Just picked up a new '17 - break in?

Hi,

I just picked up a new '17 WRR.  Dealer is about 70 miles away and freeway is the only way to get there and back.  So, I rode her home doing about 65-70 the whole way, some hills where I shifted to 5th to not bog down the engine.  I realize the manual says to keep throttle below 1/3 sustained if possible and obviously I didn't.  Did I do something really wrong here?  I warmed it up well before hitting the freeway, varied RPMs, loaded the engine (not abused) to help seat the rings, let off throttle to do compression braking, etc. and I stopped for a dinner break after about 50 miles to let it cool off some.

Now, I did all this speed and load variation on the freeway. I probably had about 3 miles on the bike before I hit the freeway.

I've now ridden it a few more times, approx. 20 miles each ride and letting it cool.  For these additional 100 miles mostly sticking to the owners manual but also not babying it 100%.

I don't hear any noises or feel anything weird.  Not noticing any smoke or oil consumption.  MPG on freeway averaged 62mpg for the ride home from the dealer.

Thoughts?

17thumper wrote:

Hi,

I just picked up a new '17 WRR.  Dealer is about 70 miles away and freeway is the only way to get there and back.  So, I rode her home doing about 65-70 the whole way, some hills where I shifted to 5th to not bog down the engine.  I realize the manual says to keep throttle below 1/3 sustained if possible and obviously I didn't.  Did I do something really wrong here?  I warmed it up well before hitting the freeway, varied RPMs, loaded the engine (not abused) to help seat the rings, let off throttle to do compression braking, etc. and I stopped for a dinner break after about 50 miles to let it cool off some.

Now, I did all this speed and load variation on the freeway.  I probably had about 3 miles on the bike before I hit the freeway.

I've now ridden it a few more times, approx. 20 miles each ride and letting it cool.  For these additional 100 miles mostly sticking to the owners manual but also not babying it 100%.

I don't hear any noises or feel anything weird.  Not noticing any smoke or oil consumption.  MPG on freeway averaged 62mpg for the ride home from the dealer.

Thoughts?

First thought was it probably would have been better to ask this question before you went and did this.... sort of reminds me of my daughter when she was young.

Did you do anything wrong? What does it matter - what is done has been done. The only thing I would do is change the oil and run it for another 500 miles then change the oil and filter again and call it a day.

Good points, except I could have done without the daughter comment as I'm not considered a pretty lady by my friends.

Not my first new motorcycle by far but first of small displacement where higher revs are needed to sustain freeway speeds.  I don't feel I abused it at all but in hindsight I should have found some back roads first to put 20-30 miles on it before the freeway.  I was in a bit of a hurry as it was getting dark.

Seems different manufacturers have varying recommendations.  I bought two brand new Honda bikes last year both were minimal on break in, essentially avoid full throttle starts and rapid acceleration, which I certainly did.  Heck, when my airplane engine was rebuilt I was told very sternly to run it at almost full power, not low power.  A different beast I know.

I plan to change the oil and filter after the next ride, then again after another 250-300 miles.  Cheap enough and easy enough to do.

I have never purchased a new bike (only car) but have overhauled a motorcycle engine.
I'd just ride it normally, and make sure not to lug it (like you would anyway)

This question will only get answers of opinion. Did you hurt it? I don't think so. The only problem that would arise, in my opinion, is combustion blow by and oil consumption. You could pick up a new set of rings and hone the cylinder, start over... That is probably unwarranted though, again my opinion.

Oil thread that touches on break in,

https://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/t119-oil-oil-and-more-oil

I have the same thinking as on this here page,

http://mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

I see your point about only getting opinions.  That's fine, I was actually looking for that.  People with more experience on this model might have some tips that I can use moving forward.

I also doubt that I hurt anything.  I don't abuse my machines at all and never have been one to do so.  I don't think freeway riding is fully ideal for breaking in a new bike but to me it seems a bit better than stop and go city traffic where it would be more difficult to keep temperatures consistent.  So, I do feel that I should have put a few more miles on before the freeway but I had 3-4 on the bike before getting on the freeway and I accelerated at a slower pace and settled at 60mph initially to let temperatures stabilize.  After a few more miles I started to pull a bit more throttle (up to 80% I would say) then back off and repeated quite a few times over the trip, including several shifts down to 5th.  All this while combining engine braking (i.e. accelerate to 75-80 then let off throttle fully back to 60, accelerate slowly and settle back at 65 for a couple minutes to stabilize temperatures, then repeat).  Luckily traffic allowed me to do this safely as I was in a reverse commute situation.  This was the best way I could think of to introduce varying loads to the engine in the early stages.

The only concerns I really have are the higher RPMs I subjected the bike to early on (freeway speeds) and going a little further than perhaps I should have before initially stopping and letting it cool some (about 50 miles).  I didn't just pop on the freeway and drone at a single speed the whole way, I actively varied the load quite a bit.  I also didn't rip on the bike and do redline pulls to merge with traffic, no wheelies, nothing of that nature.  No drag runs pinned at full throttle to see if I could hit 100mph, etc.  When I encountered a strong head wind or decent hill I shifted to 5th to avoid lugging the engine at all costs.  This increased RPMs but I also dropped my speed to 60-65mph from 70mph to help with the RPMs.

