Well hello. Noob here with a question. I've been away from bikes for 10 years and I did something stupid I bought a brand new bike that's a little beyond my skills so far. I got my motorcycle safety class this week. Anyways I got to break in the motor. I'm going to use the mototune method to break in the motor. Here's the link

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

I read about this method before, and seen it used on corvette, jeep and import turbo motors before. So I got to put it through it's paces for the first 20 miles, and then the next 100 - 200 miles. Up and down through most of the RPM range. Not going to kill it, but making sure it's broke in right. the site even says you don't have to take it over 65mph to break it in, but I'll probably push it through most of the gears too.So next Saturday my brother and I going to trailer it out to a long straight road(about 10 mileslong both ways) with almost no traffic. I'll run it up and back several times and change the oil several times. Depends on how long it takes, and how quickly my brother runs out of time(up to his wife) but my goal is basically to get as much of first 200 miles broke in, so that if I baby it on the way to work it doesn't hurt me in the long run.

Sorry if this belongs in the noob section, didn't see anything on this type of break in when I searched.

Anyways just asking if there was any advice from the more experienced.
Thanks.

 

Just skimmed over that site, and I read a "ride it hard" thing, which I'm not to keen on. Yes, put it through the RPM's and gears, but I wouldn't ride it hard. Here's how my dealer, friends and track buddies advised me when I broke in my motor (on my bike and car).

The normal break-in period is about 600 miles on average, and it's pretty much just city riding. No full throttle sprints. Run the engine throughout the RPM range....meaning take it easy, but vary the RPM and speed of the bike. Don't keep the RPM's at a constant position. Shift frequently, and ride easy for the duration of the break-in.

When your break-in period is done, have a dealer/shop (that you trust) perform a 1st maintenence checkup. They'll change the oil, filter, check the frame bolts, hoses, clamps, tires, brakes, electrical, etc. It's usually about $50-$80 bucks. This is a VITAL step in the bikes overall health, and to be proactive in finding anything that might be defective or starting to wear prematurely.

You'll get those people that say "do it yourself, you're just throwing away your money", but I just ignore them. I've worked on cars for a long time, but not bikes. If something goes wrong on a bike, you are more at risk than with a car. So I would strongly recommend taking the bike to a shop for the 1st checkup, unless you are an experienced motorcycle tech.

 

Ride it like your gona drive it. I've riddenevery bike I've had from day one like it was the last time I'd ever get to ride. this rr I have was broken in by beating it to death and it has 30,000+ miles, no engine wear and the valves were checked this summer and needed absolutly no adjustment. You don't need to hi the rev limiter but don't be scared to get her going. Based on your ability youmite need to take it easy for a litttle while but not because it needs to be broken in. Your gonna get many different answers for this one and besides that is what the warrantee is for just don't do anything to nullify that.

 

Modern engines are built with very strict tolerances and dont require much of a break in from what ive been told besides varying the rpms.

Blue Fox's advise appears spot on the $

 

yo...take a hidden camera when you pay the dealer to do that first service and see EXACTLY what they do...i guarantee it's nothing that can't be done by a DIY.
as far as having a shop do the work...it's not about saving money, it's about knowing your own machine...and it's also about dealership's quality of work. i honestly can't find one that does a good job.

break in is very little about the tolerances of the little parts here and there that must work together, but primarily to ensure that the piston rings mate to the cylinder walls to get you a good seal...if you SCREW around it may not seal properly, resulting in poor performance later.

my bike has 40K on it...i just rode it...varied the RPM...but i also gunned it when i had to...
i say don't be shy on the throttle and don't be crazy on it either...

blue fox...do your own work...you need to KNOW the bike to become ONE with it...if you want to be fast....you have to do your own work...that's just the way it is...yea motogp guys don't...nor some AMA...but they had to initially...to be fast...

Yellow...we know you ride all your new bikes hard, but reminiscing about your BMX and huffy 10-speed days is just way too off topic here! muahahahahah

so it's up to you...take your bike to the shop and have some idiot work on it, take it to my house and have me (another idiot) work it on...and go hang out at starbucks...or work on it yourself and be FAST and ONE with the bike...

 

Don't get me wrong, I never said "don't work on your bike". I just said that make sure a "trusted" mechanic or tech checks it out for the first time. That 1st checkup after break-in is extremely crucial. If something was to prematurely go wrong with the bike, it's usually found during this checkup.

In fact, when I took my bike in for the first checkup, they found that my starter was bad, and I had NO idea it was. It was staying activated a little too long and was getting chewed up. If I never took it in for that checkup, I might have ended up breaking a lot more than just the starter.

-BUT-

I whole heartedly agree with working on your own machine. I worked on cars my whole life, but when I got the bike, it was alien and scared me a little. But now that I've worked on it a little, I feel comfortable with it, and will most likely continue to work on it myself UNTIL something I'm not familiar with goes wrong.

But at the same time, I trust the dealer I bought it from with my life (Alamo Cycle Center). They've always helped me out, never ripped me off and the owner as well as a few of the techs and salespeople there are now good friends of mine. It's the classic 1 owner, "good ol' boys" type of place. I feel extremely lucky to have a dealer/shop I can drop my bike off with and know that it's in very good hands.

My advice to new buyers would be buy a bike from a dealer you trust in the first place. If you don't trust your dealer with working on your bike, why would you buy a bike from them? As long as they know they can sell bikes and rip people off, they'll stay in business. If people stop buying bikes from bad dealers, maybe they'll think "damn, were ripping people off and not selling crap, maybe we should stop."

We have a dealer in town (LC Motorsports), and they're HORRIBLE. I'm not going to reward their incompetence, shady service center and used car-shark salesmen by buying a new bike from them. EVER. I even told them that. Now I get "we want you back" cards, but I just send them back.

But yeah, that's just my rambling.