I started up my WR 450/2003 today and I had to use the choke to keep it running for about 5 minutes. The exhaust turned cherry red, looked like my bike was going to explode. What am I doing wrong?

Any ideas? Thanks!

Performance bikes do get quite warm. Your exhaust wont fall off so I wouldn't worry about it, just don't leave it sitting around for so long.

Performance bikes do get quite warm. Your exhaust wont fall off so I wouldn't worry about it, just don't leave it sitting around for so long.

its my understanding that you should only use the choke until the bike will run smoothly without it. My haynes manual says that running the engine too rich can cause the exhaust to overheat and discolor over time (it will eventually look like someone took a torch to it, with blue/purple rings of heat where the metal has been stressed).

im not sure if its the same on the newer bikes, but i basically just start mine up, and get moving in under a minute. once ive gone about a quarter mile i shut the choke off, and run it in a lower gear so that the engine warms up faster without relying on the choke.

good luck.

Yup i did this the other day with my big single 4 stroke and the zorsts where glowing. at the end of the day if it is an aircooled engine it kinda relies on the bike moving to get air flowing through the fins to cool the motor. and the engine is heating the air around it all the time, same goes with 2 strokes i seized my RD 250 once standing outside the shed trying to sort the carburation

merv

Performance bikes do get quite warm. Your exhaust wont fall off so I wouldn't worry about it, just don't leave it sitting around for so long.

Thanks for the info....john

its my understanding that you should only use the choke until the bike will run smoothly without it. My haynes manual says that running the engine too rich can cause the exhaust to overheat and discolor over time (it will eventually look like someone took a torch to it, with blue/purple rings of heat where the metal has been stressed).

im not sure if its the same on the newer bikes, but i basically just start mine up, and get moving in under a minute. once ive gone about a quarter mile i shut the choke off, and run it in a lower gear so that the engine warms up faster without relying on the choke.

good luck.

Thanks for the info....john

Yup i did this the other day with my big single 4 stroke and the zorsts where glowing. at the end of the day if it is an aircooled engine it kinda relies on the bike moving to get air flowing through the fins to cool the motor. and the engine is heating the air around it all the time, same goes with 2 strokes i seized my RD 250 once standing outside the shed trying to sort the carburation

merv

Thanks for the info...john