How long to break in a new bike/engine?

[andysodandy]

Does anyone know how long it takes to break in a new engine these days? I generally only buy 2nd hand bikes as they tend to have all the goodies on them already, but this was too cheap to not buy

The Dealer says 1000klms to run the bike in. I've done 200klms then swapped oil and filter (mineral oil) and plan on riding till 500klms then going full synthetic.

I don't understand how it can take 1000klms to run a new engine in of this size but will do it if anyone else backs up the 1000klm's.

 

[isaac_]

I plan to break mine in on a Dyno.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[zaster]

620 miles or 1000 km
Make sure you take the bike through as many heat cycles as possible and vary the load on the engine aka lots of shifting.

 

[OldVet]

They are pretty much ready to go from the get go, after 100 miles ride like you stole it...

 

[andysodandy]

Its my thinking that all the 1000klms talk is more myth than actual fact. After 30 odd years riding Ive never heard of one bike blowing up from running it in too soon nor have any of my biking friends. The only other brand new bike ive bought was a 2001 R1 which I ran in at the track and had no negative effects and I took it to 70k on the clock before selling her.

Are we all just scared of the talk about destroying engines during breaking in or scared about the myths more than actual facts as I have seen nothing other than everyone talking on the internet?

I'm hoping someone here has scientific or at least factual information other than "you must ride slowly for 1000klms" ... as I'm sick of riding under 7k revs and I'm only 300klms in

 

[Chris The Welder]

Somewhere on this forum there's a thread about breaking in engines at full throttle. the guy has some valid points, but I'm old school. go easy for a bit then let 'er rip. When mine was new I could feel it loosen up with every ride. As far as synthetic oil goes, every time I've put it in an engine I ended up with an oil consumption issue.

 

[andysodandy]

The thing Im curious about is you dont break in a new lawnmower, ride-on or push type, you dont break in your new car, you dont break in your new fleet semi trailers, you dont break in farm tractors, you dont break in generators, you dont break in small engine pumps, you dont break in whipper snippers, you dont break in bugger all but apparently motorbikes are at risk level 9000 and require 1000klms which is an insanely huge amount of miles.

Prob if this was a litre bike 5-6000 rpm is still awesome fun, but on this bike 5-7000 rpm is about as exciting as watching paint dry

 

[Diploman]

Andy, I agree overall with your thoughts on break-in of modern engines. In the past, before CNC machines and precision assembly, engines did require more careful break-in than is the case today, IMO. (I still am careful about running-in new cars, however, just like motos.) In the case of the 390, owner experience has found that the break-in process produces an astonishing amount of metallic swarf that accumulates on the plastic filter screens. (You did clean these when you did your 200km oil/filter change, right?) This suggests that the made-in-India 390 engine has an unusual degree of internal asperities that need to be honed down during the running-in process. The dino oil that is recommended for the break-in seems to facilitate this honing operation much better than synthetic oil. Since the 390 engine is something of a special case, a bit of an outlier compared to modern practice and standards, I would suggest that you use dino oil for your planned 500 km oil/filter change, and then change again at 1000km. I think you will be surprised at the quantity of of swarf the engine still yields at that point. At 1000 km use synthetic and ride it like you stole it!

 

[Maddog Reynolds]

My view is a bit old school, maybe. Probably the most vital thing is a good piston ring seal, so for the first few hundred miles I was keeping revs up and torque down, to bed in those rings properly

No, we don't need to worry so much about bedding-in tight crankshaft bearings like the olde daze, or even tight pistons with moden machining and materials, but piston rings and bores do distort a bit with heat even now and it seems to me we want variety, but to spend a lot of time using the gearbox, keeping the revs up around 5,000 and the throttle should be used gently, to reduce cylinder pressure and blow-by past the rings (which can burn the rings, if you are unlucky). I avoided labouring (lugging) mine and stuck to back roads for variety. By 500 miles I was riding normally, but not rushing. I gradually used more throttle and more revs and by 1,000 miles it felt looser and was revving more freely. I don't know what oil the dealer used at the 600 mile 1st service. I used Putoline synthetic after 2,000 miles and I'll probably stick with an extra oil change between services.

To my mind, the main thing is variety, build it up gently. We've all heard the story of someone who drove like a grandad for 599 miles, then as it clicked over to 600 he suddenly changed down 5 gears and ragged its nuts off and then he wondered why it didn't run right

 

[Maddog Reynolds]

Short version: you may not get the best out of it for 1,000 miles, anyway. Why rush the job?

 

[brokenbuddha]

I plan to break mine in on a Dyno.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LOL