[Ninja-Joe]

My '95 Ninja EX500 is very cold blooded and it takes a long time to warm up. I was wondering if anyone else here has the same trouble? Is there anything that I can do to cure this problem? Thanks, Joe

 

[jlmay]

there was topic about this, the remedy was a piece of cardboard over a portion of the radiator.

 

[Frog]

^ Absolutely, but I have to use this only in sub 10*C temperature.

The needle on my ride hardly moves though. But when the bike idle smooth, it's the right temp to go ride

 

[Nick D]

Does the bike not warm up as in the gauge doesn't come up, or as in the bike runs like crap? There's a difference in being cold blooded and just not getting hot enough to move the gauge.

 

[Ninja-Joe]

It just idles & runs rough for about 10-15 minutes and then it runs great after that. The temp qauge seems to work fine. It just takes quite a while to warm up when started cold. Joe

 

[Nick D]

Just wanted to get that clarification out of the way, it's easy to get people who put a little too much faith in the gauge - didn't mean to imply you were an idiot or anything (or that anyone else is ).

10-15 minutes is excessively long. Does it do the same thing whether you use use the choke or not?

 

[Ninja-Joe]

Well the choke helps to keep it running until it warms up. It's not really a big deal, it just takes a while to warm up and I was curious to see if anyone else has this issue with their bike.

 

[Frog]

my 1st bike (1997 Ninja 500) took at least 10 minutes to warm up on idle.

Or 2 mins of riding.

I never checked how long it takes on my EX500 really, I just let it idle on choke maybe a minutes, close the choke and take off. <= The gauge is still on cold, but it runs fine after a block or 2

 

[Royson]

Depends on the temperature - if it's below 10C, it takes around 10 minutes and half the rad blocked. If it's above 20, it takes a minute to be fine.

When it's below 0, I have to block off the entire rad and ride it for 30 minutes before it's fine! Of course, after 30 minutes, I'm usually not fine myself

 

[Frog]

Isn't there ice under 0 ? How do you manage to ride on ice ?

 

[Royson]

Isn't there ice under 0 ? How do you manage to ride on ice ?

Not necessarily! I rode well into December last year, and the temperatures were negative 5 and 6 sometimes (not including the wind chill factor.) And this spring, I hit a few negatives as well.

I stuck to the main highways and was fine. The only reason my EX didn't see January was because my chain was shot and I had no cash to fix it! If I could find hte cash, I'd be buying some knobby tires this winter and running her year round!

 

[Frog]

^ I'm not there yet

Water in it's liquid form doesn't keep me off my bike though

 

[Jsvob03]

imaybe your coolant mixture has too much coolant (too much coolant to water, and it will take a little long to heat up.) or maybe your thermostat is sticking open a bit?

beyond that, i don't know enough about the bike to try to help.

 

[Ninja-Joe]

My mechanic friend figured it out. My choke was sticking due to rusty needle valves. It idles perfect now.