Topic: Engine Block Heaters?

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

With the ole lady commuting to work it looks like I'll be riding the bike some this winter. Does anyone out there use an engine block heater? I'd like to hear some recommendations.

[Tnutz]

block heater are for heating coolant.  you could try a pan heater.

[Industrial Cafe]

park the bike in the livingroom.

[Gordon]

How cold does it get in Little Rock? 

[Whaleman]

http://www.amazon.com/Kats-24100-Watt-Universal-Heater/dp/B000I8VL3O/ref=pd_sim_auto_3

If you had something like this on the engine and a cover I have to believe that would be enough and easy. Dan

[Queeg]

a halogen lamp close to the bike will help to if it in a garage.  i have been know to have one in my truck to heat my fuel on long camping trips in the winter.

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

How cold does it get in Little Rock? 

At night, during winter, upper teens & low 20's. 40's during the day. It's an outside bike, so no lamp on this one. I'm seeing two versions, one looks like a heating pad, the other a copper tube heating element. The dipstick element type looks like something I could make myself. Does the element type have to contact the pan, or can it heat just the oil?

[ofreen]

I've used a drop cord light in the past when it was really cold.  I hang it between the middle header pipes above the oil filter housing.  A 100 watt bulb combined with a motorcycle cover will do it.  I prefer the ones with the metal bulb guard for this.  Keep it away from anything flammable or that might melt, of course.

[BobbyR]

How cold does it get in Little Rock? 

At night, during winter, upper teens & low 20's. 40's during the day. It's an outside bike, so no lamp on this one. I'm seeing two versions, one looks like a heating pad, the other a copper tube heating element. The dipstick element type looks like something I could make myself. Does the element type have to contact the pan, or can it heat just the oil?

What you should be heating is the oil. If you heat the oil you will be heating the important parts of the engine.

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

How cold does it get in Little Rock? 

At night, during winter, upper teens & low 20's. 40's during the day. It's an outside bike, so no lamp on this one. I'm seeing two versions, one looks like a heating pad, the other a copper tube heating element. The dipstick element type looks like something I could make myself. Does the element type have to contact the pan, or can it heat just the oil?

What you should be heating is the oil. If you heat the oil you will be heating the important parts of the engine.

How about a car dipstick style heater, ala...

[BobbyR]

How cold does it get in Little Rock? 

At night, during winter, upper teens & low 20's. 40's during the day. It's an outside bike, so no lamp on this one. I'm seeing two versions, one looks like a heating pad, the other a copper tube heating element. The dipstick element type looks like something I could make myself. Does the element type have to contact the pan, or can it heat just the oil?

What you should be heating is the oil. If you heat the oil you will be heating the important parts of the engine.

How about a car dipstick style heater, ala...

With that you will be heating the oil in the oil tank. The warm oil will have to be circulated by the oil pump into the pan which may be pretty quick. Give it a try since you have it.

[bucky katt]

wrap an electric blanket around front and down the sides of the motor?

[mick750F]

   Going low tech here...At my last shop I had an unheated section that I kept the bike in. I ran an extension cord to it with a 60 watt bulb on the end that I placed on top of the oil filter, mostly because it would sit there without help. The bike had a bike cover on it and I threw an old quilt on top of that. Worked like a charm, it always started right up. Never bothered to take temp measurements anywhere so this is only empirical information...meaning it works but I can't prove it. 

Mike

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

How cold does it get in Little Rock? 

At night, during winter, upper teens & low 20's. 40's during the day. It's an outside bike, so no lamp on this one. I'm seeing two versions, one looks like a heating pad, the other a copper tube heating element. The dipstick element type looks like something I could make myself. Does the element type have to contact the pan, or can it heat just the oil?

What you should be heating is the oil. If you heat the oil you will be heating the important parts of the engine.

How about a car dipstick style heater, ala...

With that you will be heating the oil in the oil tank. The warm oil will have to be circulated by the oil pump into the pan which may be pretty quick. Give it a try since you have it.

it's a 550

[mrbreeze]

   Going low tech here...At my last shop I had an unheated section that I kept the bike in. I ran an extension cord to it with a 60 watt bulb on the end that I placed on top of the oil filter, mostly because it would sit there without help. The bike had a bike cover on it and I threw an old quilt on top of that. Worked like a charm, it always started right up. Never bothered to take temp measurements anywhere so this is only empirical information...meaning it works but I can't prove it. 

Mike

The best answer yet!!!...............Tried & proven!!! The problem for my answering this post is that I have always parked my bike away when it gets that cold but if ya really have to ride...............I would think that heating the oil would be a plus and keeping the battery outa the freeze is a good idea also. How about a pan heater plus a dipstick heater? I don't know about air-cooled bikes but I have seen mostly coolant(freeze plug ) heaters for below freezing temps and they were on cars.I can see the drop light on the oil filter helping also but it would have to be outa the wind.

[faux fiddy]

I've heard of many methods after living in Alaska. One mechanic I knew said he worked on a car that looked like they had built a fire under it. It was because they regularly  built fires under it.

There are magnetic ones that may or may not stick to the fins or aluminum, just depends on if the crank  has enouh mass. They are the size of a hockey puck and the good thing is they are removable very easily.

Another method I heard was drain the oil into a pan every night and heat it up in the same  pan on a stove in the morning. Pour it back in carefully!

[mrbreeze]

I've heard of many methods after living in Alaska. One mechanic I knew said he worked on a car that looked like they had built a fire under it. It was because they regularly  built fires under it.

There are magnetic ones that may or may not stick to the fins or aluminum, just depends on if the crank  has enouh mass. They are the size of a hockey puck and the good thing is they are removable very easily.

Another method I heard was drain the oil into a pan every night and heat it up in the same  pan on a stove in the morning. Pour it back in carefully!

