Running in period

28912 Views 31 Replies 21 Participants Last post by Roman Sem 2, Feb 27, 2018

graeme4130

Discussion Starter · Feb 22, 2016

Hi All
My dealer was a little unsure today when I popped in to see my March 1st Delivery bike, but has anyone had a definitive answer on the running in period and rules during that period ?
I see the first service is due at 800 miles, so i assume this is the end of the RI ?

He's told me he'll have this data available when I collect the bike, but as I'm trying to plan some march adventures, It'd be useful to know in advance

1 - 20 of 32 Posts

S4MST3R

· #2 · Feb 22, 2016

Hi Graeme - I think we've the same dealer

I read elsewhere that there isn't any specific run-in instruction in the manual. Others have been advised not to labour the motor and that's all I've heard

Sam

S4MST3R

· #3 · Feb 22, 2016

I do hope that's my white DCT version behind yours in the picture on your other thread ;-)

graeme4130

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 22, 2016

S4MST3R said:
I do hope that's my white DCT version behind yours in the picture on your other thread ;-)

Could well be. They had 3 or 4 in Blade Swindon today that had just arrived
Roll on March the 2nd (seems the salesman isn't in on the 1st, so Ive got to wait until the 2nd)

S4MST3R

· #5 · Feb 22, 2016

Same salesman then - the one that managed to share personal details with us both on Friday via email

I'm in for mine on the 2nd too

jonathan.smithnyc

· #6 · Feb 22, 2016

manual says not full throttle/acceleration for 300 miles, thats all. kept below 4000rpm for 300 miles and below 6000rpm for next 300 miles.

as always not sitting at constant revs for long periods of time is best. variable load on engine.

first service at 1000-1200km

i took mine at 640 miles

Drago

· #7 · Feb 22, 2016

Running in

An interesting read for you.

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

Works for me..but as always make your own mind up..

S4MST3R

· #8 · Feb 22, 2016

We used to argue for months about this over on the SuperBlackbird forums years ago. Have seen a very similar site previously (may have been MotoMan's)

I haven't heard of anybody having problems from riding a bike hard out of the crate for a long long while. My view is that it's a Honda and it has a warranty

SkipD

· #9 · Feb 23, 2016

Running In

graeme4130 said:
Hi All
My dealer was a little unsure today when I popped in to see my March 1st Delivery bike, but has anyone had a definitive answer on the running in period and rules during that period ?
I see the first service is due at 800 miles, so i assume this is the end of the RI ?

He's told me he'll have this data available when I collect the bike, but as I'm trying to plan some march adventures, It'd be useful to know in advance

Rapid acceleration and de-acceleration loads in the first 50 km ie wide open throttle without taking it into the high end of the RPM scale. Get as much load into it as you can but dont over rev it. Once you have the rings bedded in then take it easy ie not over rev it, lots of gear changes keeping it in the power sweet spot until your first oil and filter change.

Yromulus

· #10 · Feb 23, 2016

Oh dear - another quandary to deal with! Can I force myself to fully throttle a new bike having always treated them with kid gloves?! My subconscious will probably override things and stop me...

Do I follow the people who make it or a number of other people who put forward seemingly valid arguments?

I have a month (or more) to decide!

Rory

· #11 · Feb 23, 2016

S4MST3R said:
We used to argue for months about this over on the SuperBlackbird forums years ago. Have seen a very similar site previously (may have been MotoMan's)

I haven't heard of anybody having problems from riding a bike hard out of the crate for a long long while. My view is that it's a Honda and it has a warranty

Maybe of some interest wrt this .. I visited the KTM factory and they run each bike on the dyno after assembly to make sure it is making power to the specified parameters ,,, they are not gentle at all , it did make a few hairs on my back stand on end .
"They also specify no hard loads and labouring "

graeme4130

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 23, 2016

S4MST3R said:
Same salesman then - the one that managed to share personal details with us both on Friday via email I'm in for mine on the 2nd too

haha, yeah, I've just seen I have your email on address on my email too
I'm in at 09:30 on the 2nd, so might see you in there

graeme4130

Discussion Starter · #13 · Feb 23, 2016

Running in always gets different opinions.
If the service book has a certain set of parameters that you're supposed to stick to, and you don't, would this void any warranty claims at a later date if the ECU has kept a track of the usage ?
I've seen it happen with cars where the ECU stores the revs, throttle openings etc, and the company has turned down a blown engine as it'd had not been run in even closely in line with the manual
Saying that, when i collected my last new car, the salesman told me to drive it hard from the start.
Back when I used to have a company car, I used to drive it flat out from brand new as the engine would delivery better MPG once it had worn in, and I never had any problems with them.

