hey guys,

For those who bought their bikes new, I'm curious what break-in procedure you used. Did you baby it, did you hammer it or did you find a middle ground? I've read how babying a new engine is BAD and can glaze cylinders, etc. I'm in the process of breaking in my new 1000rr (it's my first new bike) and the owner's manual makes NO mention of RPM limitations, so I'm not quite sure why some people say "keep it under ___ for x amount of miles". I'm not bouncing off the rev limiter but I am fluctuating the RPM and doing plenty of engine braking.

So I'm curious what method you used. This would be a good format to follow:

Bike model/year
Break-in method used (you could add RPM limits you stuck to)
Current mileage
Any issues so far (oil consumption, etc)

Looking forward to seeing the different methods everyone used!

 

Out of the 105 views, no one bought their bike new??

 

Sorry, this will bw a longish post. I haven't broken in a cbr1000rr. I bought my s1000rr new tho. So YMMV with my advice.

BMW sets a hard rev limiter @9000 rpm until first service at 600 miles. Bike cannot physically go beyond 9k. They state not to go above 7k rpm until 186 miles. No physical enforcement but just suggested. So nobody can "ride it like they stole it". More than half the power is physically unavailable. So it's not a Honda. But the engineers at BMW obviously feel that the engine can be sufficiently broken in under 9k rpm. Honestly, I did follow their advice simply because if anything did go wrong it wouldn't be my fault. Yolie runs fine and doesn't burn oil.

So you don't have to ride her hard to break her in (pun intended). Things I was told were importanr about breaking in an engine.

• Don't lug the engine, cruising at extremely low rpm
• Do not snap the throttle open / shut
• Always let the engine FULLY warm up before putting load on the engine
• Let the engine completely cooldown between riding sessions
• Vary gears and rpm while riding.

Lugging the engine will cause glazing in the cylinders. If the gear is too tall for the speed, downshift dammit. Gently roll on / off the throttle. Going from 0 to WOT or WOT to 0 instantly isn't good for an engine during breakin either. Warming up and cooling down the engine is extremely important. You're trying to get the rings to seat properly which require heat properly applied. And don't go on any extended rides yet. Letting her run too hot for tol long can cause glazing as well. And you already got the varying rpms / engine braking part.

Best I can offer short of suggesting a dyno break in. Have fun! Going to be going thru it again myself on Monday with a new bike

 

thanks for the input Kuroshio! I agree with everything you posted.

 

ride it like you stole it , change oil often
pretty much sums it up

 

take it easy and let the engine flush itself. that stuff about revving it hard to seat the rings is nonsense.

the oil consumption on my old 08 1000rr was noticeable. 3/4 qt per 1000 miles. it had 13k miles when i sold it.
my current 11 Repsol has 9k mi.. although i can sometimes smell the oil burning, the dipstick always says full.

 

08 cbr1000rr were known to be oil eaters out of the box
due to the single oil scraper ring on the pistons

 

I agree with the above, its roughly what I did with my new 2012 1000RR.
Repeated short rides with constant throttle variation, didn't go over 5000rpm for first 100 km, then 6000rpm for next 300km, first service at 400km, then 8500 rpm limit to 1000 km and now only very, very occasional 10,000rpm spurt until 2500km, repeat a service, after which I will ride as per normal.

 

So essentially it's ok to rev to ~8k rpm so long as I'm varying the rpm?

I'm in the same situation with a 2012 rr

I'm also not convinced with the taking it easy route although I'm also not a fan of bouncing off the rev limiter. A happy medium is good.