Good day all, Just joined the club with a recently purchased brand new silver '08 ABS. Would love to know if there is any advice out there about break-in procedures. I have heard everything from taking it really easy on the bike for 1000km (don't agree) to basically flogging it like a rented mule right out of the box (would like to agree but can't). Any thoughts?
WELCOME, and good luck with your new ride!! What's the owners manual say? A new engine should not be allowed to get too hot, and initial rides should be about 20 minutes, followed by a cooling period.....( just like sex, i guess)
I've heard both approaches as well. Look at it this way. It won't hurt a thing to pop her cherry in a gentle kind of way, but I can see how riding her like a cheap slut right out of the box could potentially do something bad. Either way, change your oil after the first 600 miles, and then again about 1500 miles after that. I pick mine up this weekend, and I plan on taking it fairly easy for the first 600 at least.
Lots of opinions on that one, some say girp it and rip it others say to baby it. My opinion is that you can't go wrong by following the owner's manual (wait a minute, did Hell just freeze over since I'm agreeing about something with squirrel?)
I cant bring myself to flog a new engine. Its a good idea however to open up the throttle in short bursts, avoiding high RPM to help bed in the rings, but keep it lightly loaded for the first 1000K. I didnt take mine to vtec until after 1000Kms (600 miles) and the first oil change, then change the oil again, as someone else said at about 2500Kms. It wont start to loosen up until about 5000Kms. I hope your fuelling is OK, it does improve with KMS, mine wasnt too good. Good luck with your new bike
many "just flog it" opinions come from track racers who rebuild frequently and are not concerened with long term factors...
I would recommend against long periods of constant RPM's. You will want to vairy the RPM's to help the rings to seat. Also, I would recommend aginst using Synthetic Oils until well after the break in period is over.
