Break-in period...necessary ?

[CRWDDYZ]

In this day and age...."500 miles below 4000 rpms and another 100 miles below 6000 rpm" says the manual.....thats killing me

Also while on the topic of the manual...really poorly written (english version at least) for a world-wide corporation. Misspellings and just really bad trnaslation I guess...hard to understand on a few pages.

[fastbear]

The break-in procedure might have been applicable for a 1950's engine but the last dozen plus Kwak's we have broken in have all followed the Moto Man method. Saves time, patience, and deffinitely seats the rings quickly.

[reesedp]

Where I work, all of the rules have been paid for in blood one way or another. Yeah, 1000 miles of holding back sucks, but the odds are good that there is a reason for it.

[Biedmatt]

Originally Posted by CRWDDYZ

...for a world-wide corporation. Misspellings and just really bad trnaslation...

You should have seen Suzuka (AKA Honda) Circuit's description for the 8 hour race a couple years ago. If you got tired of the race and wanted to do something else, you could ride the "ejaculation machines" next to the race track.

Enjoy the link: http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld...sp?insert=9006

[ZuluNinja]

"you will be able to ride free all of Motopia ejaculation machines so you can get cold sweat with it to cool you down!" I wanna ride the ejaculation machines!!! (provided it's me doing the action!)

[CRWDDYZ]

That is good stuff....

[Biedmatt]

I got to have even more fun with it beyond the initial shock and laughter. I have a friend who owns an amusement park: http://home.fuse.net/strickersgrove/. So I asked him about the ejaculation machines. I wanted to know how they worked and if the operators cleaned these machines after each patron used it.

[jonathan]

Are you sure that you got the English manual? It's really hard to tell.

[Clingy]

The manual is astonishingly bad. All they needed to do was pay a student for a couple of hours of "red pen" work.

Breaking in? Well, high performance motorcycle engines can't be compared to car engines (where running in is not necessary). I'm sticking to the guidelines.

[CRWDDYZ]

Originally Posted by fastbear

The break-in procedure might have been applicable for a 1950's engine but the last dozen plus Kwak's we have broken in have all followed the Moto Man method. Saves time, patience, and deffinitely seats the rings quickly.

OK, I'll bite...what is the MOTO MAN METHOD ?

[08CC14]

Originally Posted by CRWDDYZ

OK, I'll bite...what is the MOTO MAN METHOD ?

Reader's Digest abbreviated version: Break it in like you ride... Fast, Furious and Hard. Run like hell and hope it don't break!

[fastbear]

The Moto-Man Break-In is a method of prepping the engine to run reliably, fast, and retain its designated horsepower from the mfg. First buy the bike, then hopefully head out to a quiet highway for several power on runs. I try to hold the throttle wide open, run up to around 100 mph then chop throttle and let engine compress down to a slow speed. For most sport bikes first and second should be enough. Then completely this procedure head to where you can change oil and filter. Now, your following outings with the bike would hopefully allow the engine varied rpms as possible. Avoid constant speed if convenient. We change the oil at first outing, 250 miles and 500. Then change as reasonable. This procedure will allow quick seating of the rings and remove contaminents from engine quickly.

Obviously manual followers will not elect this above procedure. That's cool because everyone to there own choice. We have broke in some 18 or so motorcycles this way. The results are very positive. The engines are fast, do not use oil and produce normal oil samples as the miles roll on. At first this was a hard idea to equate to but having tried the method numerous times I find that it works exceeding well. One obvious secret here is not to hold the throttle wide open and keep engine at a high sustained rpm for long periods. If the first and second gear method is not practical in your area try running higher gears if a safe area. Enjoy.

[Flying Kaw]

This is just my opinion...albeit an educated one.

I would be very wary to try to outsmart the little guys in the white coats. They have pumped several million dollars into research on THIS bike alone. That doesn't include the tens of millions of research on modern engines with electro-plated cylinders, trick heads, and pistons and all the trappings therein.

