Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Oh well, it seems like there are different opinios here and since im a novice rider it's hard for me to really know what to do
Guess i'll try a balance between behaving and pushing it to the limit. Im mainly doing city rides at the moment, lots of STOP signs and traffic lights with some straight lines and a few good corners.... haven't taken it to the freeway yet but that's coming up this week. I belive a good balance (behave/push it) won't hurt and it might just be the right thing to do

OK - here is some good advice for you.

For the 1st 1000km, don't hold the engine revs up high for long periods. Short bursts are fine, and try and get the occasional full-throttle burst in here and there. Nothing prolonged, and whatever you do, don't go up any long inclines or gradients in a high gear at low revs. This is what is known as 'labouring' the motor. Just drop a gear so that the revs rise a bit for those long uphill runs.

1st service should be at the 1k mark, and oil & filter will be changed.

Up to 5k, much the same as before, but you can increase the frequency with which you run the bike to redline at full throttle. Not every day, but every 'now & then' is just fine. Don't labour the motor.

You will find that the motor will loosen up pretty well by 5k, but the gearbox and suspension will still be tight. The gearbox won't really loosen up until you have about 10k on board.

As others have pointed out, your bike has already been run to redline on the factory dyno, so you are not really going to hurt it by the occasional redline - you will hurt it by labouring the engine.

Gosling1 wrote:OK - here is some good advice for you.

For the 1st 1000km, don't hold the engine revs up high for long periods. Short bursts are fine, and try and get the occasional full-throttle burst in here and there. Nothing prolonged, and whatever you do, don't go up any long inclines or gradients in a high gear at low revs. This is what is known as 'labouring' the motor. Just drop a gear so that the revs rise a bit for those long uphill runs.

1st service should be at the 1k mark, and oil & filter will be changed.

Up to 5k, much the same as before, but you can increase the frequency with which you run the bike to redline at full throttle. Not every day, but every 'now & then' is just fine. Don't labour the motor.

You will find that the motor will loosen up pretty well by 5k, but the gearbox and suspension will still be tight. The gearbox won't really loosen up until you have about 10k on board.

As others have pointed out, your bike has already been run to redline on the factory dyno, so you are not really going to hurt it by the occasional redline - you will hurt it by labouring the engine.

+1

Nelso wrote:

Lone Wolf wrote:

Gosling1 wrote:Ride It like ya stole it ! Best way of breaking in any motor.

+1

+2. Leanne's 10 has only got 600k's on it so far and hasn't been babied at all. It's maiden voyage was a spirited trip up Mac Pass with me struggling to keep up on the ZRX and my first go on it even involved a brief visit with Mr rev limiter (just don't let Leanne know about that one). The guys that race them don't break them in first and they don't seem to have any power loss issues and the engine has already been taken to red line on its dyno run at the factory as Mick pointed out so I can't see riding it hard doing any real damage.

Racing motors have looser tolerances on both the bearings and the pistons and the motors are made to run just a few races before an overhaul. The factory does not run every new motorcycle to red line to test the HP. They start them to ride them out of the assembly line. I don't know where dyno running every bike at the factory came from. Maybe out of your arse.
Do what you wish but driving it like you stole it can cause cylinder scoring and bearing run in problems until it's broken in. Drink a lot of Jim and beer then go out and drive it like you stole it in front of the police station.

oldman wrote: I don't know where dyno running every bike at the factory came from. Maybe out of your arse.

MV do it...... saw it on cable TV

robracer wrote:

oldman wrote: I don't know where dyno running every bike at the factory came from. Maybe out of your arse.

MV do it...... saw it on cable TV

Kawasaki do it too and are proud of the fact that they have a dyno graph of every bike they sell filed away.

Dyno or NO Dyno im happy with "balanced" startegy. Never thought this topic would cause such a discussion with so many different opinions.
It would be great to have a Kawi Tech to show up and settle this once and for all. Ride it like ya stole it vs Baby it vs be good to "her" ?

oldman wrote:.....Do what you wish but driving it like you stole it can cause cylinder scoring and bearing run in problems until it's broken in. Drink a lot of Jim and beer then go out and drive it like you stole it in front of the police station.....

Oldman - here in Oz, we have an expression called ' Taking the PIss'. It basically means that when a smart-arse reply is given to a question - about anything - if the answer is basically the opposite of what should be said, or something entirely unexpected said in a sarcastic/humourous way..............then the person giving the answer is said to be 'taking the piss' out of the situation.

That is what I was doing with my answer. Simple as that. Don't take it so seriously mate, the young bloke who has asked the question has gotten all the right advice, and every now and then an answer like mine is said in total jest and not meant to be taken seriously.............not anything like as seriously as you have taken it.

Hope that explanation makes sense to you.........a Jimmie and a choof should see you right !

I guess my sarcasm has been lost in the in the shuffle. I did not nor do I ever take anything seriously on this forum. I joined this forum because I love the never ending humour that I get out of reading all the smart arse remarks about everything. I will try in the future to make my sarcasm more obvious, perhaps getting a little more farked before writing. Cheers

oldman wrote:Racing motors have looser tolerances on both the bearings and the pistons and the motors are made to run just a few races before an overhaul.

In motoGP and WSB (and AMA SBK) that may be the case, but not here in local racing.

True, otherwise we'd need to change bikes every couple of months

I've used the method described here ( http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm ) on lots of new car engines and my current ZX14. I've never had a problem after using this method and I've never had an engine use excessive oil even with over 300000 klms posted on some of those vehicles.

olcoop wrote:I've used the method described here ( http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm ) on lots of new car engines and my current ZX14. I've never had a problem after using this method and I've never had an engine use excessive oil even with over 300000 klms posted on some of those vehicles.

But of course I have all servicing done as expected by the "book", at the very least!

WOW, that's an amazing report. I read the whole article, it makes alot of sense but it still controversial due to what the owners manuals say.
but article actualy goes in accordance to what most ppl here @ksrc have said... RUN IT HARD!
Thanks for the link olcoop

great link some interesting tips in that lot.......