KB mythbusters - wear-in period?

[The Stranger:Me]

Iv been doing my research for my next bike.. and Iv come across somthing that makes me scratch my head..

Wear in periods.. Iv googled it and gotten mixed answers, on one had theres the "it's for the best", on the other its "give it shit"!! A guy I know that works with new cars is told by his boss to "thrash them"... I wore in my ninja but have nothing to compare it to.

I ask because Iv seen a few bikes with really low ks around that wouldn't have finished their wear in period and the sellers going on about how fast it is.. and I dont want to buy a dud.

Got a call one Friday afternoon to pick up a brand new 07 ZX6R (the number 3 bike) from Mt Eden Motorcycles and put as many km on it as I could before Sunday at which time it was to be converted to a race bike.
I was instructed to ride it like I stole it.
I'm very good at following instructions.

The number 2 bike met an untimely demise, so we had no comparison for that bike. The number 1 (which was run in by the book) bike was significantly more modified but pulled 6 HP less than the number 3 bike.

Go figure.

I picked up my Fazer, rode it to Taupo, did one session at midish throttle then deemed it run in.
It's never missed a beat.

[LBD]

... so really what we need is someone to get two bikes the same, thrash one and baby the other. And then dyno them.

Then ride them identically for 100 000km and see which one is still in the best condition after that....

I agree with frequent oil and filter changes from new. Change oil and filter at 500 km.[/LIST]

Carefull the manufacturer may have factory filled with a mineral or run in oil....if you do the first change to a premium synthetic before the engine is properly run in, you run the risk of rings not fully bedding in and end up with increased blow by/oil consumption. Do the first change at the OEM recomendation. After that I generall do oil drains between 75% and 100% of the recomendation.

Of course with good oil analysis and interpretation you can optomize your drain intervals, in some cases they can be extended, in others thay will need to be reduced.

[Eyegasm]

Then change the oil every 3,500 km

Christ, I'd be changing my oil every 2 weeks if that was the case! it is bad enough having to change my oil every month.

Recommended oil change intervals on the hyobag is every 4000k, yet I have been extending that with no problems so far.

[DEATH_INC.]

The number 1 bike was significantly more modified but pulled 6 HP less than the number 3 bike.

Was the no1 bike run in carefully intead?

[The Stranger:Me]

Was the no1 bike run in carefully intead?

By the book. It started life as Trev(as in KB handle Trev)'s personal road bike for the first few thousand KM.
Trust me, it wasn't thrashed.

[johan]

Then ride them identically for 100 000km and see which one is still in the best condition after that....

But first we need to blue print the motors to make sure they are identical, bearings, cam timing etc..., otherwise we don't know if any measurable difference after 100 000km is because of assembly line tolerance issues or the way they were broken in!

[Quasievil]

Only ride it when the wind is blowing from the west, after a few weeks change that to the east, another two weeks and it will be mint.

OH also whatever you do dont get the bike wet, dont ask me why but a old mate told me that his grandad told him this in 1954.

If you dont agree with any of that, READ THE BLOODY MANUAL

[Banditbandit]

Iv been doing my research for my next bike.. and Iv come across somthing that makes me scratch my head..

Wear in periods.. Iv googled it and gotten mixed answers, on one had theres the "it's for the best", on the other its "give it shit"!! A guy I know that works with new cars is told by his boss to "thrash them"... I wore in my ninja but have nothing to compare it to.

I ask because Iv seen a few bikes with really low ks around that wouldn't have finished their wear in period and the sellers going on about how fast it is.. and I dont want to buy a dud.

I'm inclined to the viewe that wearing in is best. However, that doesn't mean babying the engine along for countless ks ... it's best to stay within the recommended rev ranges of new engines, but also gfive them a stretch now and then.

I tend to give it a few hundred klicks being gentle, then start to use the acceleration - always keeping it under the rev ranges. I did this with my 650 Bandit ... gently for a couple of days, then a bit of hard acceleration ... hard engine braking ... always within the rev range. Then gradually build it up ...

Oh, and change the oil at 1,000 ks, then 2,000 ks, then 6,000 ks .. and as recommended after that.

I've now turned over 40,000klicks .. and had no problems at all.

[ckai]

Right, first Daytona I broke it in like a bit of a nanna. Left the sticker about required rev-ranges and why km intervals and pretty much never when above them. Dunno how that affected the longevity of the engine because the bike got bent at 7,000km.

The second and current Daytona I broke in a little different. The 1 thing EVERYONE can agree on with regards to break-in is NEVER labour the engine (as already mentioned). It puts too much stress on the un-bedded parts (makes sense really). The other thing that everyone I talk to agrees on is avoid a constant throttle. Same reason as above really. It's ass when you have to bring your bike back from Auckland with it having 17km on the clock.

I didn't nana this bike but I didn't cane the shit out of it either. I gave it a squirt for short bursts every so often and it seems to be slightly freer then the first one. I'll be doing the same thing with all other bikes from now one. It's like someone else mentioned above, it's actually a good way to learn the bike because you ease into it but you're not wrapping it in cotton wool.

[tigertim20]

But first we need to blue print the motors to make sure they are identical, bearings, cam timing etc..., otherwise we don't know if any measurable difference after 100 000km is because of assembly line tolerance issues or the way they were broken in!

You beat me to it, and thats exactly the issue. Take two identical bikes, straight off the line one after another, its completely common and normal for one to dyno with HP and tourque a few percent higher than the other.

[The Stranger:Me]

You beat me to it, and thats exactly the issue. Take two identical bikes, straight off the line one after another, its completely common and normal for one to dyno with HP and tourque a few percent higher than the other.

Sure it is.
For example when we flow tested the injectors on each of the bikes mentioned above each injector within each set was very close (within a couple of percent), however there was about 12% difference between each set of injectors.

The original ECU was the same on each bike.
One would have had better fueling than the other.
Another reason to not share maps.

That said, in the rather informal test I mention previously, both bikes had race ECUs and were tuned individually.