Running in advice

[Ken4004]

Hi Guys and Girls the bike is now on the road after 14 years and after a few issues with the bike running rich all good now, I just needed to move the clip on the carb needles up one notch because I ran out of adjustment on the air screw but all good now.

I have rebuilt the engine including new piston rings etc but just wondered what everyone would suggest as a reasonable running in period.

At the moment I gave covered 80 miles and kept the revs below 5000 and was considering doing this for 500 miles but am I bring a bit cautious ?

Thanks in advance Ken4004

[TrickyMicky]

When you consider the small size of the pistons along with the short stroke, anything much below 5000rpm would be virtually labouring the engine, with a chance of damaging the new rings.I would raise your ceiling to 7000rpm, but without ultra-wide throttle openings for about 300 miles, and not jiust running at a constant speed.  Make good use of the gearbox, speeding up, then slowing, this tends to bed things in quite nicely. Keep a watch on the oil level, and change oil and fiulter after 500 miles.  Have fun.

[Mikep328]

 The only break-in I have ever done on a vehicle of any kind was the distance from the dealer's lot to the street.    This includes personal engine rebuilds as well as new bikes.  When I bought my 400F a couple of years ago, the engine had just been shop overhauled by the previous owner (I have all the paperwork) and had literally no miles on it.  I took delivery and the first time out went to redline in the first four gears.  Front Brake sucked (now quite good) but engine was/is fabulous.  I realize there are many opinions re break-in but I've never had a problem with the "ride it like you stole it" method!   BUT...do what YOU are comfortable with! 

[Ken4004]

Thanks for the advice guys , I’ll take your advice and increase the rev ceiling .

A couple of years ago  I went on the Triumph factory tour ( great day out and very interesting if you like engineering ) and during the tour they showed us how they test the bikes after assembly and they ran the bike after warming up to 80 % of its power through all the gears .

This surprised me and I asked the guy conducting the tour and he said that the machining tolerances where so accurate on modern bikes that running in isn’t really necessary anymore, I think I got the 500 miles running in period from the normal first service interval on a new bike which is 500 miles.

Running in at 5000 rpm is quite tedious and as everyone knows cars have no patience and give little room on the road, I am not used to this treatment because my normal ride is a Triump 1050 and you have more road presence and have the power to get yourself out of trouble and into trouble if your not careful.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Personally I think running in is essential especially if you have had a rebore or new piston rings.
Not labouring the engine and keeping the revs lower say a maximum of 5500 revs increasing this gradually over the next 500 miles or so should benefit long term.
Many car manufacturers used a special running in oil that was slightly abrasive at the factory.

The ride it as if you stole it could lead to a shorter engine liife or premature oil consumption. My understanding is that at a molecular level the contact surfaces at the bore and ring need to be smooth as they mate and work harden. Over reving too soon destroys the initial bedding in process. This has become less important with current synthetic oils and more accurate fine  machining of the bores imho.

[Ken4004]

Hi Ted thanks for the advice , that so of aligns with my initial thoughts.

I spent a lot of time and money rebuilding my bike and hence my cautious approach, it’s interesting that there is alot of opinions on this subject.
I spoke to a motor cycle dealer a few years ago and he said you don’t need to run a bike in anymore and if you don’t ride it hard from the beginning it never loosens up properly and you get less performance out of your bike, not a philosophy I believe.
I suppose if your only keeping your new bike for a year of two and then trading it in for a new model on a regular basis you probably don’t really care about how long the engine lasts as long as it doesn’t fail while in your possession ! I have always looked after my bikes and they still look good even after 10 years of ownership.

Regards Ken

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

An old  friend of mine was a metalagist who worked for a firm called Lubrizol at Hazelwood where he was the head chemist, they are independant oil/lubricant testers to the international oil industry. He bought a new Rover 2000 TC that he ran in for what to me sounded like a ridiculous period, 10k miles!

He sold the car when the bodywork statrted to let it down, not only did it never need oil topping up between services  but it covered almost 200k miles when he parted with it. I'm talking here about a 1970's vehicle before the advent of newer oil technology. He told me that he thought it was the extra long running in period that gave his engine the long life.

I have always respected manufacturers advice on running in periods even on company cars, many new cars back in the 1960's would have running in sticker in the rear screen. Yes things have moved on, not sure if a rebore has  the ability to machine within the current fine tollerances used by engine manufacturers.

[taysidedragon]

I rebuilt my 400f with new pistons, rings, honed bores, new bearings, seals etc. so I ran it in carefully for the first 500 miles. It's now done several thousand miles and doesn't use any oil between oil changes.
When I bought my Street TripleR I followed Triumph's running in advice and it was still running beautifully,  no oil use after 12 years of use. A mate of mine bought a Street Triple just before me and he ragged it from the start. His used oil and showed blue oil smoke from the exhaust when revved.
Bedding in rings is important.

[exvalvesetdabbler]

Here's what the owners manual has to say

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Regards
Dave

[Athame57]

I think this is the kind of question that will get a variety of answers. I had a rebore recently, or rather my bike did,  I plain took it easy for a few hundred miles and then rode as usual. 

[Ken4004]

Lots of great advice from everyone so Thank-you for that , lots of different opinions which is probably what I expected if being honest.

At the end of the day a cautious approach is always best policy.

[Laverda Dave]

Back in the 90’s when the Fireblade was the bike to have it was well known they offered more performance if run in hard as opposed to gently. I'm not sure about the longevity of the motor though over time. A mate bought a second hand blade and within a couple of years it smoked badly.
I've always been careful with running in not to labour the engine but not to thrash it either, basically a normal style of sedate riding, if you overthink what revs you are doing you'll loose concentration of where you are going, rev it with your ears and not your eyes 🙂.

[Ken4004]

Thanks Dave , had a good ride today nice and gentle, impressed how well the bike handles through the corners very well behaved.