500 mile check up
- Thread starter schroetf
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For the love of God, folks make this whole break-in issue out to be some sort of black magic. It's really a whole lot less complicated than it needs to be.
This is what I've done on all 12 brand new motorcycles I've owned over the years. I've been rewarded with hard running, reliable machines that burn no oil and never go to the repair shop (except for the POS Ducati Monster I bought and hated, then sold):
1) Buy new bike.
2) Ride normally (that is to say, no flogging it, no babying it either). Explore the bottom 50% of the tach (so, up to about six grand on a new 'busa) for the first 500 or so miles, then ride it more spiritedly for the last 100 miles of the "break-in" period (including a few hard runs to redline through at least the first few gears). This will cause any bits of micro-particulate which are going to shake loose to come free and depart the engine when you dump the old oil.
3) Perform own oil and filter change at 600 miles (I went all the way to 700 because I was coming back from a road trip, oh, the horror!- lol) using an OEM or K&N filter and just shy of a gallon of Shell Rotella T "truck" oil, 15W-40. Waste not your money on bottles of expensive "motorcycle" oil with a little picture of a bike on the outside. My Rotella, a top rated oil, is less than a buck and a half at Wal-Mart.
My bike will last pert near forever, I save plenty of money in doing the service work myself (keep your receipts), and I don't get caught up in these mystery break-in recipes that only cause a guy heartburn and prove to be cannon fodder for useless, heated threads on boards like this.
My .02 worth only, YMMV.
opdsgt
This is what I've done on all 12 brand new motorcycles I've owned over the years. I've been rewarded with hard running, reliable machines that burn no oil and never go to the repair shop (except for the POS Ducati Monster I bought and hated, then sold):
1) Buy new bike.
2) Ride normally (that is to say, no flogging it, no babying it either). Explore the bottom 50% of the tach (so, up to about six grand on a new 'busa) for the first 500 or so miles, then ride it more spiritedly for the last 100 miles of the "break-in" period (including a few hard runs to redline through at least the first few gears). This will cause any bits of micro-particulate which are going to shake loose to come free and depart the engine when you dump the old oil.
3) Perform own oil and filter change at 600 miles (I went all the way to 700 because I was coming back from a road trip, oh, the horror!- lol) using an OEM or K&N filter and just shy of a gallon of Shell Rotella T "truck" oil, 15W-40. Waste not your money on bottles of expensive "motorcycle" oil with a little picture of a bike on the outside. My Rotella, a top rated oil, is less than a buck and a half at Wal-Mart.
My bike will last pert near forever, I save plenty of money in doing the service work myself (keep your receipts), and I don't get caught up in these mystery break-in recipes that only cause a guy heartburn and prove to be cannon fodder for useless, heated threads on boards like this.
My .02 worth only, YMMV.
opdsgt
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Hey, I apologize if I came off the wrong way toward your question. You're 110% correct, better to ask than not and wind up doing something detrimental to your machine.
The bottom line is, relax. Unless you purposely thrash the piss out of your new motorcycle, a spirited break-in won't hurt a thing.
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