Breaking the bike in 250r Ninja! issue

[Maz]

Hi all

Today I have been out on the bike but whats became apparent is I cannot stick to the manual and do the 4000rpm the manual wants me to do for 100 miles then after do 6000rpm for 600 miles!

I cannot even get to 60mph as it goes over 7000rpm! So, I havent been able to do the 4000rpm for majority of my journey today. I am concerned in case this will damage the bike. On adverage I am doing about 5000rpm...

Any help, please?

Thanks

Maz

[Scotty]

I shouldn't concern yourself too much with arbitrary running-in speeds to be honest Maz, modern engines don't really need it (certainly to nothing like the extent that they did in the past). Don't really thrash it, but let it rev a bit more. It may feel a bit tight and reluctant when it gets higher in the rev range, that's its way of saying "this is enough for now" but being brisk through the revs and up and down the gearbox plenty is the best way to break them in, give it some big throttle for short periods, don't labour the engine by trying to pull a high gear at low revs. The worst thing that you can do to them is run them in too gently, all you'll ultimately end up with is less power and more oil consumption if you do that.

Have fun, once it's past 600 miles and the first service you don't need to worry about anything :)

[Maz]

Thanks Scotty!

I think these miles will be gone in a matter of a month....

30 miles pratically today!

Thanks again ;)

[Dabz]

Once we get you on some wb rides you'll easily do 100+ in a day, 600 will be over before you know it

[NiteW4tcher]

yeah 600miles will be over in no time :)

[speedlink]

over revving is ok,labouring the engine is the worst thing to do

[Jon_W]

IMO, the key to running in is not to load the engine heavily. It is best to gently accelerate and spin the engine up in a lower gear rather than make it work hard in a higher gear. You shouln't go round read lining the engine, but don't need to be too concerned about over revving.

[Maz]

Great thanks!

Just put some oil in god! I must have look like a right idiot! I spent a tenner on 10W/40 when my partner uses the same in her car! ;D

So I ride past halfords three time because I didnt know where it was! Was quite funny...

[470four]

Great thanks!

Just put some oil in god! I must have look like a right idiot! I spent a tenner on 10W/40 when my partner uses the same in her car! ;D

So I ride past halfords three time because I didnt know where it was! Was quite funny...

Maz - DON'T put car 10w40 oil in your bike, although in theory they are the same oil there are many differences & it might not do it any good... ;)

Incident on here a few months back, somebody used car oil in there Kawawowiwaki and the clutch stuck together. :(

[alanTDM]

Hi all

Today I have been out on the bike but whats became apparent is I cannot stick to the manual and do the 4000rpm the manual wants me to do for 100 miles then after do 6000rpm for 600 miles!

I cannot even get to 60mph as it goes over 7000rpm! So, I havent been able to do the 4000rpm for majority of my journey today. I am concerned in case this will damage the bike. On adverage I am doing about 5000rpm...

Any help, please?

Thanks

Maz
You can change up to 2nd gear you know lol ;D
At 7000rpm im doing over a 100mph by then :)

[wi77y]

Yea i broke my old ybr 125 in it manged 55 at 6000rpm thats plenty i rang up garage to book in follwing week just out on it all week just ride all time all time.....
plus you should'nt need to put oil in it yet they change the oil over at first 600m service.

[Harry87]

Great thanks!

Just put some oil in god! I must have look like a right idiot! I spent a tenner on 10W/40 when my partner uses the same in her car! ;D

So I ride past halfords three time because I didnt know where it was! Was quite funny...

Maz - DON'T put car 10w40 oil in your bike, although in theory they are the same oil there are many differences & it might not do it any good... ;)

Incident on here a few months back, somebody used car oil in there Kawawowiwaki and the clutch stuck together. :(


Do you have any evidence to back up this statement? Apart from that vague story of 'somebody'. I fail to believe that putting 'car' 10w 40 engine oil can do any harm to a motorbike engine. I use 10w 40 oil from work in mine and it does the job perfectly.

[Jon_W]

The general advise from the oil companies is not to use car oil in motorcycles.

Two reasons:

1 - Car oild contains detergents and additives that interfere with the operation of a wet clutch causing sticking and slipping.

2 - Car oil is not designed for use in gearboxes. The shear action of the gears will shorten the life of the oil.

Having said that, anything is better than nothing.

[Snowy]

+1 with JonW. If your bike has a dry clutch and seperate gearbox lubrication then just make sure you are using correct grade and spec as per the manufacturers recommendations. Otherwise, stick to bike specific oils for the reasons mentioned. I can use anything in the Beemers as they have dry clutches and seperate gearbox's, so its 20/50 mineral in the engine and 75/90 Synthetic for the gearbox :)

[jonnydangerous]

[/quote]

Do you have any evidence to back up this statement? .[/quote]

nope, no evidence at all, and its a load of tosh...its on the "tech" board under "sticking clutch". The bloke changed the oil from car oil to bike oil and it was the same (organic clutch plates had "grown" together)...
the only thing that is different is the levels of molybdenum (more for a car)

im an ex mechanic, built engines for drag bikes, race cars, a landrover rallycar that appeared on top gear, home made turbo systems (450bhp) 200bhp nitrous kits....
and i run my gsxr thou on vauxhall long life semi synth, no problems for the last 30 odd thousand miles....

youll be fine with what youve put in.

the most important "running in" component on a NEW engine is the camshaft lobes, you need to run faster than idle to ensure a good oil supply, and slow enough to prevent "galling" which is the material overheating and transfering lobe material to the follower.
the second most important issue is dont overheat the piston rings (thats why you shouldnt "Load" an engine (as opening the throttle will introduce more fuel/air and create a hottor flame front, which heats the piston and thus the rings)) overheated rings will not seal as well and trapping efficiency and heat conductance to the bore will be lost.

run things in if you intend keeping it for a while, race teams dont cos they strip them after hundreds of miles.....
people who go out and "Rag" a new bike "cos the race teams do" are idiots......


enjoy your new bike :-)

[Harry87]

Thanks JD. Good info. I have heard the same idea before about the piston rings not sealing well if bike is over revved when running in. I also suspected the chap who used 'car; oil and with the clutch problem didn't diagnose the problem correctly or 470four gave bad information. I haven't read the topic. The oil I'm using doesn't actually specify it's for a car at all. Just for petrol and diesel engines, semi synthetic, high performance blah blah. It is Servol 10w-40 and I have no clutch issues, and I my bike has a wet clutch multidisc type.

[alanTDM]

A friend of mine runs his Yamaha XT600 Tenere on Castrol GTX 10w-40 API SL/CF for years now with no problem
and some of the guys on the TDM forum put GTX in there bikes with no ill effect.
However its the API SL/CL designation which is the important part any higher and that would cause clutch troubles as JD says its to do with the amount of moly's in the oil etc.