Warm up

Hey everyone
I was wondering how long a bike usually has to warm up before it can come off choke. I usually let my bike idle for 5 to 10 minutes until it can come almost completely off the choke but it takes another 15 minutes of riding before it can come fully off the choke. I've put the bike together myself so I don't know what is a "normal amount of time"

Probably depends on the weather, temp, altitude, density altitude.....but.....when the weather is warm (70 and up) I can have mine off choke almost right away. Less than a minute for sure. I live at sea level.

But this is after doing a lot of work to get the bike running this well. When I first got it I had to choke the thing like you are saying.

Gotta check your carb holders for leaks, make sure the carbs are clean and setup correctly, check timing, check ignition system, go thru wiring to get good voltage to coils, check advancer, check valves....and on and on.

As stated, check the carb holders for leaks. When mine needed to be replaced the bike needed the choke longer than it did I after replaced them. I use the choke to start the bike when cold; then I can shut the choke off after about a minute. Let me know if you need the carb holder test instructions. Ed

Thanks for the replies. I'll do a test for leaks at the carb holders. I remember when I was disassembling the bike when I first bought it, the holders were way overtightened. I'll have to look on amazon for JIS screws to try to avoid stripping the heads

A minute or two tops if everything is set up right.

check for a leak and is your pilot jet big enough?

I'm going to check for air leaks later today. Jets, airbox, and exhaust are all stock and the carbs have been completely gone through

Just an FYI... the owner's manual should have a Starting the Engine section, and it may account for the various operating conditions (Ie, ambient temps, engine hot or cold, that sort of thing). I use it as a guide - if my bike doesn't start & warm up as indicated in the om, I know something needs to be checked.

Thanks Martin_csr. I'll see what it says to do in the manual

Also, check the carburetor linkage as well. The screws with the lock-tite can loosen on a 30 year old motorcycle which will allow the carbs to be out of synch. Goofy idle or failure to return to idle with the throttle closed are common symptoms. Good luck, you can do it. Let us know what you find.

The 550's using TK22 carbs were jetted pretty lean. On a 50 degree day, 15 minutes with choke on is not abnormal.
Part of the problem is balancing the fast-idle cam with the choke plate position, You can do a mod to make it adjustable. Then you can set it for different seasons to make the bike a little more rideable as it warms up.

home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/TK22mai...astIdleScrewMod.html

Thanks for the link. I noticed my bike already has something similar to that mod however it looks like it came stock? Not sure if it's the same thing :blink: