Running it in

[That Guy]

I always thought with new bikes you take it easy for the first 1000kms. Then go for it. However having read this now I'm not so sure. Kind of makes sense. Don't know if I could bring myself to do it though... http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

[manuboy]

I read that article, then i asked the question on this forum...

A few senior members replied so i took their advice... local Suzuki shop thought it was unusual to need a rebuild at 1200k's but hey..... :niceone:

Seriously, everybody i asked just said ride it like you wanna ride it.... that guy seems pretty knowledgeable in the article, but it's too late now...

[Cajun]

I always thought with new bikes you take it easy for the first 1000kms. Then go for it. However having read this now I'm not so sure. Kind of makes sense. Don't know if I could bring myself to do it though... http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm


There was a big thing on the gsxr site i am about running in there bikes, i took it easy for the first 500kms pushed it for a bit more, but once over that 1000kms mark ride it how you planning on riding it

Running it in hard, seams to give you more horses sooner, but how it will last is another story, alot of guys in usa also run there bikes in on dynos, all down to personal

[vifferman]

This is a whole can of worms, and I'm not sure how one would get to the bottom of it. (Eat all the worms?? :killingme ) I've been on several forums where this has been debated, and it's hard to sort out the fact from fiction, and to sort out which facts/stories/myths apply to engines with modern technology, and which ones don't.
To my mind, the things that do stand out as being a good idea is firstly, to dump the first lot of engine oil as soon as possible, to get rid of any odd bits of gear dags, machining swarf, assemblers lunches, gremlin body parts and the like. It can't be good for long engine life. Secondly, to run good quality erl in the engine once it's run in.
Can we trust the manufacturers of the bikes/cars we buy? Are they interested in prolonging the life of the vehicles we buy from them, or do they not give a damn once it's out of the warranty period?
Makes no difference to me, as I've never had a new vehicle, and I'm never likely to. But I'd sure do a lot of research about this before running my new toy in, unless I was planning to keep it only a few years.

[Cajun]

This is a whole can of worms, and I'm not sure how one would get to the bottom of it. (Eat all the worms?? :killingme ) I've been on several forums where this has been debated, and it's hard to sort out the fact from fiction, and to sort out which facts/stories/myths apply to engines with modern technology, and which ones don't.
To my mind, the things that do stand out as being a good idea is firstly, to dump the first lot of engine oil as soon as possible, to get rid of any odd bits of gear dags, machining swarf, assemblers lunches, gremlin body parts and the like. It can't be good for long engine life. Secondly, to run good quality erl in the engine once it's run in.
Can we trust the manufacturers of the bikes/cars we buy? Are they interested in prolonging the life of the vehicles we buy from them, or do they not give a damn once it's out of the warranty period?
Makes no difference to me, as I've never had a new vehicle, and I'm never likely to. But I'd sure do a lot of research about this before running my new toy in, unless I was planning to keep it only a few years.



Firestorm i personal did do alot of research about best way to go about it, before i got mine. But alot of comes down to who you trust more, some crap you read on the net, or the company that makes the bike, did tons of testing before hand, and told you some rules to follow, so they will cover it if anything goes wrong, i personal followed most of the rules in the manual, just ran it a bit harder after 500kms not redline stuff, but a little harder than manual says. Changing oil in first few 500kms is good thing to do tho

[Bonez]

Firestorm i personal did do alot of research about best way to go about it, before i got mine. But alot of comes down to who you trust more, some crap you read on the net, or the company that makes the bike, did tons of testing before hand, and told you some rules to follow, so they will cover it if anything goes wrong, i personal followed most of the rules in the manual, just ran it a bit harder after 500kms not redline stuff, but a little harder than manual says. Changing oil in first few 500kms is good thing to do tho
Oil & filter at 500kms. I've had 3 new bikes followed the manufactures instructions up to the 1000k mark then change the oil/filter at the same time (every 4,000ks) untill about the 50,000k mark then filter every second change every 3,000kms therafter. The last new bike I got was in 1986 and still have it. I do try to warm my m/cs up a bit before riding off and most of my riding is open road (tend to pushbike around town).

[Coldkiwi]

been in this boat before too but remember
1) the bike shop doesn't ride pillion when you leave... so you can kinda do what you want and still be covered by the warranty
2) everyone knows an oil/filter change under 600kms is smart.... but do you think Suzuki would let me do mine before 1000?? no, the buggers. That attitude made me a little more skeptical of their insistence on going easy too and besides...
3) you KNOW you want to give it death when its brand new!

[DEATH_INC.]

I've always run 'em in as per manual(only had two,the gixx and the 12),neither has used any oil,both went well(plenty of power),and the gixx now has 43000k on it and is still as good as new.....

[Bob]

I wasn't there, but I knew someone who attended a track day and was quite surprised to find someone turned up with a brand new bike. Literally Zero miles - they'd got it, put it on trailer and turned up to hammer it on the track day.

Personally, I'll read what the running-in instructions are... and then ignore them ever so slightly. If it says "No more than 4,500 revs for the first 500 miles", then I'll stick to that more or less, but give it the odd blip up to maybe 6,000. And then when it lets you open up to 6,000 revs for the next 500, I'll do a lot of 6 thou, but throw in the odd 8/9,000 burst.

This all came from a long discussion on the subject, where the view was put forward that you can run-in an engine too tamely and it won't loosen up or have the top-end opened up.

I know with my current SV650S, I bought it with 7,500 miles on the clock... and in the 2,500 I've put on it since then, I've loosened up the engine and it is performing far better now... and I'm not a thrash it merchant at all. I just get the feeling the previous owner spent his whole time under 6k.

[750Y]

ah the break-in-method dilemma again... different approaches provide different advantages/disadvantages. know what you want from your bike & do your research and the answer will become clear.

[Cajun]

ah the break-in-method dilemma again... different approaches provide different advantages/disadvantages. know what you want from your bike & do your research and the answer will become clear.

good and wise words 750Y

[vifferman]

How can you be sure that the bike hasn't had the snot rung out of it (or the piss flanged out of it, if you prefer) before you took delivery of it? I mean, most bikes don't have 0k on the odometer when 'new', do they? So who's to say that some customer demoing it or salesman taking it home for the night hasn't taken it up to a bazillion revs to "see what she'll do" ?