Topic: Coldest temp you've ever started a CB?

[Prospect]

It's gotten well below zero here and it got me thinking about the coldest temperature anyone has attempted and succeeded in starting a CB.  I guess the biggest obstacle is that fuel just doesn't vaporize well below freezing and the oil freezing/congealing. I've ridden all winter once but my bike was stored in heated garage which doesn't count.   Any starting tricks from the old timers besides taking a blowtorch to the oil pan?  Coldest for me has been only about 0 Celsius or 32 Fahrenheit. 

[ekpent]

How about covering it with a tarp and putting a small space heater under the engine to give it a preheat.

[andy750]

Coldest riding on my CB has been 15F. No problems starting it and the bike ran well. However the fork gaiters didnt fare too well that winter and both cracked after a couple of 15F-25F rides. This was on an unfaired bike. Ok as long as you have the gear.

BTW this year for the first time I have heated grips on the K4 - wow what a difference! Only been to 35F so far but really helps the hands stay warm. Thanks to Gordon for the suggestion on the grips.

cheers
Andy

[robvangulik]

In the eighties I once did about 80 km. at -24°C, on a faired 750F1, at that temp cold starting is definitely kick only, and that is what I miss most on modern bikes. Luckily that was the coldest winter for a long time, and this winter temps have hardly been sub zero (yet)

[CoachDoc]

I rode through the winter one year in Ithaca, NY. Probably the coldest start may have been 10 degrees F. and I recall no problems using 5W-40 oil, I believe. The bigger problem was avoiding frostbite.

[bollingball]

Coldest start for me and my bike with no heat was 28F. I'm to old for that now. I think that was around 1985 the bike was a 750 77K. I had so much gear on I could hardly bend my legs. Later I had a friend that put a heat pad under the batt. and had one rigged up to the oil 110vac he would run them all night and removed all but the batt. one just before starting.

[70CB750]

26, two weeks ago or so.

[Terry in Australia]

Man, heated garages, heated grips, bloody amazing. It's probably 80 degrees out in my garage right now, but even in winter it's warm enough to work in if I wear a sweater. I've never had a winter day where I've needed to kick start a bike unless it was a dirt bike, the whole concept just feels so alien to me. I take my hat off to you guys, anyone who rides in the cold like you guys do is a very brave man! (or woman, of course)

[Dimitri13]

Probably about 65F.

[MrGardman]

When I was still a young man going to high school, I rode everday that there was no snow on the pavement. At that time it was not a CB I had, but a CL77. Of course they have no electric starter and I found that at about 15 or 20 degrees it was a bear trying to get that bike started. Lots and lots of kicking and being careful with the choke so as to not flood out the plugs.

[Patrick]

I'm with you, Terry. It's winter and today was 68, tomorrow is going to be over 70 and Saturday it is supposed to get to almost 80. I admire those who have stayed in the frozen north. I really admire anyone who would get out on two wheels when it is COLD ENOUGH FOR WATER TO FREEZE!!!!, which is a phenomenon not known to nature here in Austin.

[Ringo]

About 15*F.  Was traveling with it ('75 CB550) in the bed of my truck and some older gentleman wanted to hear it fire up.  Electric start worked just fine!

[Prospect]

COLD ENOUGH FOR WATER TO FREEZE!!!!, which is a phenomenon not known to nature here in Austin.

I've tried to like winter.  But besides

Probably about 65F.

LOL!  I'm so jealous! 

[BeSeeingYou]

About 35 F.  I normally don't ride any long distance in anything below that.  I ride for pleasure and at highway speeds 35 or colder is not pleasure.   Plus we usually have snow accumulation by the time the 30's and lower are here to stay.  This winter may be shaping up where I may see the occasional bike out.  No snow to stay yet and temps 30-40 for the next few weeks.  I have put mine away and don't have an interest to get it out.  Too much sand and salt on the roads already from the few light snows we have had.  Normally it would be a death wish to ride in the winter here.  Just too much ice and snow on the roads.  We had such frequent snow last year and lack of sun that once the snow came to stay I did not see the pavement on the road in front of my house for three months.

[RustyStuff]

Mid 20's.

Coldest I've ever rode was low 20's on a square tire'd mini bike in 4" of snow on ice. I got real good at Dirt track cornering. Things you can do as a kid. 

