I know its been done but have to ask. what are the thoughts about my break in method? Her we go the manual says keep it around 5800 rpm for the first 600miles so I do until I feel the need the exceed that rpm and therefore I decided my rpm range is 0-11500 during breaking as long as I don't hold any rpm range for a specified period and shift thru and run all gears. thoughts are appreciated. :iconbeer:
Nope, I did not follow any break in procedure. I just rode it like I had 5k miles on it. Just no racing or steady freeway riding or trying to beat the Mustang GT off the line. I have had way too many bikes in my life and never did follow the manual break in and all did just fine.
lark
New Member
I've had it since novemeber and put only 130 miles on it. (it's been cold, i'm a wuss) and I easily get up to 5k rpm and then remember to upshift to keep the rpms low. Idk how i'm going to get to 600 without exceeding that. Fiancee took it on the interstate and decided no more interstate until after break in. No way you can be doing 55 or 60 (faster = too high RPM) and not get run over here in Atlanta.
NMdesertracer
New Member
This is how you break it in! Dont keep the RPM's constant for a long period of time. Ride a gear high on flat ground then downshift and ride in the upper RPM's. I just road mine around town and didnt even pay attention to any of the break in stuff. Just didnt race it WOT...
I just can't follow the owner's manual at all. I have 386 miles on my barely 3 week old bike and the motor runs like a champ on the don't pay attention to it the manual rule. I would take your bike out asap and run to 8,9k rpm to whip it into shape.
lark
New Member
Like I said, it's been cold and I'm a wuss
I also work 10-14 hour days so the first time I rode to work it was ~50 when I came in at 11 and it was 34 degrees when I left at 10pm. I hadn't thought about the temp change until I wiped the condesation off my seat and got a bit of slush. Don't want to end up with 2 totalled bikes in the span of 12 months. Also, still getting over my fears of getting run over by a car since I narrowly dodged the last one that came for me. I'll get into it next time I take it out though, I have seen a lot of feedback on several sites about ignoring the 600 mile break in recommendation.If I had of read this before I bought my bike I would have done it this way, not that I followed the yammy way to the letter.Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power
98Deathmage
Member
It has to do with new metal surfaces have to mate with each other. Two surfaces pressed against each other are not perfectly smooth.
I work for Toyota and am going to a well known school to learn to be a master tech. When a manufacture does something to a vehicle or say to do something, just follow it to the best of your ability. They wouldnt do something unless there is a good practical reason. I will have a look at my owner manual and see if I can understand its complex lingo. Lol
Also, dont just start the bike and grind the turns near redline. Lets everything warm up otherwise you will starve the motor because oil is too thick and pressure is too high and not flowing correctly. I let my bike warm till the coolant reading says 120 then take it slow till it doesnt rise anymore. Too many things can go wrong if you oil starve a motor to list... And too expensive!
Wouldn't it be great if engineers could speak directly to consumers? They don't. The owner's manual is filtered through lawyers and bean-counters. Do you believe everything (anything) a lawyer says? Do you trust a bean-counter with engineering questions? No, take anything a manufacturer tells you with a grain of salt.
LKLD
New Member
My wife picked up her bike on a Friday, and by Monday it had 700 miles. No interstate, just 2 lane roads. As long as you don't beat it up, it'll be fine.
re-read the manual, it never says keep it around any rpm, or not to exceed any rpm, it simply says avoid prolonged operation above those rpms... doesn't say for five minutes, ten minutes, a few seconds... just don't cruise around at 10k rpm all the time (e.g. highway riding) and you'll be fine... you want to vary those rpms as much as possible...
My suggestion is to ride it normally without going nuts or cruising for extended periods of time at one engine speed.
The only other thing I suggest is to spend some time giving it full throttle from about 3000 RPM to about 7000 RPM. That puts a lot of pressure on the rings and valves and will help seat them well. If you do this several times through the break-in period, you'll get the most out of the engine after break-in (the most power and no oil burning).
This isn't the only way, but it's the way I believe works best.
The only other thing I suggest is to spend some time giving it full throttle from about 3000 RPM to about 7000 RPM. That puts a lot of pressure on the rings and valves and will help seat them well. If you do this several times through the break-in period, you'll get the most out of the engine after break-in (the most power and no oil burning).
This isn't the only way, but it's the way I believe works best.
I agree with Chucker on this one except I would hit it at 4k rpm, not 3k. This engine lugs at 3K. Lugging is bad.
I broke in my DRZ400 after a rebuild this way (top end and valves). Got 30,000 road km's on the bike before selling it. Still ran like a champ when I sold it. This is the way to go IMO.