I know there are a ton of threads with a multitude of opinions about this subject, but I would really like to see a show of hands as to who used the soft (Triumph recommended) break in method, or hard and fast method, and what your real world experiences have been.
My guess is the majority went by the book, but lets see
Easy for the 1st 250. Did the ton @ 300 mi. Then rode her harder & harder till I dumped the dino. Then rode her Like i still do. Avoid steady rpm fpr 1000 mi tho!!
I rode mine light with the break-in oil. Rode fast but gradual acceleration . Light on the throttle . And it was hard coming from a Speedfour too. All I can say is that it worked for me.
My idea is, I didn't designed and build this engine so who am I to know how to break this bike in? I would not guess either, as Triumph tells me in the manual how it should be done, good for me
I broke mine in like I have always broke in engines with the main thought in mind to seat the rings properly. In the first 75 miles I got plenty of WOT acceleration and plenty of closed throttle deceleration (down-shifting when stopping with throttle closed). This CAN and should be done without getting the rpms above the manufacturer's recommended range, IMHO. It only takes a second or two at WOT to get the ring seating benefit, IMHO. It was easy to do on the Bonnie, but much harder to do on the Tiger1050--the rpms rise much faster on the 1050. I changed from the semi-synthetic break-in oil to the full synthetic oil at 500 miles. I kept away from anything close to a steady speed trip until I had 1000 miles on bonnie. I stayed away from "performance enhancing" mods until bonnie had 3000 miles on her. This was mainly so I would not add unknowns to the equation in case bonnie had a problem show up in the first 3000 miles.
Bonnie has 23500 miles on her, burns no oil, and still runs VERY good. I spool her up to the 8100 rpm rev limiter at least once through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears every time I ride her--4th gear is too fast at 8100 rpm (past 120 on the speedo ).
Why does Triumph say dump the dino oil at 500 and change to full synthetic when other air/oil cooled brand that I have owned seem to recommend to continue to run the engine on dino between changes?
Sometimes up to around 6k miles or so, to give it a chance to really break in before changing to synthetic?
I will follow the Triumph recommendations and change to synthetic at 500, but that does not stop me being curious and asking questions
My current BMW dealer advocates running dino oil in for several thousand miles. Could be because the cylinder walls are Nikasil, not iron liners, and they break in somewhat differently than iron lined cylinders. I don't think our Bonnies have Nikasil plated bores. Only a guess on my part. My old GS (Nikasil)has been lubed with plain BMW oil (Spectro) that is dino, I believe. Maybe once with Mobil1 V Twin oil. Still going strong at 115,000 miles. Recent compression test showed each cylinder at approx 140psi, not bad, in my opinion, for an air cooled engine that's 17 years old and never had the heads off.
I always felt the 500 mi rec on the breakin oil was a little early? Here in Fla , in the summer (HOT) maybe not so. I guess as a generic rec- it works? Had some that went 1000 mi & then,.in the cooler "winter"mo here.I would (going back) do a 500 dino dump & then get down on her. Dump the semi dino again then & do the full synthetiic @ 1000 mi. I guess I did the expedited version of that? Ran the dino to the 500. Came up on the throttle @ 250 mi, hi & lo rpm but harder as the mi went on. When 300 mi came- I got on her & hit 115 mph for a quicky. Did real well . Then started running her harder till the 500. Did the change & started running her like I was gonna! Not hole shots all the time- but a nice throttle burst now & then! @ 8000 mi+ running better than ever!! Just pulled plugs & they were new w/ a lite brown dust on them. Didnt need to change them - but had a newset ready so took the old ones brushed them off & put em in the boxes for spares? Hell all the AG to get the plugs out & the whopping cost of $2 I think I could splurge?These bikes are made to run hard. Dont baby them too much or they will give you more trouble!! Not talkin wheel stands or burn outs- just nice open throttle open road acceleration! My bike loves a nice 70 mph cruise up & down !!
It makes no sense to break an engine in "hard". All engine are manufacture to some set of tolerances. These are all +/- variations. Today's tolerance are a lot tighter than in the past so the engines are more consistant...but all are tighter. Tight means friction and heat. There is also some about of debris left from the manufactureing processes (much better today) and there is the wear in of the rings, bearings, seals, etc. A "hard" breaking will cause excessive heat...rings, valves, bearing could over heat and loose temper (bad). seals could be burnt(leak). Unseated rings could cause cylinder scuffing with at a minimum cause more friction and may cause premature ring failure cyclinder wear.
A slower breaking will be gentler and cooler during the initial high friction new engine wear in. This will mean longer engine life and very likely better engine performance when broke in.
I suspect, but do not know for a fact, that the initial Thriump dino oil does NOT include a complete set of anti friction additives to speed break in and likely a larger dose of detergent to clean the new engine out.
Synthetic oil is superior to dino in most ways. But the biggest is it ability to break down much slower when subject to high heat. Keep this in mind as most new aircooled motorcycle engines are atleast partially oil cooled, this is often done to allow increase performance
and higher out put. One very hot spot that is typically cooled by squirting oil is the underside of the piston/rod assembly. That is why most new m/c and high performance engine manufacture recommed (or demand on my LS6) synthetic oil.
This stuff has all been covered before, and this thread has apparently become the "easy break-in love fest".
:SLEEP:
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums
3.9M posts
167.7K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Triumph Motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, racing, cafe racers, bobbers, riding, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!