Breaking-in procdures

[dwayne]

I remember the salesmen at BMW telling me to not exceed XXXX RPMS for the first 1000Km's, then after that "Ride it like I stole it". I can't remember what RPM I am suppose to keep it under, or anything else. I usually pick up the Owners Manual from a car or bike, as soon as I sign the deal, but this time I couldn't, cause the bike was still in a crate at a warehouse. Anyone have the break in procedure anywhere that they could share with me. I plan to look the manual over before riding off into the sunset from the dealership, but I'd rather have a cursery look at it then spending a good twenty minutes going over the What not to do, and what to do for the first 1000 Km's.


TIA,

Dwayne

[Sit]

I was told to vary the RPM's and to not go over 4000 very much for the first 600 miles. My bike when new sounded like it was really revving at 4000. Now that it has 8000 miles on it, 4000 is just a purr and it likes to go to 5500 for most shifts.

[dwayne]

I was told to vary the RPM's and to not go over 4000 very much for the first 600 miles. My bike when new sounded like it was really revving at 4000. Now that it has 8000 miles on it, 4000 is just a purr and it likes to go to 5500 for most shifts.

So your shifting at 5500RPM? For each gear? the whole RPM thing is new for me, all my other bikes never had a tach so I never knew what my actual RPM's were.

[Sit]

After my break in period and its 600 mile check up, I asked the dealer why I was burning oil. He asked at what point I was shifting and I told him 4000 rpm or so. He said I would burn less oil and get better performance if I waited until 5000 or 5500 to shift. When I first started doing it, it sounded like the motor would blow, so I still shifted a little sooner than that. Over time though, the motor has loosened? up and now it jumps right up to 5000 or more and doesnt even sound like its working. I still vary the shift some, but on average, I would say I shift at 5000. Some times on the freeway I will get to 6000 or better and I have hit the rev limiter a few times. I have noticed too that as the bike has broken in, I rev it higher and the shifts themselves have smoothed out and my oil consumption has gone down. Im sure there are many more opions about shifting etc, this is just what I do. I have had the bike serviced 3 times and each time the mechanic comes out and updates me on its condition which is, shes running great and looks good. No problems at all.

[toner87]

I'm almost worried that my Rock uses so little oil... I admit it, I like to flog her hard and race around in the city and that's what I've done to her since I've owned her. In the last thousand miles of city riding the oil has not gone down at all...
T.

[frevrod]

I had an R for 2 years which I followed all the book procedures. Kept it below 4000 for the first 600 miles, never over-revved and it still got through quite a lot of oil. It didn't seem to slacken off until around 20,000 miles.

I then had a Rockster which the dealer told me to ignore the manual on and just ride it. It hardly used any oil from the first 2,000 miles. Shame it got splatted at 7,500.

I'm picking up my new Rock with 1700 on the clock soon. Hope the previous owner was a rev-head !

[dwayne]

These bikes burn oil???? My last two bikes didn't burn a drop, at least not enough to notice.

[owldaddy]

dwayne, they usually burn oil when new. So keep an eye on it. I went for a nice ride on a twisty 2 lane I like a lot, when mine was new, when I got home after only 300 miles, there wasn't any oil to be seen in the glass. Freaked me out, I knew it was full before I left home. After the first 600 miles, I rode it in a normal manner, I also started taking the revs to redline, for short periods of time. My bike stopped using oil shortly after that. It runs strong, and doesn't use oil between changes now. Getting the rings seated is the key, and running the RPM's up will get them scrubbed in. Just don't take it to redline and hold it there for more then a few seconds at a time, during the first 1000 miles or so.
Don

[owldaddy]

Might also check this guy out, his technique has many folks talking. Very controversial, but he swears by it. At least he takes the time to explain why he does it this way.
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
Don

[dwayne]

Though I think I'm going to assume the mechanic that test rode the bike more then likely did a "give 'er". With the weather being what it might be tomorrow, not sure if I would be able to run it hard anyway, and since this is something that needs to be done in the first 20 miles...

Okay, I now have less then 10 hours...7 minutes, (but who's counting) to go before I get my first Beemer...

Going for a walk with the iPod, that'll tire me out for bed I think.

[CycleRob]

That MototuneUSA guy is a quack. He focuses on pistons and rings while completely ignoring the detrimental effects that hard running can do to other critical engine parts like the connecting rod bearings. Those new but imperfect parts must be properly worked in until the oil clearance is uniform and any high spots are slowly and safely honed away. Otherwise it's too much too soon and the bearing will score it's surfaces creating a large oil clearance. Racers may do it to save time and often create a slightly more powerful engine because of it's "loose" clearances, but they'll tear the engine down . . . or replace a blown one . . . a lot more often than you will.

I have some good advice that should be obvious. RTFM. If there was a better way, the BMW engineers would have printed it in the owner's manual. Follow an internet kook? Do so at yout own peril -and- be ready for knocks and ticks of a loose motor broken in fast.

[dwayne]

What does the manual say??? Something tells me I'm going to be sitting at the dealership...or somewhere close to it reading about what and what not to do with this bike for the first 1000Kms. Which is not what I wanted to be doing, but it's looking that way.