How should I break my bike in?

[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.