To make the morning start up smoother and reduce warm up time, I got an extension lead, timer switch and a small blow heater. I put the heater about 1m away from the motor and set it to the lowest heat setting, and set the timer so it heats for 1 hour before I leave for work. Turns over a bit faster and warms up quick. Does anyone else do something like this?

Adz, I think you're over thinking things   

Buy a house on a hill, follow PB's jacket/gloves routine, then roll down the hill and wake up the neighbors taking off.

Ads if you feel good, can't hurt,but being a long time HD rider i used to kick start a stroker shovel, she started winter or summer the same.

And my wife and kids think I'm strange talking to my toys  I have nothing on you  

I have stopped using my blinkers in order to save on electricity.

Its good youve got a sense of humour adz. Whatever works and makes you happy man 

Bit cold in the hills this morning, didn't fire up first or second go. Flick the switch to kill the headlight and let there be life, thank fck. Not sure how many more cold starts this battery got, might have to get her an electric blanket.

OMG stop encouraging him!  Next thing he will be on the lookout for a nice knitted scarf to wrap around the carb.  Just install the flux capacitor mod and that will resolve the cold start problem.

there is 5 minutes of my life totally wasted...

I keep a trickle charger on the battery most of the time,bike starts fine,at the moment it's minus 2 to 3 degree mornings,

Wideglider and Awaba, sounds we all start our bikes more or less the same way. I actually like the process of starting it up.....kinda satisfying. My previous ride was EFI....push the button and that was it..not much to do.