I have a 2003 Heritage (carburetor not FI). After buying it, I took it to a well respected harley mechanic in Palm Springs and had new cams and a racing carburetor put on, then put it on a dyno. When I picked it up the mechanic told me not to use the choke when starting.

The bike is fast and I never used the choke. Got a new boyfriend, he wanted to ride my bike and I told him "no choke" but he ignored me, telling me you have to use the choke.

He is riding my bike to work now and never warms the bike up before taking off. I ask him to please warm the bike up and he tells me "just look in the manual and it says you don't have to warm up bike before riding". The manual he has is for the 2003 fuel injected, not carburetor. I'm not a mechanic, he is somewhat, I am not a stupid chick - I jut want my bike taken care of.

Is he right about the choke and not having to warm the bike up before riding?

 

The bike will tell you if it needs choke. If it starts fine without it, no you don't need it. If it cranks and cranks and the only way to get it going is several twists of the throttle (if that racing carb even has an accelerator pump to spit some extra gas), then yes, you should use choke. Using choke when you don't need it can flood the motor, but shouldn't do any damage, just make it hard to start till it dries out. If it barely idles when cold, I'd choke it enough to bring the idle up to just a little over warmed up rpm; a really low idle won't give the engine the oil pressure it should have on many Harleys. I don't rev the motor till it's had time to at least get good oil pressure through the system; also, taking right off on a cold engine often is accompanied by bucking and misfiring till it warms a bit, and if the engine is jerking the bike, that's not doing it any good; might not hurt it either, but for a long and healthy life for your Harley, a little extra tlc sure doesn't hurt. FI and carb are two very different animals, don't even think about FI when you're using a carb, You can just hit the starter button with FI, slam it in gear and twist the throttle, probably take off just fine, though I'd question doing that considering the lubrication may not be ready for it immediately. A carb needs more finesse when cold; hit the starter, hit the throttle right away, and it'll probably just quit on you. Probably better for the bike when it does, too. You don't have to sit there till your butt goes numb, but a 30 second warmup for a cold start isn't going to be a big inconvenience.

 

Tell him to buy his own bike!

 

My scoot won't start when cold without full choke. 45-60 seconds warm-up. Then go, the carb pulls in the choke by itself.
On the flip side, if yours starts and runs with no choke, it's all good.
Also I agree, tell your boyfriend to get his own bike. Odds are if he breaks it YOU'RE screwed. Just say'in

 

Tell him to "Get the F&*K off your bike"....you need to get a new boyfriend who is not so full of chit!

 

When your bikes was worked on they added fuel. Harley does not use a choke. I know we call it that.
It is and enricher. A choke chokes off air to make the fuel ratio richer. The Enricher just adds more fuel.
Most likely the reason they said you did not need to use the Choke is the bike runs pretty rich as is. You will not kill the bike if you use it but it maybe a bit to rich and not start as it should.

 

Aluminum expands as it gets hot, and with aluminum cylinders and heads increases the pressure on head gaskets which better assures their longevity. And different metals in the engine warm up and expand at different rates. I always warm up my bike and drive it gently until it gets to full operating temperature. I've always done it this way, and its paid me back for it...

 

Starting with no choke means they probably over jetted it with a real big pilot jet.

Yes you start and ride but that usually means start it up, zip up your jack, tighten your helmet strap, put on your gloves THEN roll out...and then being easy for a mile or two.

 

X2 Yeah that!

 

Get rid of him, if he can't respect your wishes.