Break-in

[jejenkins]

Getting mine tomorrow or Friday and wanting to know what opinions are on the break-in of the new motor. It is being shipped to me in the factory crate, so I will be the first to run it outside of what they do at the factory. So do you all go by the manual or go by the method described in this link?
Mototune USA (http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm)

The mototune makes sense, what do you all think?
Jon

[jimbo77]

Jon,

I agree with Mototunes method of breaking in an engine, and would not call it "flogging" the bike. I have purchased several bikes as new from older (1983, 1986 Suzukis) to newer (1998 F3, 2000 CBR929, and now the SV1K). I had broken in the older bikes according to factory recommendations. On the other hand, all of the newer rides have been broken in by riding them very similar to Mototunes methods. This includes my SV. Now, it wasn't flogged at all, but was given some very progressive, very strong combustion cycles. I didn't even hear of the Mototune method till I had 300 miles on my SV. I was told many moons ago to ride the bike during break-in like you intend to ride it later. All of my newer bikes have consistently produced more power on the dyno in stock trim that others broken in according to factory specs. Now, how reliable will they be? I couldn't say as I keep the bike 2-3 years then trade for new. But each one was very strong and reliable while I had them, and I know the owner my F3; he now has over 35,000 miles on the engine, and the valves weren't even out at 16k. I'd say that it is running quite strong now. In the end, the decision is yours, and you will find many differing opinions on how to run it in. The fact of the matter is, the end result is only a couple of horsepower, and I don't know many who can "feel" that difference. Just my two cents....

Jimbo

[spirone]

Flog it... If something is going to happen, then it will within the first year. For those of us with extended warranties, how can we lose????? :ryan:

[speedo66]

I always go by the recommendations. I also change the oil at 100, 500, and 1000 miles. That said, I've never had a problem with any of my motors. Also builds up the desire to open it up, and it's great when it happens! Delayed gratification?

[karbonblack]

I have had around 30 brand new bikes over a lot of years. I used to run them in by the book and had mixed results. For the last 10 years I have stuck to one method religously. I have NEVER had an engine problem since using this technique (and it is fun).

Ride "conservatively" for the fist 600km (400 miles) but whatever you do don't labor the motor.

However, at 100km (60 miles) take it to the red line in first gear and let it decelerate by backing of the throttle and not touching the brakes. At 200km take it to the red line in 2nd gear and follow the same rules. At 300km take it to the red line in 3rd gear and follow the same rules. At 400km take it to the red line in 4th gear etc. At 500km take it to the red line in 5th gear etc (f*cking fast on my last bike - a GSXR1000). At 600km ride it like you stole it and keep smiling.

:ryan:

[karbonblack]

Oops, I forgot one important aspect. Lots of short rides, letting the engine cool down between them rahter than hitting the open road and riding all day (which is what I used to do)!

[BJAM]

Broke a Ducati in by the book - it ended up using a litre of oil per 1000 miles - bad news for a bike designed for touring. Dealer stated that following the procedure was the cause and said I should have been 'harder' on the bike. Something about glazed cylinders....

[TLRMan]

I bet you all are waiting for me to put my 2 cents in huh?

This is what it all boils down to.....What material the rings are made of, and what type of finish and angle of the crosshatching in the bore is when finished.

Most rings today are the "L" type or "Dykes" ring, where it does use cylinder pressure to to expand the rings. I do have a problem of moto tune stating that the oil control is done with the top rings though....it's controlled by the 3rd groove rings..maybe that's why they call them the oil control rings?? I know there was a problem with a particular year bandit where the holes in the pistons behind the oil rings were too big!

So, depending on how agreesive the honing is....I used to have my cylinders ground... <_<
Will determine how much you crank on that badboy in the beginning.
With the liners being coated Aluminum, and not steel anymore, the coating is pretty tough, and it would be beneficial to break the rings in faster. Once the high spots on the honing process is gone, your rings will be done.

too much though and it could be cause for glazing....
Gotta ge t back to work!

[jrl305]

I agree with TLRman
I've put together quite a few engines in my day and I really can't say which way to break them in is best. No matter how many rings a piston has (2,3 or 4) the bottom one controls most of the oil. Racing engines don't get the luxury to get babied for 400-600 miles and they do just fine. Over the years, I have broken in new bikes the recommended way and have broken in rebuilt motors in a way similar to the Mototune method. With the new "L" shaped rings, the Mototune method does make some sense. If I ever get my new "naked"SV1K, I'm going to try their way. The only thing that everyone agrees on is that to never, never lug the engine when it's new.
I'll keep you posted.
John,
Miami

:beer:

[TLRMan]

Ok I'm outta work now, I can finish my post!

I tell people to run the engine, and let it work. Vary the speed by reving it "Freely" thru the gears...Don't get on the Highway, and keep it at one set RPM. Doing partial throttle pulls to 75% of red line will benefit it, just NO SUSTAINED REDLINE RUNS!

The most important thing you MUST do...is warm it up FULLY to operational temps before you start getting on it.

I used to strive to people that those cylinders have to be perfectly round... Well, as close as you can get to fully take advantage of sealing the cylinder.

