You're going to find that people are split on this. Half say to follow the break-in requirements to the letter and the other half says to do the break-in as you described. Personally, I've done the hard break-in on every bike that I've owned and I've never had a problem at all. So that's what I'm sticking to. Best of luck on your decision!
Break in period: hard or soft???
Should I break in my new 300 as the owners manual states??? Not going above 4000 rpm for the first 500 miles seems a bit overkill to me.
I was told by the dealership to ride around 4000 rpm for the first 100 miles or so and then not to worry about it (just don't red line it).
I was also advised by another person that it's good for the first 100 miles to use a lot of high to low and low to high revving (between 0 rpm to 8000 rpm). They said the engine parts seat better due to the rpm pressure inside the engine. Which makes a lot of sense to me. They also recommended getting the oil changed way way before the 600 miles as the owners manual states. Which also makes sense to me. Anyone know for sure???
I was told by the dealership to ride around 4000 rpm for the first 100 miles or so and then not to worry about it (just don't red line it).
I was also advised by another person that it's good for the first 100 miles to use a lot of high to low and low to high revving (between 0 rpm to 8000 rpm). They said the engine parts seat better due to the rpm pressure inside the engine. Which makes a lot of sense to me. They also recommended getting the oil changed way way before the 600 miles as the owners manual states. Which also makes sense to me. Anyone know for sure???
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Ive been trying to follow the manual but its nearly impossible, I only have a few roads outside my neighborhood that are 40mph, for the 4k rpm, everything else outside of that required me to go 60mpg, ill never make it, im right around 100 mi now, and can probably hold on till 200, then i willl be going out to 60mph, these roads are so boring, gotta get out!
Until there are controlled experiments where engines are broken-in different ways, then examined, much of the info will be anecdotal. Aprilia ships all their bikes with synthetic oil which according to some, does not allow for a proper break-in for example, yet the RSV4 is one of the fastest bikes around. I'm not sure how you break-in a bike makes any difference. Lots of opinions, but few facts in other words about what is the best way to break it in. If Kawaskaki is power testing brand new bikes which to me means putting them on a dyno and taking them near redline, apparently they aren't concerned about blowing an engine on a new bike which is something I wouldn't want to do. That at least is good news.
The engine builders I used for my MX bikes all believe you need higher cylinder pressures to force the rings out into the cylinder for good seal. Light but some load, fully warmed and use decel braking too. No high loads, like uphill 2 up WOT in too tall a gear, no steady RPMs for long lengths of time, don't leave it at 12k RPM for 10 miles. Watch a dyno run on a new engine and the more runs it makes to full RPM the higher the HP/tq goes as the rings seal better till it maxes out.
I believe the non syn oil at break in is due to the expense only and the need to change it early to wash out the engine of extra metals that scuff off early on.
I believe the non syn oil at break in is due to the expense only and the need to change it early to wash out the engine of extra metals that scuff off early on.
A lot of what members here are saying makes sense. Ride it hard but dont redline it, and dont rev it out for long periods of time. Also making sure the engine is warm. Thats what i'd do.
took mine out a lil farther today, not exceeding 50, ran about 5.5 rpms, in short burst then down to 4 rpm, it was a good day
I picked my white Ninja 300 up in San Antonio today. I warmed it up by riding it around the block. First corner I came to the bike died when I downshifted to first. Huh? Had to restart the bike. WTF. Another light and when I downshifted to 2nd, it died again, but I was still rolling so I released the clutch and it caught and kept going. By the time I got around the block and back to the dealer, it was running and idling fine. Must have needed a little running time. So then I did a few back and forth runs in 1st gear only up to 9,000 rpms then off the throttle to engine brake. Then I headed home, first in stop and go traffic again in lower gears with lots of engine braking. By the time I hit I-35, I was keeping up with traffic with rpms from stopped (rush hour) to 10,000 rpms at an indicated 90 mph briefly. She runs great. I got home with 47 miles on it and promptly changed the oil and filter over to Rotella T6 synthetic 5W40. Far as I'm converned it is broken in. In fact I am going to get a dyno test soon. It's free since I'm a good customer of af1 racing here in town. I really like this bike.
brought mine through 400 miles within the first week, also got up to about 108 on a straight away a few times. and everything seems perfect
Picked up bike Saturday. Following hard break in. When I picked it up it already had 4 miles on it. Rode 20 miles home from dealer, literally constantly changing RPM the whole time I was moving. Once engine was warm a few miles in, I began to go run it hard to 8k then engine brake back down to 4k then back to 8k etc. for several miles. Got home, left it off for 6 hours to come back to room temp. Went for another 8 mile ride doing the same thing once warm. I'm following the method of heat cycling and hard acceleration/engine braking once warm. Bike is really purring so far.
http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/NewBike.html This is the break-in I have been following the last 3 bikes, except I never go above redline. In fact, I think there is a rev limiter at 12,500 on the 300 according to this month's MCN write-up. I may have hit 11,000 for a split second in a lower gear though. My bike is doing great. I have Rotella T6 in it since 50 miles. I'll do my second oil and filter change at 800 miles as per this recommendation.
Yes rev limiter is 12500 and will drop you down to about 11500. Or it did on mine anyways.
So w/the slipper clutch you can still compression start?Another light and when I downshifted to 2nd, it died again, but I was still rolling so I released the clutch and it caught and kept going.
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