Only had to wait three months

[Little Ackman]

Finally picked up my Lake Blue on Thursday. Slowish 130 KM ride home. Slowly increasing speed, and got just over 250 KM so far. Bike and gearbox is a lot smoother than expected. Told originally that the bike would take 6-8 weeks to arrive. That was back in July. Worth the wait, but I do find that I have to watch the speedo carefully after accidentally doing 110 twice. Didn't feel that fast. Live in the Bundaberg area QLD, if anybody is interested in meeting up.

 

[HimmyPaul]

Congrats on the purchase, many fun times ahead!

 

[Little Ackman]

Congrats on the purchase, many fun times ahead!

Thanks. Running in is quite frustrating. Can't wait to forget about restrictions and just sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

[HimmyPaul]

There's a couple of schools of thought as to running bikes in, there's
1)Follow the instructions letter by letter
2) Ride it like you stole it
3) ride it like you aren't running it in but don't over rev/overload it

I'm a #3 kind of guy, I ride the bike as I normally would, just avoid hard acceleration and red line and don't labor it i.e. 4th gear up steep hills,
having said that I bought my Himmy 2nd hand, with about 15k km on it, but about a month earlier I bought a new Husqvarna Svartpilen and 18 months earlier a new Z900, I've also had from new a Royal Enfield C500, DRZ400Sm and Ducati 749, speaking of Ducati's I did a factory tour a few years ago and they were taking the new Panigale's off the production line into the Test Booth and red lining them

 

[Little Ackman]

There's a couple of schools of thought as to running bikes in, there's
1)Follow the instructions letter by letter
2) Ride it like you stole it
3) ride it like you aren't running it in but don't over rev/overload it

I'm a #3 kind of guy, I ride the bike as I normally would, just avoid hard acceleration and red line and don't labor it i.e. 4th gear up steep hills,
having said that I bought my Himmy 2nd hand, with about 15k km on it, but about a month earlier I bought a new Husqvarna Svartpilen and 18 months earlier a new Z900, I've also had from new a Royal Enfield C500, DRZ400Sm and Ducati 749, speaking of Ducati's I did a factory tour a few years ago and they were taking the new Panigale's off the production line into the Test Booth and red lining them

My view is similar to yours except for the first 60KMS. By that time according to my calculations, the engine would have gone through at least 150000 revolutions, and if that has not seated the rings then the engine will never wear out. After the 60 KMS, I just gradually increase speed and revs for short distances before easing off again. By the time the first service is due, I am of the opinion that it is run in.

 

[BurnieM]

2) Ride it like you stole it

 

[Anakie]

They will all loosen up over time. depends how impatient you are. They would not devote 3 pages of an owners manual because they thought it would be a good idea!

 

[petespace1]

I rode the bike at the recommended 60kmph for 500kms. And it was sooo painful, so I want everyone else to feel the pain too.

 

[Barra]

For the first 250 I took it easy at around the 60 to 80k's varying the speed . after that I still took it easy with the occasional short runs in the 90's range for the next 500k's .

 

[caferider48]

My view is similar to yours except for the first 60KMS. By that time according to my calculations, the engine would have gone through at least 150000 revolutions, and if that has not seated the rings then the engine will never wear out. After the 60 KMS, I just gradually increase speed and revs for short distances before easing off again. By the time the first service is due, I am of the opinion that it is run in.

One other consideration is when new, the break-in can produce some extra metal content which will be removed at the first oil change. Running extra hard when it is new at higher revs produces more metal content. There is also frictional heat buildup etc. In the older two stroke engines running too hard after a rebuild usually ended up with a seized piston. Clean oil and clean air and properly adjusted valves are key to longevity. When new and running too hard too soon doesn't seem to promote a long lasting engine. Good manufacturing and design can overcome many potential shortcomings. If its not easy to ride slowly during break-in, you can run the engine on a dyno in a controlled manor and gradually increase rpms etc and at the same time produce a fancy dyno graph of engine output.

 

[petespace1]

After the first service at 500ks, the bike started to feel smoother at around 800 -900ks. Overall the suspension brakes and general reduced rolling resistance; and even though it’s getting colder it starts easier in the morning. Hope this continues . I did change to iridium plugs at the service. Have the old Bosch as a spare.