How should I break my bike in?

[ferrari_chris]

Hi guys.

I've recently purchased a new VL 250 and I'll be riding it home from the dealer - a distance of about 160km.

As it's brand new, is this open road ride on the way home going to be determental to the life of my engine? Is there anything I can do on the way home (not going over certain speeds, etc. - the VL doesn't have a tach.) to make sure everything runs in nicely and nothing gets hurt? Should I just get a trailer and drag it home on that?

Any and all help appreciated.

Thanks.

[bsasuper]

Just get on and ride it home, and dont be scared to twist that throttle.

[325rocket]

dont hold it at the same RPM for too long, i.e. vary the revs.

[p.dath]

Just get on and ride it home, and dont be scared to twist that throttle.

+1. Wouldn't tend to ring it out - just ride it.

[ferrari_chris]

dont hold it at the same RPM for too long, i.e. vary the revs.Hmmm, this is what I've heard.

What's too long though? 1min? 5mins? 10mins?

There will be stretches of 100km/h cruising.

[ynot slow]

If in doubt ask dealer,usually vary the speed,making sure not to lug it in high gears,use gearbox,and enjoy the ride.

[86GSXR]

Yep, and the manual will state the recommended procedure. Enjoy the ride :yes:

[retro asian]

Don't go past 3/4 throttle if possible. More detailed instructions in your bike's manual.

[mossy1200]

Go up and down the revs instead of staying at the same rev.
Change gears to vary the rev if you need to sit in traffic flow.
Build those revs up higher every so often then let them drop again.
Dont let it labour low in the revs as this does more damage to a tight new motor than anything else.
If you dont get it reving alittle the cylinders glass up and the bike is never as good as a bike run in a little harder.I have run in 6 bikes and I halve the recommended run in time.Mechanic told me that the factory doesnt want you reving a bike hard from scratch simply because if it gunna fail(usually early if its a assy era)they would rather it happened at lower revs to avoid total motor death.As a consumer you would prefer total bike replacement YES...

[Maki]

Ride it like you stole it. You can damage a new engine by keeping the revs too low. The piston rings may not seat properly if you do that. Accelarate hard up to high revs and use engine braking to slow down.

It goes without saying that you should let the engine warm up before revving it high.

Good manufacturers run their engines at a dyno in the factory before you even get it. Max power, max revs, everything.

http://blogs.automobilemag.com/6278771/tech-talk/building-the-nissan-gt-rs-engine/index.html

"As step 5 suggests, Nissan is also very particular about testing completed GT-R engine assemblies: Each unit is dyno’d and must be within less than 3 percent, plus or minus, of the car’s rated 480 hp (lesser Nissan engines are granted a window of up to 10 percent differentiation). All powerplants are thoroughly tested for 60 minutes, including break-in, which includes extensive testing under a full load (for instance, I saw one engine run up to 6400 rpm). Generally, one or two engines fail these tests each week."

If your engine is not assembled properly you want to know now, while it is under warranty. If you use your new engine too softly it may be underpowered for the rest of it's usable life because the piston rings never seat properly.

[CookMySock]

I'd trailer it home. The best run-in for a brand-new newbie bike, is to give it to a newbie who's scared of it. When they are finished with it, the motor will still feel nice and tight and new. Don't let experienced people cane it, and don't beat it to death on the open road for hours.

Steve

[F5 Dave]

nah that's the procedure for inexperienced girls

best is to put it into 2nd & take the gearlever off & just wide open throttle until it blows up & then back a touch.

It's all about heat cycles. First set it on fire & wait till it gets really really hot then leave it in Dunedin.



[pant pant] oh dear, I think i need a nice lie down under a bridge, . . . maybe wait for a billy goat to come by.

[325rocket]

Opinions are a bit like arseholes… every ones got one.

I pretty much agree 100% with this post.


Ride it like you stole it. You can damage a new engine by keeping the revs too low. The piston rings may not seat properly if you do that. Accelarate hard up to high revs and use engine braking to slow down.

It goes without saying that you should let the engine warm up before revving it high.

Good manufacturers run their engines at a dyno in the factory before you even get it. Max power, max revs, everything.


If your engine is not assembled properly you want to know now, while it is under warranty. If you use your new engine too softly it may be underpowered for the rest of it's usable life because the piston rings never seat properly.


I dont really agree with this however.