That's not to say you can't modify their design and do well. This issue isn't like a bolt on mod. This would be like using mineral oil if the manufacturer insisted on synthetic for some reason. The breakin procedure is based on metallurgy...a field that the majority of "racers" are utterly clueless about. You may break it in another way and get by...but just because it works doesn't mean it's the best way to do it. If the best...safest ...way to break the bike in was utilizing the "Moto Man" method then guess what Kawasaki would recommend.

jm$.02

[Hitman]

What difference does a 1000miles break in period make anyway.? It is over very quickly and it allows you to ride slowly so that people can drool a bit when you go by.

[Biedmatt]

Originally Posted by Flying Kaw

I would be very wary to try to outsmart the little guys in the white coats. They have pumped several million dollars into research on THIS bike alone.

, Why people feel they know more about an engine than the people who design, build and test it is just beyond me. Too damn many "experts" out there on the internet.

[drsmig]

I break in all of my bikes the motoman way as well. Racers - either automotive or motorcycle aren't breaking in engines as per manufacturers specs. If it's going to break I would rather test the bike to it's limits and uncover any weakness quickly and let the manufucturer deal with it under warranty while I am still a fresh face at the dealership. Just me - do whatever floats your boat. I have owned many motorcycles and never had a warranty issue or a maintanence issue other than those regularly scheduled or expected because of normal wear and tear.

[ajtmex]

Well supposedly, they say that the manual is a mainly for older bikes because they fail to update it, But they also say that they kind of do this on purpose because since breaking it in at lower rpm's cause the rings not to seal as properly as they should, contaminants from the chamber sneek past em and get into the oil and what not causing all kinds of engine problems n stuff, eventually leading to an engine breakdown. Now some people don't change their oil as often as they should and an easy break in only breaks your engine down faster, but not so fast as to suspect anything. Fixing it requires parts ordered from them, and basically that's where a nice portion of the companies revenue so they have some money for testing and research n what not. But hey, thats just from what I heared.

[madmax2295]

ya, if u follow moto man's mthod he will get ure engine sooner. I would listen to Kawasaki, they have spent millions and millions on engine research and testing. I would follow the break in procedure, maybee not 4k and 6k, but 6k and 8k for like 500 miles, then an oil change and ure good

[FBRR]

I can tell you my experience with engine break-in for durablity.

This is on an engine dyno but applies to real world as well.
First the engine is run at low speeds and low loads for 45 min straight. during the first 2 hours the engine speed is increased ( low to medium LOAD ) but still less than Redline.
The last several hours of break-in the speed is reduced to mid-range ( 2500 RPM) as the load is increased to 3/4 for 5 mins and then WOT for 5 mins. at each speed and load, increasing RPM in 500 RPM increments every 10 min. until you reach 1000 RPM less than Redline.

My interpretation of this for the road has been as follows.

First 100 miles no more than 1/2 throttle in each gear without regard to staying below a MPH speed. 100 to 500 miles I still do not do any WOT but do run the RPM to near Redline at less than full throttle, also varying the load from running up through the gears and coasting down under closed throttle. 500 to 600 miles full throttle runs to about half to the useable RPM range ( ie. on an engine with 9000 RPM redline I use wot to 5000 RPM only )
Still occasionally running the engine to near REDLINE at LESS then Full Throttle. After 600 miles several full throttle runs to REDLINE and closed throttle decels.
And the most important part, I change the oil and filter at 300 miles and 1000 miles. The first change is long enough to remove any manufacturing contaminates and major "break-in" wear. The 1000 mile point removes the rest of any "break-in" bits.

New engines DO NEED break in. No matter how close the tolerances an engine is built to, some wear needs to occur to seat the valves and rings. Running an engine TOO hard for the first few miles may "make it fast" ( or looser faster ) but it may have adverse effects on durablity over the life of an engine. New engines RUN hotter when first built ( They have greater FRICTION then after they truely "run-in".) Too much heat too early in the break in cycle can cause damage. I would never think of running a NEW engine to 100 MPH WOT right out of the box. I've broken all of my bike engines in using the same engineering practice for durablity engines. They have all seated the rings and had "normal" oil consumption by 500 miles.

Using a "little oil" during the first 100 miles is a good thing.

[08CC14]

Originally Posted by Flying Kaw

I would be very wary to try to outsmart the little guys in the white coats. They have pumped several million dollars into research on THIS bike alone.

On this topic I agree with you Flying Kaw