Rory

· #14 · Feb 23, 2016

haha, I did the same with cars I did not pay for when I was younger ,and they also ran like the clappers . My son has a civic that I ran in hard and now done 380 000 km no problems and still blows away most other similar models , only had brakes and tyres replaced , and general service stuff ...not even an alternator .I now adopt this for all my new cars and bikes ... Once the motor is warm .. do what you like ! Change oil and filters often !!

adventure boy

· #15 · Feb 23, 2016

Mine was Delivered last Thursday but I cant ride it till the 1st as its also registered on a 16, the guy who delivered it said there was no real running in procedure but just stay away from full RPM till the 1st service !!

maxhammond

· #16 · Feb 23, 2016

If I recall MCN did a back to back test on a pair of Suzuki GS'S a few year's ago.
One was carefully run in the other was thrashed straight out of the crate.
They tested them after a few thousand miles and the thrashed one made more power .
They then stripped them both and checked and measured for wear and tear - result was absolutely no difference between the two!
Although it would be against my nature I wouldn't worry too much with modern oils and engineering to ride a new bike as 'briskly ' as you dare.

Eric

· #17 · Feb 23, 2016

I believe it is not necessary to run in an engine as it was in the past.
At that time production was not as accurate as it is now. In the first oil change you always could find metalscrape. These days you won’t.
I don’t know if motorcycle ECU adapts to the driver as it does in some cars , but I can imagine a ECU adapting to ‘slow’ drivers and to people who like to open throttle full. If so, it would take some time to readapt the ECU after a moderate run in.
Just my 2 cents

Reactions: 1

Captain Scarlet

· #18 · Feb 23, 2016

IMPO running in periods are defined by manufacturers as a safe guard to help new riders who aren't familiar with bedding in brand new tires and brakes, and so need to temper their throttle control until they are fully familiar with the bike and the way in which it's going to handle and stop. Saves on all those "TL1000S Widow Maker" headlines.

If you've ever visited a manufacturers assembly line, you'll notice the dyno room at the very end. That's where they happily redline your brand new bike for a few minutes, checking acceptable power output, prior to your dealer telling you that it's imperative that you must 'take it easy' due to all it's techno-babble delicate precision internals.

Again, IMPO, for the confident and experienced rider, the complete opposite advise is best. On most of my new bikes, I've had the opportunity to get up to and keep close to the redline within a few miles of collection, for a good ten miles or so. That's effectively the running in period over. After that neither labor, nor thrash, just ride normally. I.e. Start it, never warm it up, just ride it immediately and just use 'normal revs'.

Each to their own for anyone who disagrees, that's what forums are for, to listen, discard or adopt POV's. But in my personal experience, I've owned about 30 new bikes and maybe 10 new cars, and I have run all of them in the exact same way - very hard, for a very short period, from as low mileage as possible. And I have never had an engine or gearbox (manual, auto, or DCT) problem at all. Not even a leaky gasket leak or suspect noise.

Honda's usual engine sign off was (and I presume still is) to 'redline' a production line spec engine, continually for at least '24 hours'. If it doesn't go pop or sound like a bag of spanners, then they'd sign it off as good to go. So, I think it'll handle someone getting all giddy and revving it to 6k or whatever for 30 seconds on their first day of ownership.

This is probably the best technical Running In article that I've ever read, written by the amazing journalist, Kevin Ash (RIP): http://www.ashonbikes.com/content/running

See less See more

Davy F

· #19 · Feb 23, 2016

I've had two factory tours (at Ducati and KTM) and never saw any engines being red-lined at the end of the production line. They go into a booth, all electrics checked, brakes and run through the gearbox, but not thrashed. It takes all of a minute for each bike to go through the end process.

anotherbiker

· #20 · Feb 24, 2016

I don't know what to believe on running in things, because for as many articles you find that say to ride the bike hard, you'll find others saying ride the bike gently.

So I steer a middle ground on it and ride it normally. I don't baby it, but I also don't rev it to red line. The only big difference is that I pay much more attention to varying the revs, so try to avoid long rides along the highway sticking to the same speed the whole way, until it has had the 600 mile service.

Reactions: 1

1 - 20 of 32 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.