I'd trailer it home. The best run-in for a brand-new newbie bike, is to give it to a newbie who's scared of it. When they are finished with it, the motor will still feel nice and tight and new.

can you please explain the above. are you saying the best way to run in an engine is to baby it?

[CookMySock]

are you saying the best way to run in an engine is to baby it?I'm saying if an experienced rider canes a brand new small engine hard for two hours on the open road, it takes the edge off its nice high compression and makes it saggy. A year later you get a smoky engine that doesn't idle nicely - no doubt said new owner not impressed.

Steve

[vifferman]

Don't thrash the living piss out of it, and don't baby it.

[Swoop]

You will have new tyres on it. Scrub them in before getting silly with it.

[Katman]

Many years ago a mate and I each bought brand new 550 Katanas.

He thrashed his from day 1 while I was determined to follow the manufacturers run-in procedure to the letter. His bike always felt like it had more power and spun up far more readily than mine.

However, (if I hadn't written mine off a year later) I'm sure mine would have lasted considerably longer than his would have.

:whistle:

[Maki]

Many years ago a mate and I each bought brand new 550 Katanas.

He thrashed his from day 1 while I was determined to follow the manufacturers run-in procedure to the letter. His bike always felt like it had more power and spun up far more readily than mine.

However, (if I hadn't written mine off a year later) I'm sure mine would have lasted considerably longer than his would have.

:whistle:

His bike had more power because he broke it in correctly.

[PrincessBandit]

His bike had more power because he broke it in correctly.

Possibly, but when looking at longevity of your engine short term power gain might be outweighed by crapping it out earlier than someone who has ridden it not quite so hard in the early days.

But then I could be wrong.....

[CookMySock]

His bike had more power because he broke it in correctly.You are right, and you are wrong.

If that's what you WANT from it, then do it. If it's not your bike, suggest you ask first. If it's a modern learner bike, suggest you might be more concerned that it starts easily hot or cold, doesn't quit when idling, doesn't smoke after 12 months, and doesn't quickly become a rattly piece of crap with limited resale value, all for the sake of a few more horsepower.

Steve

[Maki]

I can think of some things that will shorten the lifetime of an engine but correct break in is not one of them.

1. Revving hard when the engine is cold. This will wear out your engine prematurely.

2. Old oil.

3. Old coolant. Yes, if your engine is water cooled make sure to change the coolant before it gets too old. It should say when in the manual. Otherwise risk internal corrosion.

[paddy]

Let me prefix this post by saying that I am neither a mechanic nor engineer and that I don't actually know that much about engines; however, as I pilot I am aware that we have to treat freshly overhauled engines in a very specific manner (minimal low power operations) and use specific oils during the break-in/run-in (depending on how you spell colour) period. So I had a dig around and came up with these links. At the very least they are an interesting read:

http://www.flightsafety.org/amb/amb_jan-feb95.pdf
http://www.mattituck.com/articles/engbrkin.htm

[TygerTung]

I have run in a few engines now, and I have run them in using the correct procedure.

I start it up, don't let it idle, keep the revs reasonably high, and ride off basically as soon as I can. Let it get oil pressure to the bearings and stuff first. I actually usually often disconnect the ignition lead and turn it over until it gets a bit of oil pressure. Obviously in some applications this isn't practicle.

Anyway once it's going ride off. Don't let it run slowly, and don't lug it in low gears. Remember at low revs your oil pressure is much lower, often around only 20-30 psi if it's cold and at idle it can drop under 20 psi when it's hot.

For the first 10-15 minutes I don't rev it too high, like I mean up to the redline, but after that, it's pretty much run in. You can redline it as much as you want, and give it heaps. Don't change to synthetic oil until at least 1000 kilometres, and I would recomend changing the oil as soon as you get home. I'd probably change it at 300 k's too, then maybe 600? Once you are at over 1000 k's you could change to synthetic.

[F5 Dave]

Whilst everyone imagines their virginal engine coming to life in peace & harmony do be aware that as Maki pointed out earlier manufacturers test all their bikes on rolling road on the assembly line, right through to redline several times & through the gears. This is to check the engine etc & also to help promote ring bed in. Don't be thinking that bearings need to run in either.

[Devil]

This topic has come up multiple times, Vifferman has it in a nutshell.

Dont thrash it and dont labour it. Read what is in the manual.