When you first start your engine, the top of the piston expands faster than the cylinder does, and the cylinder does not heat, and expand equally either. what you get is an out of shape piston running in an out of shape cylinder. If the engineers did their homework correctly, once everything is warmed up, things should be back to as round as it can get. There are several ways to make sure that this will happen if you do any type of engine building. One is to simulate a cylinder head bolted to the cylinder. These are know as "Honing Plates" and do just that, you bolt, and torque the plate down onto the cylinder before final honing or grinding. The other is to warm up the cylinder to simulate operating temperatures. There is actually technology out there that is being refined to actually "bore" cylinders out of round, so when they do heat up, they will be round.....Screwy huh?? The other common way is to actually make the piston shape out of round, like an oval, as it heats up, it becomes round.

My Dragbike had coated bores, similar to nikasil, and 3 easy passes, with 3 full on passes was all it needed. It only had 2 rings per cylinder, piston velocity was outta site, but it only ran for a couple of seconds anyway....
Yes, I cracked pistons, if you were gonna ask me this....My brother got to see lots of them....

Well so much for scraping a set of chrome rings on a scratched up pattern bore!

We talk about the top end breaking in, but remember we got gearboxes, camshafts, Valve heads dropping into their seats, and several other moving parts that gotta find their place too!

Just remember to change the oil every 2500 miles and NO Synthetic stuff for at least 5000 miles.

My TLR has about 15K miles on the clock, and it pulls just as hard since the beginning. I get dizzy every time I give it a go! Must be my age, HUH?

[jrl305]

Yup,
I still have an old Harley XR service manual. It says to run the motor a few laps, pull it down, bore it to next size and put in new pistons. That was early '60's with cast iron cylinders. They needed the heat to "set" the round shape.
John

[oletimer]

I agree with you guys on piston ring break-in, lots of rpm changes and lots of down shifting, after 50 -100 start presurizing rings with some 3/4 throttle blasts. But also, for us street riders I think no hard riding for as long as you can stand it, like up to at least 500 miles or more to let those trans bearings and all other moving parts wear in nice. as for synthetic oil, I'll put it in at first change at 500 miles. Manufactorers are realizing the benifits of synthetics, even Harley now says use it in all evos and twincams from new if you want, they even put same oil in motor, trans and primary now! thats a leap into the 20th centry for them, now if we can get them into the 21st.!! BMW and Polaris uses synthetic from birth, keeps that heat down.

[hesevil]

synthetic 'from the birth' seems a bit retarded if you ask me. does it keep the heat down? yes, of course, synthetic oil prevents much more friction from occuring than does regular. friction though, is what you want for the break-in. how do the rings wear into the cylinders when they make such little contact? they cant... plain ol' retarded if you ask me

as for the first 500 miles then going to synthetic? its better than syn from the get-go, but i would wait at least 1000. i personally wouldnt even consider it until after at least 2000 miles, but thats me

[spirone]

I've been told by several mechanics to avoid using synthetic oil till about 2000 miles.

[vagrant]

Got my naked yesterday. did the Mototune thing and changed oil at 42 miles. if nothing else he is right about dumping the oil. When I have 5k on it I'll report.
:ryan:

[spirone]

I did the mototune thing also but haven'thanged the oil on it yet (has about 400 miles on it). My godfather, who was a Petroleum/Lubrications Engineer for British Petroleum (BP), said that you don't have to change the oil and filter immediately and that I could wait till about 500-600 miles; any sooner would be a waste of money. Todays detergent oils are more than capable of absorbing engine debris and will last longer than the manufacturer states.

[TornadoTRE]

Just ride it! That was my advice I got from Crescents, the BSB Rizla Suzuki team owners/runners. As long as you don't cane the thing into the redline you'll be fine, so I just rode it, guess what...absolutely no problems.

BTW, have you heard how Yamaha tested the R1 engine? 24 hour test on the bench, on the redline! If it goes bang, they go back to the drawing board. I'm sure they most bike manufacturers will put their engine through a similar kind of test to ensire they don't get too many blowing up and having some very dissatisfied customers!

[highrevs]

This is interesting as I'm ignorant to this, having just gotten back in to riding again. Unknowingly I had the revs up to aroung 9 or 10K briefly on several test rides. After buying the SV I rode it fairly easily briefly reving to 7K and taking lots of short rides while varying the revs almost constantly. Sounds like I should have changed the oil much sooner than the rec. 600 miles, though. I'm over 2000 miles and have just decided to run Mobil 1 full synthetic despite some mention of syn being bad for the clutch on the "oil filter" thread. What do you think about syn and the clutch?

[jrl305]

I did the mototune thing on my new naked. I still haven't pegged the rev limiter yet and I've been varying the revs around town. I've got about 150 miles on it and I'm changing the oil this weekend. Castrol GTX 10/40 'till the second oil change (3500 Miles) then Mobil 1 15/50.
Runs great!

John

:beer:

[jrl305]

I just changed the oil (GTX 10/40) again at 2400 miles. I did notice that there was a slight bit of muck attached to the magnet in the drain plug. No metal filings though.
Bike is running strong.
I'm going with Mobil 1 15/50 at around 4000 miles. New filter at that time too.

John

[shawnxb]

Interesting methodology, seems to make sense as well. Something to consider I suppose.

[jejenkins]

The notion of synthetic allowing wet clutches to slip too much is a farse as long as you use motorcycle specific synthetics. I run Bel-Ray synthetic. Check out this FAQ from Bel-ray, should answer your questions. As for my oil change intervals, I did it at 50 miles, 200 miles, 600 miles, 2000 miles. Changing filter every time. May be overkill, but for the $$$ it is worth the assurance. Now I changer every 2000 miles.
Bel- Ray link
http://www.belray.com/consumer/Q&A%20pages/q&amo.html