[Gordon]

Living in Denver, and during my more robust years , I rode all year as long as the roads were clear, which was most of the time.  The coldest morning ride to work I remember was about 5F (-15C).  The 750 took a few extra priming kicks at below freezing temps before I'd turn on the ignition and kick start it (electric start broke long ago), but it pretty much always started up just fine.  The 550 has always been much harder to start in the cold. 

[madmtnmotors]

Probably about 65F.

OUCH!

[72500john]

ok all of this is making me cold..thats why i got a 4 wheel drive truck to drive in the winter. yes i love to ride my bike..but really. did when i was younger and i had too. but i an not younger..and do not have too!!

[754]

 If it gets beow 20 F use 10 or 20 W oil... easier to start them. They kickstart easy, even at 0 F..no reason not to start..

[camelman]

Not a CB, but I think the comparison is worth mention.  I had a Seca 750 (XJ750RJ) back in college and was on an internet forum for them.  One guy on the forum was a preacher in Canada and had an auto shop on the side.  His truck caught fire one night, so he was only left with his motorcycle in the dead of winter.  He had a sidecar on it, so he put on chains and rode it around the rest of the winter.  I remember he made a statement that air-cooled engines aren't very reliable below -20F.  The issue wasn't so much running them as starting them.  He never complained about the snow drifts though.

Camelman

[andrewk]

low 20's, here a couple of weeks ago.  I've been surprised at how easy my 750 starts up in the cold.  I had a 450 Kawasaki that wouldn't start much below 40 degrees. 

[Trav-i]

Coldest riding on my CB has been 15F. No problems starting it and the bike ran well. However the fork gaiters didnt fare too well that winter and both cracked after a couple of 15F-25F rides. This was on an unfaired bike. Ok as long as you have the gear.

BTW this year for the first time I have heated grips on the K4 - wow what a difference! Only been to 35F so far but really helps the hands stay warm. Thanks to Gordon for the suggestion on the grips.

cheers
Andy

Hey Andy I've been meaning to ask, what heated grip tape did you use?  Been thinking about that upgrade for my bike too.

[andy750]

Coldest riding on my CB has been 15F. No problems starting it and the bike ran well. However the fork gaiters didnt fare too well that winter and both cracked after a couple of 15F-25F rides. This was on an unfaired bike. Ok as long as you have the gear.

BTW this year for the first time I have heated grips on the K4 - wow what a difference! Only been to 35F so far but really helps the hands stay warm. Thanks to Gordon for the suggestion on the grips.

cheers
Andy

Hey Andy I've been meaning to ask, what heated grip tape did you use?  Been thinking about that upgrade for my bike too.

Kimpex Heated Grips from Dennis Kirk - $29.99

https://www.denniskirk.com/3931.sku?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse

Working well for me so far. I also have hand guards on to deflect wind and this must help a lot. Ill post a pic when I get home.

Andy

[Kong]

Except for last summer, when medical issues stopped me from riding completely, I have ridden my Deuce (2002 Harley) every month since I bought it.  That means winter time too, and it gets mighty cold up here in these mountains.  So I have started that bike, which is fuel injected, every month for years now.  Same thing with my wife's Sportster (2005, carburated)  While I've never bothered to see what the temperature was when I started them but I can assure you its been far far below freezing and probably below zero more than one time.

But I have to ask you something, why do you think it would be any harder to start a 4-cylinder Honda than it would be to start any carburated car?  They start at below Zero (f.) temperatures all the time.  The only vehicle that I have that is hard (read nearly impossible) to start without outside heat is my diesel truck.  With it sometime, in very low temperatures (< -20 f.), the truck simply will not start at all.  With two batteries it cranks like hell, but all you get out of it is unburnt diesel fuel spewing out the exhaust in the form of vapor.  Very stinky.

[WarwickE36]

Why oh why do people ride when its in the 30s or below.  I really LOVE riding but I cant find it enjoyable at those temps.  I suppose I don't have heated grips on either of my bikes, but I do have a great jacket and gloves and I still don't like it. 

On a side note.  Cold starts are one of the biggest contributing factors to engine wear.  Anytime the parts/oil aren't at operating temp they are wearing out faster than normal.  Personally, I don't ride below 45*F ... A)because its just not that enjoyable. B) Unless I stored my bike inside a heated space all the time I wouldn't want to cold start it and C) here in Maine once its cold there's usually sand and salt on the road, which is dangerous and the salt causes corrosion much quicker than normal.   

You brave souls who ride below 40* amaze me, but good for you for.