cold weather starting

[quietman]

sometime ago, i posted concern about a metallic sound occasionally coming from my starter motor when starting the bike in cold weather.
many of you may have have seen the post, "starter engagement".
i have not noticed the problem in the last several (i estimate 20-30 starts) now that the weather is has gotten considerably warmer. it appears to have been caused by the cold temperatures, and nothing else.
i would like say thankyou to all who responded with advice and words of wisdom. ((;^D

 

[quietman]

we have had a few mornings around 20 degrees, (thats unusually cold for the nevada desert) the low 40's is more common this time of year.
we generally have a wide range of daily temps as no cloud cover to help stabilize the temps between night and day. this moring it was 40 degrees
at 4:30 am, and 78 degrees at 3pm. thank god for multi-viscosity oils.

 

[trackerjack]

Lots of R III captains have that problem when starting the bike in cold weather here.

The cause is the stock battery which is not good quality and seems to loose a lots of power if exposed a long time to cold conditions.

A good battery, like Odissey or equivalent, solves the problem.

 

[DCRocket]

I've ridden a couple times in the single digits with no problems - however, if the bike's been sitting a couple weeks I may have to hit the starter button 2 or 3 times (I don't like to press it for more than a couple seconds), but when it catches it idles fine and runs great

 

[DCRocket]

I would think 15 minutes is a bit excessive - a couple weeks ago I was out in 3* F temps and idled the bike for about 5 minutes, then ran it gently for a couple miles or so to warm the engine up - hit the highway and hit the throttle and she ran just beautifully