Brand new RX-1 - how do you protect the engine?

[ReX]

I've always believed that while the break in is very important, what happens before that is at least as important. I hate the idea of trapped moisture oxidizing the rings and cyclinders prior to breaking it in.

With my other new toys/cars I've always performed the full break in within 2 days of being fired up for the first time at the dealer.

With the sled, it's probably going to run just enough to get on a trailer and then potentially sit will all of the moisture locked in the engine until the snow flies. That sounds horrible to me!

I figure the options are:

- convince the dealer not to fire it up at all, minimizig the moisture and leaving the assembly lube protecting against corrosion. (basically don't fire it up until there's just enough snow to break it in in the back field)

- after I get it home, lube the track with water? and do a pre-breakin on the stand - mainly to get the engine up to temperature to minimize the moisture and then shut it down until winter.

- as above, but don't engage the track, just keep tweaking the throttle a little for about 10 minutes or so.

- fog the engine through the spark plug holes and park it until winter.

What have you done with your new sleds?

 

[Mighty]

- after I get it home, lube the track with water? and do a pre-breakin on the stand - mainly to get the engine up to temperature to minimize the moisture and then shut it down until winter.

- as above, but don't engage the track, just keep tweaking the throttle a little for about 10 minutes or so.

Either of these will work. I did the second on an RX-1 and a Warrior.

 

[welterracer]

People worry about this WAY TOO MUCH!!

Read this and learn.. its the way it is!!

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

 

[welterracer]

FYI.... I picked up my warrior at the dealer and drove it home in the snow.. and right there in front of the dealer i nailed it WFO just for him to prove that if you dont baby it, its better off!!

1370 miles and it didnt burn a drop of oil!!

 

[impalapower]

By warming it up for 10 minutes you won't get the full benefit of the engine being hot. Load it up on the trailer and take it home, then put the garden hose to the heat exchanger and open up the throttle a bit and run it for a while. Don't bother fogging this late in the summer the sled will be fine.

 

[impalapower]

The dealer needs to fire it up when they go through the checkup. Even if it runs for a short time, by the time you get the sled, no real oxidation has been done, don't worry about it. Some folks take awful care of engines and they still run. Furthermore, you'll probably be on your next sled long before the engine is worn out on this one.

 

[ReX]

FYI.... I picked up my warrior at the dealer and drove it home in the snow.. and right there in front of the dealer i nailed it WFO just for him to prove that if you dont baby it, its better off!!

1370 miles and it didnt burn a drop of oil!!

I was actually trying to figure out what to do in the time before I get a chance to break it in (I'll be picking it up probably next month - snow doesn't fly typically until December).

I've always done a moderately hard breakin and will with the RX-1 - but I don't agree you should go WFO right off the bat, especially on a cold engine.

My method (similar to the mototuneusa method) - warm it up a fair bit, blipping the throttle for a few minutes, then drive it lightly until it's warmed up fully, then drive it fairly normally with a fair bit of short WO throttle, but no long WO stretches for at least 500 miles (also no long constant RPM periods). The more miles, the longer WO stretches I'll run. After that, hopefully, it will live a long hard life with frequent oil changes.

With my other high performance 4-strokes (like the truck engine, the '67 ragtop, etc.) I've always changed the oil very early (somewhere between 20 minutes of running and a few hundred miles).

I generally keep my toys until they're pretty much worn out. I expect to keep the RX-1 for many years.

 

[ReX]

By warming it up for 10 minutes you won't get the full benefit of the engine being hot. Load it up on the trailer and take it home, then put the garden hose to the heat exchanger and open up the throttle a bit and run it for a while. Don't bother fogging this late in the summer the sled will be fine.

I agree with you - that's what I'll be doing.

 

[impalapower]

And of course change the oil and filter at 500 miles and every season thereafter.

 

[Musky Hunter]

Hey Almost, I think you may be going a little extreme in your break in protocol. If there is anyone here who hasn't fired their sled up for all their buddies to listen to during the off season, I'd be surprised. These things sound way to cool. We've all done it. Fire it up for a couple of minutes to show it off to all our 2-stroke bros and shut it down. I sincerely doubt that there has been any engine damage as a result of this practice. To ask your dealer not to run it seems excesive. I would suppose that there is some moisture residue in the exhaust because that takes significantly longer to heat up than the pistons, cylinders, rings. After all, these parts are in direct contact with the ignition. I feel the moisture impact within the cylinder is negligible. Start it, listen to it, and remind yourself you just purchased the most reliable sled on the market!
Good luck.

 

[Mighty]

Go ahead and start it Musky, but do let it warm up. The few times I do this I run it until the exaust doesn't spit out any more moisture.

 

[ReX]

Hey Almost, I think you may be going a little extreme in your break in protocol. If there is anyone here who hasn't fired their sled up for all their buddies to listen to during the off season, I'd be surprised. These things sound way to cool. We've all done it. Fire it up for a couple of minutes to show it off to all our 2-stroke bros and shut it down. I sincerely doubt that there has been any engine damage as a result of this practice. To ask your dealer not to run it seems excesive. I would suppose that there is some moisture residue in the exhaust because that takes significantly longer to heat up than the pistons, cylinders, rings. After all, these parts are in direct contact with the ignition. I feel the moisture impact within the cylinder is negligible. Start it, listen to it, and remind yourself you just purchased the most reliable sled on the market!
Good luck.

Over my years of building and having motors built for me and my buddies we have had a few bad situations with pre-broken in motors getting damaged with this practice.

The worst case was with a friends '68 Camaro. A nicely built LT1 was dropped in, but the drivetrain wasn't complete yet. He fired it up a few times to show some buddies for a couple of minutes each time (open headers - pipes weren't on yet).

About two weeks later, after completing the exhaust and rear end it wouldn't turn over. Seized. We pulled it apart again and cleaned it up (rings and cylinders were mildly rusted - they weren't too hard to get out), but it was never the same again - it always burnt oil and didn't make the power it should.

 

[welterracer]

FYI.... I picked up my warrior at the dealer and drove it home in the snow.. and right there in front of the dealer i nailed it WFO just for him to prove that if you dont baby it, its better off!!

1370 miles and it didnt burn a drop of oil!!

I was actually trying to figure out what to do in the time before I get a chance to break it in (I'll be picking it up probably next month - snow doesn't fly typically until December).

I've always done a moderately hard breakin and will with the RX-1 - but I don't agree you should go WFO right off the bat, especially on a cold engine.

My method (similar to the mototuneusa method) - warm it up a fair bit, blipping the throttle for a few minutes, then drive it lightly until it's warmed up fully, then drive it fairly normally with a fair bit of short WO throttle, but no long WO stretches for at least 500 miles (also no long constant RPM periods). The more miles, the longer WO stretches I'll run. After that, hopefully, it will live a long hard life with frequent oil changes.

With my other high performance 4-strokes (like the truck engine, the '67 ragtop, etc.) I've always changed the oil very early (somewhere between 20 minutes of running and a few hundred miles).

I generally keep my toys until they're pretty much worn out. I expect to keep the RX-1 for many years.

Of coarse i warmed the engine before going WFO... Anyone who doesnt is just plain NUTS as the pistons are forged and have to warm up to fully seat!!

Enjoy.... Youve bought the best sled out there!!