Breaking in my Ninja 250

[marty]

don't fuck it in the arse on the first date. then it will always come back for more :0

[Howsie]

why?, running the bike in according to the manual is a condition of the warranty. how are they to know if you did? the ecu knows everything about how the bike is being ridden, storage is cheap i see no reason why a 'was not run in as specified in the manual' flag would not exist. (i'd put one in there)

Point noted. Thats a lot of data for a bike to record over its lifetime. You would have to have a digital speedo, rpm counter, angle/lean sensor, air/fuel ratio, throttle position, millage counter as well as time and date to accurately depict how the bike was being ridden. I think that might be too much for the manufacturer to put in "just on case" someone doesnt break it to their specs. Would need a terabyte of space at least to record that

As stated above, the logic behind the slow break in ends up costing you more in the long run and doesnt make sense from a mechanical perspective.

[Howsie]

+ 1 for this method

Give it plenty of work in the mid rev range, vary the revs, don't over or under rev.
And do warm it up.

I have glazed two Honda TRX's bores by running them in too gently both needing new rings by 12000km's one needing two sets.
I was told by the dealer to run in hard and haven't had any problems since.

Enjoy your ride

YAY someone who agrees with this method

[phaedrus]

Point noted. Thats a lot of data for a bike to record over its lifetime. You would have to have a digital speedo, rpm counter, angle/lean sensor, air/fuel ratio, throttle position, millage counter as well as time and date to accurately depict how the bike was being ridden. I think that might be too much for the manufacturer to put in "just on case" someone doesnt break it to their specs. Would need a terabyte of space at least to record that

As stated above, the logic behind the slow break in ends up costing you more in the long run and doesnt make sense from a mechanical perspective.

what, a marker saying 'exceeded threshold' and recording the current state once would take over a terabyte? you don't need to record the whole life. just that the warranty has been voided.

[McWild]

I'm curious - does the aforementioned "Go hard" running in procedure work only on 4 strokes or 2 strokes as well?

If so/not, how come?

[Howsie]

what, a marker saying 'exceeded threshold' and recording the current state once would take over a terabyte? you don't need to record the whole life. just that the warranty has been voided.

Im exaggerating with the terabyte but what exactly is "the threshold"? In order for the warranty to be voided you would need to know the; rpm, millage, speed, gear position, time and date at the very minimum to provide sufficient evidence to claim that the warranty was voided.

If the "exceeded threshold" marker was based solely on rpm, a quick blip of the throttle would be all thats needed.

And really, have you heard of a manufacturer that has used the ECU as evidence for a voided warranty claim?

[Howsie]

I'm curious - does the aforementioned "Go hard" running in procedure work only on 4 strokes or 2 strokes as well?

If so/not, how come?

I would say yes because when you run it in "hard" you are sealing the rings on the piston bore to get a good even seal. I would imagine that it would give an ever better result in engine performance and wear on a 2smoker. This break in would apply to all engines as they all work the same way, but im not an expert like motoman

[phaedrus]

If the "exceeded threshold" marker was based solely on rpm, a quick blip of the throttle would be all thats needed.

And really, have you heard of a manufacturer that has used the ECU as evidence for a voided warranty claim?

mileage, it's got the odometer (either in it or availalble - 'tis all electronic these days) as with speedo, gear can be calculated with the rpm and speed (be a shitty ecu that doesn't know rpm. I don't think date and would be neccaccery

and you would do the calculations based on sustained actions so that the blips would be ignored

and, no i haven't heard of it so i'll shut up now.

'tis just what i would have done for use in cases where the bike was flogged to death and the person who did it was insisting on warranty.

[Howsie]

mileage, it's got the odometer (either in it or availalble - 'tis all electronic these days) as with speedo, gear can be calculated with the rpm and speed (be a shitty ecu that doesn't know rpm. I don't think date and would be neccaccery

and you would do the calculations based on sustained actions so that the blips would be ignored

and, no i haven't heard of it so i'll shut up now.

'tis just what i would have done for use in cases where the bike was flogged to death and the person who did it was insisting on warranty.

mileage, ha damn spellcheck! good point on all the above :niceone

i agree, i would put in something like that for checking break in procedure (my new ninja is all analogue) but the reality is that you would have to dismantle the engine to verify it. Busted rings, worn bottom end or something similar??

If i had the money i would experiment with 2 new bikes, break one in gently and the other hard then dyno at 2000km and see which has the higher horsepower.

[Slyer]

Yeah, make sure you don't use synthetic until it's broken in as well.

[Brooke]

Hey fellow Ninja owner! I baught my Ninja new too. I took it easy for the first 1000 kms, always warm it up and varied the load through gears etc. These bikes love to be ridden and the guy from the shop told me if you nana it, you'll get on one that has been ridden as it should and they will be two completley different bikes.

I certianly ride mine but I look after it all the same. I think getting their services at the mentioned time is also a good thing.

I hope you love your Ninja as much as me! Enjoy

[Maki]

Ride it like you stole it, but service it according to the manual. If you run your bike in too gently the piston rings will not seal properly and your bike will be slower than it should be.