Wow!!!!.............whoever does that has some time on their hands!!!!!

[Don R]

The sticky pad heater is designed to be on a smooth surface, It would need to be a small one and on any smooth area preferably under the engine, heat rises.

[faux fiddy]

Quote from: poor boi on Today at 12:58:05 am
I've heard of many methods after living in Alaska. One mechanic I knew said he worked on a car that looked like they had built a fire under it. It was because they regularly  built fires under it.

There are magnetic ones that may or may not stick to the fins or aluminum, just depends on if the crank  has enouh mass. They are the size of a hockey puck and the good thing is they are removable very easily.

Another method I heard was drain the oil into a pan every night and heat it up in the same  pan on a stove in the morning. Pour it back in carefully!

Wow!!!!.............whoever does that has some time on their hands!!!!!

Actually one bolt in and then out, and  used a wood stove to keep it warm all night. Not too much problem if you are set up for it. Better than 10 minutes of cranking on a starter.

I don't think Arkansas is ever that cold compared and on average, but on some freakish  occaisions it can be colder.

[ironbutter]

Ok, unofficial count says you should put a blanket and or cover over it and a light bulb under that. Why again wouldnt this work for you?

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

Ok, unofficial count says you should put a blanket and or cover over it and a light bulb under that. Why again wouldnt this work for you?

Because it's slow. Whatever work I'm probably going to do this winter will be freelance and last minute. I'll need to be able to have it heated up quickly if I get a call to go work in the morning. I can't have a 100w bulb going all the time, $.

[Gordon]

Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but I don't really see why you need a heater at all, regardless of the type.  At the temperatures you'll be dealing with a well-tuned bike should start and run just fine.  I'm probably spoiled by the easy cold starting that the Dyna ignitions help to provide, but I bet Hondaman's transistorized ignition module would have the same effect at a much lower cost, if that's an issue.  

I know that oil circulation and lubrication is adversely affected by low temperatures, but using a lighter weight oil in the Winter will take care of a lot of that.  Also going one step up in heat range on the spark plugs can help a lot in the Winter.  That was a tip given to me my Two Tired about four years ago, and it's made a big difference in cold starting and idling.  

[754]

If the battery is good it should kickstart easily in 20 deg F or higher.. Lighter oil helps a lot. Warming it up till thehead fins get warm to your hand, makes it easier to ride off without fighting with the choke.

 I think the magnetic heater I would like to try.. place bike near up right, put big block of wood under, then press heater puch against oil pan with a fallers wedge.. y'all got a fallers wedge dontcha?

[faux fiddy]

The heat transfer through any fins would also be an efficiency issue with the heat puck. Maybe on the side where it is flat or any other flat surface towards the bottom is where you should stick it.

Can of sterno or better a propane one burner camp stove might be quick and efficient, too.

[mlinder]

I'm with Gordon on this. Use some thinner oil. Nothing is going to heat up your oil faster than, you know, firing up the engine and letting it idle for 3 minutes.
The only times it's too cold to fire up your bike, is probably when there's 2 feet of snow and a couple inches of hardpacked ice under that snow. You shouldn't be riding if that's the case, anyway.

[Tnutz]

if i can kick start mine in -13*c up in the great white north with 15-40 in it...youll be fine.

[themagicalatsi]

I'm not speaking from experience here but how about a heated blanket and a cover, or blanket, over that. 

As far as the magnetic puck goes... couldn't you put the puck on the oil tank (it is steel) It would then heat your oil up which is more important then the engine... plus the way aluminum is so good at dissipating heat (especially when you have fins all over the place) it would probably be best not to put it on an aluminum surface

My last idea is a hair dryer... these things are commonly rated at ~1800 watts, that is ~2.5hp... that is a good amount of heat.  Put it under your motorcycle cover facing the engine and now the fins are working for you.  I have also thought of the possibility of heating up the intake air... I would imagine that would help the most with starting.

[Gordon]

As far as the magnetic puck goes... couldn't you put the puck on the oil tank (it is steel) It would then heat your oil up which is more important then the engine... 

There's no oil tank on a 550.

[Tnutz]

There's no oil tank on a 550.

WAHT?!?!?!?!!!?!?!11!?!

[Retro Rocket]

Do you guys have the small fan forced heaters?, i have used these to heat an engine in winter for painting and it worked very well......just an idea.

Mick

[Spanner 1]

I like the 60W bulb with the blanket over the bike....turn off 1 light in your house and your even-steven....!!

[Kframe]

I've wondered before if one of those coffee mug heaters could be used to warm a motorcycle engine block.

There all over the interwebs at about $15.
Like this one:

They run about 18w.
The only thing would be how to temporarily affix it to the block.

On the other hand, it's really not that expensive to run a 100w bulb round the clock.
If you assume 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, and it takes 10 hours burning to equal 1 kWhr, then 0.10 x 24/10 x 31 = $7.44 per month per 100w bulb burning all the time.
-K

[Industrial Cafe]

put it on the head of a floor jack and jack it up to the pan.
 stuff a rag between it and the jack so it can make contact with the pan when it's at an angle.

also sit a brillo pad on top of the heating surface to transfer heat.

[Don R]

 A block heater is going to suck up some watts too.

OK, pad heater hooked to a windmill. Or just take it inside with you.

Seriously though how about the bulb on a lamp timer?

[Industrial Cafe]

that keeps plants warm enough to survive in the freezes we have here. just throw a thick blanket over the whole bike.

[Retro Rocket]

Do you guys have the small fan forced heaters?, i have used these to heat an engine in winter for painting and it worked very well......just an idea.

Mick

Do you guys have these at all, they are a very effective way to heat a motorcycle engine and don't take too long..?

Mick