running in period (1000miles)? : Kawasaki ZX Forums: Kawasaki Ninja Forum

ZX10RANDY · 10-26-2009, 07:33 PM

hi all ive just bought a new zx10r has anyone got any tips about the running in period? the manual says 4000rpm 1st 600 miles then upto 6000 for the remaining 400 miles did you all follow this to the letter or can i open it up a bit? i dont want it to be damaged by being to cautious but then again im not going to kick its head in yet either

JBearSVT · 10-26-2009, 07:35 PM

You're about to be descended upon by the Hatfields and McCoy's. Nice one.

ZX10RANDY · 10-26-2009, 07:41 PM

hatfields and mcoys?

lyodbraun · 10-26-2009, 08:19 PM

yeah go for it man ride it like ya stole it beat the hell out of them RPMS and all will be fine, no worries just change that oil at 500,1000,2500 Miles and then give her hell all the time... Ive had no problems with mine ... welcome to the site also...

2WheelWillie · 10-26-2009, 08:23 PM

Yea Hatfields and McCoys. The hatfields will tell ya stick with kawis reccomendations and the McCoys will tell ya to run it like ya stole it. Opinions are varied and everyones own opinion is the right one.

2WheelWillie · 10-26-2009, 08:28 PM

I'm a Hatfield personally. Kawi has years of experience, why tempt fate. Driving the way its recommended cant hurt can it? Enjoi those 1K low RPM miles, get used to the bike and respect it. Now is it gonna hurt it if it blips above every once in a while? I doubt it. Congrats on the new bike BTW. 2WW

2WheelWillie · 10-26-2009, 08:31 PM

Oh shit.. didnt se you were from across the pond. Google Hatfields and McCoys you will see what were talking about.. if your really interested of course. Little back Woods American folklore. 2WW

ZX10RANDY · 10-27-2009, 11:40 AM

thanks for the responses just want to free up the engine not blow it up if u know what i mean

AZXRider · 10-27-2009, 02:27 PM

Since Kawasaki takes the bike from the assembly line to the chassis dyno why not ring it out, ride it like you stole it!

**Shifty1** · 10-27-2009, 02:34 PM

I run middle of the road. On my 636, the guidelines were the same...But I tried not to go above 6000rpm for the first 1000 miles and I varied the rpm while riding so that the rings didn't get used to running a certain way. I did go above 6000rpm a little here and there but for the most part, I was nice to it. It should also be noted that I have almost 20,000 miles on my bike now without any major issues and it runs like banshee.

caveman357 · 12-07-2009, 05:20 PM

I read somewhere that you should go thru all of the gears really fast, but dont go past the recomended rpm's, for the amount of milage for the bike, ( like run the bike really fast up to 6,000 rmps, up to 6th gear), then you put the bike in first and let it downshift really hard, is a good way to break it in. Ive did this, and my engine has 35,000k on it so far, and still runs strong. I dont know if this actually helped anything, but the next new bike i get, will get the same break in treatment.

bluedevil10r · 12-07-2009, 06:50 PM

Ummm engine are ran out of the bike in the factory, hince 0 miles on the odo.... Now that the eninge in in the bike it is now "loaded" meaning weight. Just don't hit it hard on the rev limiter. Next don't keep as constant rpm. If you love the bike go by factory recommendations. If you don't care and want to race go for it. It's your bike....

ajtmex · 12-07-2009, 10:57 PM

I've heard several things and tried them out. The route I ended up sticking with is finding a strip of road and nailing it through all the gears and back down, stay under the Recc. RPM for a little while and do it a few more times. But do not stay at a constant RPM above recommended manual RPM. And like lyodbraun said, as long as you change your oil at 500mi, 1000, and 2,000-2,500mi, you should be good, just because there are a lot of metal flecks that are rubbed off and swimming around in your engine during the break in process. Remember, as soon as these bikes are assembled, they're immediately put on a dyno and blasted through the rev range through all of the gears to make sure everything works. The reason being, in case your bike breaks down sometime in the future or has any engine problems, they can get your VIN, and bring up the exact dyno diagnostic run that was taking from your bike right off the line in the factory to see if they see any abnormalities or occurrences that may have lead to your bike screwin up on you.

gnaime · 12-12-2009, 07:11 AM

I tried to stay as close to kawi's recommendation on mine for the first 1000 miles. But at about 400-500 miles I went on a group ride and took it to redline once or twice. I'm almost at 15K on my '09 zx10 now and she still runs great.

cgifly2 · 12-19-2009, 12:06 AM

Heres the real story. All new engines need only 2 things. 1 Heat treat all the parts. This is done by allowing everything to get to operating (fan cycles) temperature 2 to 3 times. And 2 seat the rings. This is the part that gets a little tricky. Back in the old days (cast iron rings) It was real easy. Put the bike in 3rd gear and load the engine on acceleration to max rpm, then allow the compression to slow the bike down. 10 to 15 times in a row rings were seated go and tear it up. But now with molly rings and nickle sell liners its simply not that easy. BOTTOM LINE, if you baby it you will take longer to seat the rings, up side they will last longer. If you ride it like a raped ape, they will seat faster but wear quicker. Somewhere in the middle the performance will be the same. One you get better quicker the other better later. Ya takes yer chances and roll the dice. For me? Lifes to short to wait around!!!