This is my 5th Yamaha (3rd brand new) and I've fortunately never had any issues with them.  So far, always solid machines.  I have about 170 miles on this machine already and will likely change the oil at the 200-250 mark like I normally do with a new bike, so probably after the next ride.  Driving home a new 1,000cc machine is a lot easier to keep RPMs down and not stress the motor quite as much because of the extra displacement and power, especially if freeway is involved.  However, no riding I've done on this bike is outside of normal operating parameters.

I have owned quite a few bikes, and I have always ran them about 90% immediately after leaving the dealership. I don't hit the limiter but damn it I run those things like I am going to be running them. I have never had a motor issue, leaking issue, MPG issue, cold starting issue.

I change the oil at 20ish (or when I get home from the dealership) then 200 miles, then 500 miles, then 1K, then 1,500, then 3K.

You can look up the MotoMan method of breakin, its pretty controversial but I believe in it, especially for bikes, you have a wet clutch (most of the time) so use it well and break in that motor RIGHT not hard.

the bike is super reliable and it can get a lot of abuse :-)

No one breaks in a car anymore. No special 1st service or anything.

A bike should be no different.

I do agree most people don't break in cars... I bought a Honda accord from my brother, he had bought it new. He did what the dealer suggested, against suggestions from me and other family memebers. No special break in. No low mileage first break in. He never revved it above 3500. It redlined at 6ish? I forget exactly where... I don't think the rings ever seated properly, as it burned a significant amount of oil. There is no known problem with this year to cause this. It didn't have enough miles or slightest abuse to justify it either. The only explanation I saw was the rings never seated properly due to improper break in. This is somewhat backed up by a friends brother purchasing the same model of car. He is into engines and cars and broke it in "properly", no oil consumption on his...

There is a major difference between cars and most bikes too, separate engine and tranny oils, along with wet vs dry clutches.

Again this is all opinion, I didn't try to rebuild the accord and confirm my theory, but it is my theory that he screwed it up by not breaking it in hard enough. I also think that the manufacturer and dealer only wants the engine to make it past warranty. After that they want you to buy a new one.... If it lasts you longer they don't make any more money...

I agree, nobody even reads the owner's manual these days. I've ridden my WRR a couple more times and nothing seems amiss. I'm keeping the factory (or dealership) oil fill until I hit 250 miles, pretty much what I typically do. Or, perhaps I'll get bored tonight and do it lol.

Besides, if I bought the bike used I would never know how it was broken in and how often do people run into major engine trouble with modern bikes? My neighbor bought a brand new R1 and was reviving all the way to redline in his garage on a cold engine with less than 100 miles. He's also switching to synthetic at 300 miles which is probably fine but I wouldn't switch quite that early. He's a bit unique and goes through bikes fast, usually crash them.

Break in fast you will have a fast vehicle, break in slow, you will have a slow vehicle

Just did my first oil and filter change tonight at 320 miles. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. The oil appeared to be the typical silver milky type of oil that I commonly see on a fresh new bike. I didn't see any gold at the bottom of my pan. lol

I'll probably change the oil again around 1k miles and maybe switch to synthetic at that point. Bike is riding fine (slight knock in lower case but I think it's normal) and the transmission was getting a bit crunchy so that told me it was ready for an oil change. For this interval I put in Valvoline 10W-40 motorcycle oil (non synthetic).

17thumper wrote:

Just did my first oil and filter change tonight at 320 miles.  Nothing out of the ordinary to report.  The oil appeared to be the typical silver milky type of oil that I commonly see on a fresh new bike.  I didn't see any gold at the bottom of my pan.  lol

I'll probably change the oil again around 1k miles and maybe switch to synthetic at that point.  Bike is riding fine (slight knock in lower case but I think it's normal) and the transmission was getting a bit crunchy so that told me it was ready for an oil change.  For this interval I put in Valvoline 10W-40 motorcycle oil (non synthetic).

I use to think my buddy was nuts when he told me that his WR250R shifted better on the Rotella Synthetic than the Rotella Dino oil.  

However on my last oil change I had a couple of quarts of Amsoil 10W-40 that I threw in (I have about 14,000 miles on my WRR) and was amazed at the difference it made in shifting.  However, I also notice that I have more initial cam chain noise on startup after a prolonged shut down period.

rsteiger wrote:

I use to think my buddy was nuts when he told me that his WR250R shifted better on the Rotella Synthetic than the Rotella Dino oil.  

However on my last oil change I had a couple of quarts of Amsoil 10W-40 that I threw in (I have about 14,000 miles on my WRR) and was amazed at the difference it made in shifting.  However, I also notice that I have have more initial cam chain noise on startup after a prolonged shut down period.

Ah, ok thanks for the tip. I typically run Mobil 1 4T synthetic in all my bikes. Might not be the best but it's fairly easy to get and I think it's more than decent enough. I've never tried Amsoil before but hey, maybe I should.