Up to 600 Miles?

[MikeN02]

Need to try and get up to 600 miles soon for my first maintenance. The mechanic told me to stay off Interstates and freeways which are my main roads of transportation to work, and family. Also I have to play with the gear box A LOT and to not stay in the same rpm range so that's been getting tiring as I can't really relax and coast.

Day One I didn't really get enough miles as it was raining hard when I took her home, around 40 miles. Day Two I got to around 112 miles, and today the third day I got to around 180 miles on her.

Any bets on when I'll be able to accomplish this? Those 3 days I didn't have anything to do so I was riding around the city, remembering roads and taking roads I didn't know just to know it better. But now I have work until Super Bowl Sunday.

[flyingminno]

As long as you're changing up the revs and not shifting too early or too late, interstates are fine. Though you want to try and limit them as much as possible. well considering I hit my 600 mile target in 2 days, I think you can do it.

[JonKerr]

I got mine done in 4 days. Got the bike on Saturday, by Tuesday evening after work I rolled 600 pulling into the garage. Took it to the dealer for the warranty service the next day after work. I got the bike in summer so I was able to ride for hours after work to get the miles in. And I live right at the beginning of a lot of the twistiest roads in town so I never had to touch a freeway.

[MikeN02]

Originally Posted by flyingminno

As long as you're changing up the revs and not shifting too early or too late, interstates are fine. Though you want to try and limit them as much as possible. well considering I hit my 600 mile target in 2 days, I think you can do it.

When exactly is the correct RPM range to shift?

[flyingminno]

Originally Posted by MikeN02

When exactly is the correct RPM range to shift?

Well this question ties into how you feel the break-in procedures should be. Ideally you shouldn't push it over 8k for the first 1000 miles, unless for only a brief moment. The main point of break-in periods are to keep from glazing and or damaging the metal or rings, both can and are caused by staying in a fixed, small range of revs for any extended period of time. So thats where shifting at different revs helps, for example: shift into second at 3k rpm, then hold out to third until around 5k rpm, and keep changing around it for each gear. So there isn't really an exact rpm to up-shift as long as its a wide range of revs and doesn't over use the same rpm for each gear. Did that make sense?

[MikeN02]

Originally Posted by flyingminno

Well this question ties into how you feel the break-in procedures should be. Ideally you shouldn't push it over 8k for the first 1000 miles, unless for only a brief moment. The main point of break-in periods are to keep from glazing and or damaging the metal or rings, both can and are caused by staying in a fixed, small range of revs for any extended period of time. So thats where shifting at different revs helps, for example: shift into second at 3k rpm, then hold out to third until around 5k rpm, and keep changing around it for each gear. So there isn't really an exact rpm to up-shift as long as its a wide range of revs and doesn't over use the same rpm for each gear. Did that make sense?

Yep, Will try this now. Also should I be doing the same for downshifting?

[flyingminno]

Originally Posted by MikeN02

Yep, Will try this now. Also should I be doing the same for downshifting?

Well down shifting puts different stresses on the engine, so you should down shift normally and use engine breaking. The part where down shifting plays is to just change up the revs if you have to sustain a fixed speed, say on the freeway, you could down shift a couple times the wait the up shift and continue.

[dart1963]

Freeway, take all the off-ramp and on-ramps to exercise the rpm bands. When taking off ramps, use engine breaking in all the gears except 1st(you can almost stop with no brakes). Accelerate HARD a couple of times when getting back on (push it up to the 6-8k range), but do not stay there for more than a second. If your not used to sport bikes, don't try to push 1st that high, you'll wheelie it when going to 2nd.

Don't forget to take lunch rides (who needs to eat, your breaking in your bike).

Take the long way home, with roads that have different speeds (25mph, 45mph, 70mph, etc.).

Don't forget to get the oil changed, I did it at 300 and 600 and got a lot of shreds out of it. Some say that's overkill, others have changed it after 50 miles of hard riding, but do not go over 600 with the factory oil.

[JonKerr]

A friend of mine who used to race and who used to own a dealership told me about the way they broke in new engines. And no he didn't get his stuff for free, and yes he's done this with every engine in every street bike he's had since he started doing this 15 years ago. He has 80K miles on a Goldwing he did this with and 40K on an SV650.

Ride around in a low RPM range until the motor up to full temp (190º-200º) then get to a straight run at about 20mph, kick it up to 2nd or 3rd gear and gun it. Let it get up to about 7000 rpm then close the throttle, down shift, slow down with engine braking, and then cruise around for another 5 miles or so. Then repeat. Do this ten times then take the bike home, let it cool, change the oil, and repeat. After the second time, change the oil one more time and your engine should be broken in. He said it was kind of a pain because you need empty, open roads to do this properly. But it does work and can be done in a day. I'm not recommending anyone do this and it's not how I did mine. I only mention it because I've always thought the manufacturers are way too cautious when it comes to break in. Plus it will probably void your warranty, but it does work.

[MikeN02]

FINALLY! I just got it done last night and had my first service bright and early at 9 AM when they open.