Ignore those who say run it full tit to get maximum horsepower, it is not a racebike. Dont baby or labour it as this is not good for the rings either.

[steve_t]

Worth a read

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

[johan]

Worth a read...

http://www.dezmo.com/breakin.html

[Maki]

Worth a read

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Q: What is the most common cause of engine problems ???
A: Failure to:
Warm the engine up completely before running it hard !!!

Q: What is the second most common cause of engine problems ???
A: An easy break in !!!

************************************************** ****

Please share your experiences if you broke your new engine in yourself. Did you do it very softly, hard or somewhere in between? Did your bike ever overheat? Does your bike use a significant amount of oil? Does the oil get dirty before you think it should?

I'll go first. I have run in 2 new bikes, making sure to get to high revs, both accelarating and using engine braking, from day 1. The bikes have never overheated. The bikes did not use any oil as far as I could see and the oil looks never looked dirty. I change the oil according to manufactureres recommendations.

[Devil]

I've run 3 new machines in. All using varying revs. No labouring, no high revs, essentially keeping it around the middle 1/3rd of the tacho.
None have used any oil and all put out decent power.
I sold the Triumph (Speed Four) at 70,000km and I believe it's around 80k now with the new owner. Didn't use any oil, no smoke, never any engine issues.

[hospitalfood]

i like to break them in by crashing them slowly to start with, once they get used to it and have a few scuffs you can move on to the bigger stuff like t-boning cars at 60 km/h and going off the road at 100 km/h

[Chrislost]

Hi guys.

I've recently purchased a new VL 250 and I'll be riding it home from the dealer - a distance of about 160km.

As it's brand new, is this open road ride on the way home going to be determental to the life of my engine? Is there anything I can do on the way home (not going over certain speeds, etc. - the VL doesn't have a tach.) to make sure everything runs in nicely and nothing gets hurt? Should I just get a trailer and drag it home on that?

Any and all help appreciated.

Thanks.

up and down the gearbox, following the owners manual for rev guidlines...

[86GSXR]

I've run in three Triumphs using Triumph's exact recommendations. The first was a 05 955i Daytona. When I took it to Kerry Wallis for it's 30K service, after leakdown and compression tests the verdict was "I can't fault it". I considered selling it once (thank God I didn't) and took it to the shop. After testing the verdict. "Perfect".

I've since done the same to two Tigers. Both of them developed great power and neither used any excess oil.

[steve_t]

I've run in three Triumphs using Triumph's exact recommendations. The first was a 05 955i Daytona. When I took it to Kerry Wallis for it's 30K service, after leakdown and compression tests the verdict was "I can't fault it". I considered selling it once (thank God I didn't) and took it to the shop. After testing the verdict. "Perfect".

I've since done the same to two Tigers. Both of them developed great power and neither used any excess oil.

What are Triumph's recommendations?
I'm a middle ground person too. Make sure it's warmed up, and ride with varying revs and varying loads. Don't ring the tits off it for the first 1000km but also don't ride like a grandma

[bsasuper]

As an ex engine builder here is my advise, always warm up the engine first, dont load it up as in going up a hill in top and letting it struggle, but do give it moderate revs up through the gearbox, the first 50kms can make or break an engine run in.After its first oil change, usually at around 1000km, just ride it normally as from this point on the engine is slowly wearing out.

[one fast tl1ooo]

Ride it like you stole it,

[ferrari_chris]

Thanks for all the helpful (and funny!) comments guys.

I contacted the dealer and he echoed some of the opinions on here. He also said it's better to break it in on the open road than around town, so that's good.

One last question though, and it's about how long I should spend at a certain speed. Varying the revs seems to be the concensus, and my dealer said to ride home at a range of speeds, but I'm uncertain how often to vary the speeds.

Is 5 minutes at 100km/h OK. Or should I spend no more than 1 minute at a certain speed/rev combo before speeding up or slowing down?

I'll ask my dealer this tomorrow too and see what he says.

Thanks!

[Devil]

That one is a bit of how long is a piece of string.
Is there a twistier way you could ride home? Then you wont have to even think about it...

[TygerTung]

I would be varying the speed constantly. It wouldn't have to be a huge change in speed, maybe 5-10 kilometres? Just be constantly speeding up and slowing down. Once you've done 50-100 kilometres you should be right as rain.