revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Hi guys, I’m picking up my first new from the showroom bike for many years next week.
What is the current thinking on running in period.
My old man’s memory seems to think it’s all a bit unnecessary as long as you aren’t completely ragging the bike into the red zone. And that it’s better for the bike to actually ride the thing properly.

Thoughts, opinions, experience ????

What bike is it, a big bike is far easier to ride gently than a small one.

The salesman should tell you the official process, it'll be in the manual too.

But I think it's generally just don't labour the engine, vary the revs over distance and don't thrash the tits off it.

But then.. lots of race bikes get run in at max revs on the dyno.

Mine didn't get anything other than a slightly more gentle bit of riding.

Got two new cars at work one year. One that was used in town got ran in like whatever we were told at the time and the other got botted as fast as it could go from day one. After a few month the abused one seemed to run smoother, better MPG (only about 2/3 miles) and had a 5mph better top end.

The owners manual will tell you, the salesperson will tell you and you can probably find the manual online which will tell you.

Don't labour it and bring the revs up gently-ish.

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 10:40 am What bike is it, a big bike is far easier to ride gently than a small one.

Tenere 700

I'm in exactly the same situation with the GSXS but being a 1000cc it's gonna be pretty easy I think. The manual says 5700rpm to 500 miles, 8600rpm to 1000 miles but I'll be just riding it normally but a little more gently and not battering it for the first 500 miles. After that it's getting pinned. Well at times.

Oh and also as others have said, I've heard that labouring the engine is worse than revving it so don't lug around in low revs/high gear.

This is from the Tenere 700 owners manual

Only ever bought a bike new once and it was back in my 125 days but it was something stupid like 5/600 miles and only use half throttle. I was told it all had something to do with the moving parts making a wear path and bedding in. I did do the run in period but was also thinking a good oil should be looing after any moving parts anyway and always though an engine would be better looked after if you gave it regular oil and filter changes.

Just to add use the gears, vary the rpm up and down obviously without exceeding whatever the limit is but don’t sit at a constant rpm.

The idea is for the new parts to wear and bed in.

Im sure it was Ernie Page motorcycles in Edinburgh that told me all that ^^ when they had a shop at Lower London Road.

TBH you're going to be riding it a bit gently anyway for the first 1000 miles just because it's a new-to-you bike and you're going to acclimatising yourself to it (even if you're doing that unconsciously).

As said - just don't rag it (you're unlikely to do that anyway unless you're a complete ham-fisted moron *), so you should be fine. It'll have been run up to redline at least once in the factory anyway as part of the QA process before it's allowed out.




* I've never met you (to my rememberance**), are you a ham-fisted moron?



** the older I get the more the multiple impacts to the back of my head have an effect.

Be nice to it, particularly before the first service and then don't run it at constant revs - so up and down the gears and rev range....until the sun comes out.

The Afterburner wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 11:15 am

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 10:40 am What bike is it, a big bike is far easier to ride gently than a small one.

Tenere 700

Same engine as MT-07, so you'll have to thrash it everywhere to make any progress

I don’t know of any new bikes damaged by bad running in.

Makes me think running in may be a load of shit.

Been following Lee Johnson on Youtube and when he took his Aprilia race bikes to FW Developments to
be set up on the Dyno they made him run them in first.

kendo57 wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 2:03 pm Been following Lee Johnson on Youtube and when he took his Aprilia race bikes to FW Developments to
be set up on the Dyno they made him run them in first.

What a loser!

Nobody makes me do things.