battery tender is a great idea if you are not riding on a daily basis. Your valves need to be in spec!

[Nessism]

Cold blooded usually means the mixture is lean. Tweaking the pilot screws can help along with shimming the carb needles. Of course this assumes all the various maintenance is up to date: clean carbs with fresh O-rings inside and on the intake boot, clean plugs, full voltage at the coils, airbox properly sealed, valves adjusted and engine with good compression, etc.

[Octain]

Define "cold blooded".
Mine is on the rich side and I have to choke it for around 10-12 seconds gradually easing of the choke as soon as it cranks up to maintain a steady med high idle.
After the 10-12 seconds I can blip the throttle a few times and it'll idle smooth on its own.
To me, that seems kinds cold blooded..
My "other" bike which is also on the rich side the choke goes off as soon as it fires up.
But its a twin with only one carb if that has anything to do with it.

[J Paster]

Hey, is that your current bike in the pics? Nice! I'm wondering if the carbs were jetted and /or set for the pod filters? I know smoothbores will still run that way without further rejetting, but that's taking an already very lean system and giving it alot more air!
I've got a 78 GS550 with a header and a K&N, airbox lid removed, and it takes forever to warm up. Runs great once warm though. If I put the airbox lid back on, though, it's much less cold blooded. Oh, and its black, which is a very cold color.

[Steve]

Define "cold blooded".
Mine is on the rich side and I have to choke it for around 10-12 seconds gradually easing of the choke as soon as it cranks up to maintain a steady med high idle.
After the 10-12 seconds I can blip the throttle a few times and it'll idle smooth on its own.

I have a feeling that about half the guys on this board would KILL for a bike like that.

Hearing some of the stories, I get the impression that some of them have to baby the bike for about 10-12 MINUTES before they can ride.

All of the GSs in my garage will start with about half "choke", I will modulate the "choke" as necessary to keep engine speed out of the stratosphere while putting on helmet, then ride off, usually within a minute. By the time the bike is in second gear, the "choke" can be turned off. I call that "reasonably 'normal' ".

.

[tlepac]

All of the GSs in my garage will start with about half "choke", I will modulate the "choke" as necessary to keep engine speed out of the stratosphere while putting on helmet, then ride off, usually within a minute. By the time the bike is in second gear, the "choke" can be turned off. I call that "reasonably 'normal' ".

.[/QUOTE]
Hey Steve could you move to Minnesota so I can stop over and you can fine tune my 750---I am one of those guys you were talking about