New Bike - Running In Tips?

[Cavey]

Hi folks...happy new year! So i'm expecting delivery of my '17 soon and would like to get some advice on how best to run the bike in?
I ran my '15 (RR) in exactly as the manual advised but it went on to burn quite a lot of oil (300ml per 1k miles) ..obviously this is well within BMW's "tolerance" of 1 litre per 1k miles (gulp!:uncomfortableness but still not ideal in my opinion and i'd like to reduce oil consumption on my new bike if possible??

I've heard a lot of people saying that they run their bikes in harder than BMW recommend to avoid excessive oil consumption later on.....good advice?? I know i'm going to get varying opinions on here, but maybe if you guys could let me know how you ran your RR in and how much oil it uses, i might be able to run this one in a bit better??!

Or maybe i was just unlucky and should stick to the advice in the manual? Looking forward to your thoughts

Thanks in advance

 

[JimmyMac]

Hi Cavey, I ran my 2013 HP4 in by bouncing off the limiter (9000 rpm) as much as I could after the first 100 miles or so and it uses zero oil. I only kept it down on the first 100 miles to scrub the tyres in.
I know a few people who run race bikes and they swear by "Dyno cracking" the S1000rr engine by removing the limiter when brand new and revving the engine to max revs (16000 rpm) repeatedly when up to temperature.
They obviously change the oil a lot more than I would be doing so oil consumption would not necessarily be high on their worry list.

You are right in thinking everyone will do it different but I also ran all my oil cooled GSA's (4 of them) the same way and none have used any oil and they are quite famous for drinking it.

Just my experience pal, lucky boy to be getting a new bike, it's a great feeling.

JimmyMac

 

[Gaffa22]

If you don't have access to a dyno then ride on the road giving it hard acceleration and hard decelleration.
when hard on the throttle then off the throttle the piston rings are forced against the bores which will bed the rings in, you need the rings bedded in before the bores glaze.
The worst thing you can do is a steady 500 mile run, but you'd be surprised how many try to run cars and bikes in like that.
myself and my brother in law who's still a mechanic have run in a few bikes between us and never had any burn oil. But we rode them like we stole them. Keeping max revs low to start with but gradually increasing, but really hard on and off the throttle

 

[fast_ryan]

Running In

Just use all the available rev range up to 9,000 rpm for the first 600 miles. You can't really go wrong as the engine is electronically restricted during running in until after the first service. To be honest disregard most of what you hear about running in engines as most of it is generally complete myth or just fallacy.

 

[bananaman]

All the above, just don't let it labour, keep it singing! Mine's a '15 and doesn't use a drop

 

[MacRR]

Agree with the above, I bought my gen 2 with 1800m on the clock, ex BMW GB staff bike, don't know how it was run in but it drank oil, my gen3 had 299m on when I bought it and I ran it in using all the revs I could and it uses no oil at all.

 

[soofsayer]

Like all the above experiences, I ran my HP4 in by spanking it after the engine had warmed up and I haven't had to top up the oil between annual services.

 

[roadrunner]

All the above, just don't let it labour, keep it singing! Mine's a '15 and doesn't use a drop

+1:race2_smilie:

 

[Cavey]

Thanks guys ...much appreciated....i shall make sure i keep it singing then!:lemo: ....also I forgot to ask about heat cycles?? ....i've heard people saying that the more times you heat cycle the engine during the run in period the better? .....does this include heating the engine up on tick over then letting it cool, or does a complete heat cycle include actually riding the bike? In other words is there any benefit to starting the bike and letting it tick over until hot then turning it off multiple times, or should i just ride the bike? Cheers

 

[fast_ryan]

Running In

As previously posted pretty much everything you read or hear about running in engines is generally complete myth or just fallacy. Just ride the bike using all the available rev range.

 

[Cavey]

cheers guys fingers crossed! range:

 

[bananaman]

Thanks guys ...much appreciated....i shall make sure i keep it singing then!:lemo: ....also I forgot to ask about heat cycles?? ....i've heard people saying that the more times you heat cycle the engine during the run in period the better? .....does this include heating the engine up on tick over then letting it cool, or does a complete heat cycle include actually riding the bike? In other words is there any benefit to starting the bike and letting it tick over until hot then turning it off multiple times, or should i just ride the bike? Cheers

Not quite the same as I use mine mainly on track. Start mine, leave on tickover and shut off at 60degrees, let it heat sink 15mins or so until casings get warm, fire it up to 80deg then pretty good to go. Engine not really at proper operating temp until heat is throughout.. With such fine engineering tolerances nowadays nothing works properly until optimum temperatures are reached. When I race, I do this 3 or 4 times before it gets on track.
If yr going to get it hot then use it, don't just shut it off, that's detrimental to running it in.

 

[stuartb]

Haha.. as my mate says "kick it's cxnt in"....

Sent from Galaxy S7

 

[Cavey]

Haha.. as my mate says "kick it's cxnt in"....

Sent from Galaxy S7

Yikes! Haha..... I shall do my best!!!

 

[Adrian Worman]

Yeah I agree with that statement about running in myths, they are mainly just that, myths........

We've built a good amount of very large displacement engines, mainly for drag racing.
We run a freshly built motor straight up to 2500-3000rpm for approx 20 minutes, just to bed in the cam lobes & lifters.
Drain the oil, change filter & refill, straight on to the dyno to make several full passes or straight up the track at full power.
Some have lived their life a quarter mile at a time, others have been circuit raced, others run on the street racking up thousands of troublefree miles.
No one particular type or combination used more oil, ran hotter, needed bearings or freshening up after a few years or seasons.

Modern manufacturing processes allow for such tight engineering tolerances, combined with lightweight materials, incredibly accurate engine management, huge advances in lubricant technology, no wonder these motors routinely make 200 horsepower per litre with ease while conforming to incredibly stringent emissions regulations.

As such they don't really require what we used to consider as running in procedures. For me personally its a 100 miles maximum to settle new tyres, brakes, adjust suspension, pressures, controls etc too suit your individual needs and then NAIL IT:scooter:

 

[bananaman]

The 600 mile 'run in' was brought in I believe because they were being raced straight out the crate and there were quite a few going bang

 

[cobo]

Just to expand on this a little if I may as I may be in the market for a brand new one relatively soon...for the run-in, or at least the first few hundred km, should city riding (read bike at high temp all the time) ideally be avoided?

 

[JimmyMac]

Just to expand on this a little if I may as I may be in the market for a brand new one relatively soon...for the run-in, or at least the first few hundred km, should city riding (read bike at high temp all the time) ideally be avoided?

Thats a great question Cobo, one I've never contemplated living in Scotland, interested to hear replies by folks that know.

JimmyMac

 

[Gaffa22]

Just to expand on this a little if I may as I may be in the market for a brand new one relatively soon...for the run-in, or at least the first few hundred km, should city riding (read bike at high temp all the time) ideally be avoided?

Yes definitely avoid city riding you won't have room to pin the throttle

 

[bananaman]

+1