Break in question

[Mighty]

I took about a 25 mile cruise between 30-60 mph or 1/4 to 3/4 throttle and called it good. I have read the articles that say drive it like you stole it.....I just can't do it.

That's what I did on my RX-1 and Warrior.

 

[BigGuns]

It's going to be hard not to jump on my RTX and not just hammer it. I'll have to go out for a long ride the first day and get it over with right away.

 

[MR.HAPPY]

I give it 20-25 miles being some what easy & then give it helll!!!

If anything is not right it will show up in the 20-25 miles!

I baby'd my 03' & it burnt oil big time!

I ran my 05' hard after 20-25 & she didn't burn any!!!!

BR

 

[smokeless1]

There has been some pretty interesting discussions about the breakin proceedure including one back early last winter that had some pretty convincing evidence that doing opposite of the manufacturer was better than the take it easy process recommended. I think that taking it easy for the first 15 minutes is probably a good idea, since issues could crop up inside that time and you won't be as likely to be dropping the machine back off at the dealer for a couple weeks getting repairs done

Then after that time, I pull everything and look at what is happening to plugs and oil, water, ect. Loose bolts and nuts and all sorts of stuff become obvious after the first run.

But ring sealing is important to lack of oil consumption, and I guess there is major dispute as to what to do these days. Go like crazy or continue to go easy for a few hundred miles.

One thing for sure is that anyone who says that they drove like they stole it and it doesn't burn oil, is sort of like saying you smoked cigarettes for 30 years and ain't go lung cancer. some people are just born lucky. So it proves nothing.

Take the guy who rips the machine down to the foundation after a few miles and mics stuff out and looks at the machine under a microscope, would get more of my attention.

 

[Spyderman]

Last year with my vector I pretty much followed the book, with the focus on varied throttle position. Only a couple WOT for 2-3 seconds - just to see how high it revs of course... This year with my RTX, I think I going to be somewhat more agreesive and follow the site below, but also pay attention to what the manufacturer says i.e. avoid long time frames above X rpms for the first X miles, etc.
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

[LazyBastard]

If you read the manufacturer's recommendations carefully, it actually implies that you MUST open it up for brief full open pulls during BOTH stages of the breakin. It doesn't say to NEVER exceed the specified RPM, it says to avoid PROLONGED operation above.

Rule of thumb.... keep the AVERAGE cruising rpm under the limit specified, ie... if you're at a 5000 rpm breakin point and you run 2 seconds at 10000 rpm, then you went 5000 rpm over, so run it at 4000 rpm for 10 seconds to bring the AVERAGE rpm back down to 5000. I wouldn't go too much over 4 second bursts in the first stage of breakin. Second stage of breakin keep it under 7 seconds.

 

[snowbeast]

The first 20 to 30 miles will dectate how the rings will seal,and how much crosshatch was removed from break in,run it along burping it to full throttle for short bursts of 10-15 second wacks,for a couple miles than start holding it longer until you can run it wfo for 1/2 mile or so ,under a load,in snow for better cooling and real world conditions,after 20-30 miles its all broke in,now i am only talking about the rings,you will loosing up the chassie and bearings on everything else with more time and miles,but the engine has a very small window to do a proper break in,it all depends on what you want,so do it any way you want,but mine will be done this way,good luck,and happy trails...

 

[APEX 21]

WOW, how can you be that much different that the recommendations :shock:

 

[Sidewinder]

What about breaking it in on a dyno?

 

[Oak Hill]

Break in. For what it is worth, I have been working on and building engines for the past 32 years and this is what I have always done for break in and have never had any oil useage problems and/or failures.

1. Run engine at idle or low speeds until it reachs operating tempature.

2. Vary throttle position - no steady operation. This is key to ring seating.
Varing the throttle position allows the rings to flex and seat.

3. Short full throttle burst (1/4 mile max). No high speed runs across the
lake.

4. Do this for the first 200 miles. I call this normal trail riding.

5. Change the oil and filter at 200 miles.

6. Now run it any way you want.


The key to the whole break in is to vary the throttle and no steady speeds for the first 200 miles. No runs across the lake ( this will build excessive heat and on a fresh engine you could damage the rings, pistons and cylinder walls. I have never had an engine failure and/or oil burner. This applies to all 4 cycle and 2 cycle engines.

On my race engines I always broke them in hard as follows:

1. Run engine at idle and or low speeds until it reachs operating
tempature.

2. Make 10 full throttle (5 second blasts), with a cool down period of
varying throttle positions between each full throttle pass.

3. Change oil and filter.

4. Go for it.

Never lost a single engine - never. Never ever had an oil consumption problem.

 

[Stearn]

Be careful. If you are coming off a well broken in two stroke, the first time you let off the gas on a new 4, you might throw yourself over the hood.
PK