FJR Mileage Breakin

[kiteflyer]

Weather has been an issue since I picked up my 2010 FJR in January. I've gotten out a few times, starting with motoman's break in system. Total now of 120 miles of primarily in-town riding. And as a result of my 15 year break from motorcycling, I'm taking my skills test tommorow at 1:00 at the Idaho Transportation Building parking lot that is down in Boise, about 20 miles from my place.

Most of the ride down to Boise will be on the interstate and connector to downtown Boise. My question is this:

Has the bike been broken in sufficienty enough to travel at sustained highway speeds or should I stick to surface streets until a certain maileage has been reached? My58th birthday is this month and I want this bike to last a good ten years or so. Please adivise...

Regards,

-Paul

 

[na1g]

Since Interstate speeds for you folks out in Idaho are about 90 , you might want to take another route. The key is to keep varying the engine speed and load and that's hard to do safely on the Interstate. Other than that, I say good luck on the test and enjoy the ride!

pete

 

[RavFJR]

Since Interstate speeds for you folks out in Idaho are about 90 , you might want to take another route. The key is to keep varying the engine speed and load and that's hard to do safely on the Interstate. Other than that, I say good luck on the test and enjoy the ride!

pete

+1, but if you're looking for a mileage figure... Most are broke in around 500 to 600 miles.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Paul...even staying within the recommended ahamaY RPM range, you're good for 80ish on the Interstate. As above, vary the speed up and down 10 or so and give the bike a good run. This is much better than idling around town. Although I'm not a fan of the Motoman method, there are many that swear by it. YMMV

After two FJR's of my own and many more from friends, the bike really doesn't loosen up and smooth out until 8 - 9000 miles.

Good luck with the test!

--G

 

[dcarver]

Paul...even staying within the recommended ahamaY RPM range, you're good for 80ish on the Interstate. As above, vary the speed up and down 10 or so and give the bike a good run. This is much better than idling around town. Although I'm not a fan of the Motoman method, there are many that swear by it. YMMV

After two FJR's of my own and many more from friends, the bike really doesn't loosen up and smooth out until 8 - 9000 miles.

Good luck with the test!

--G

Agree with G. Sometimes. And this is one of those times.. :rofl: Don't lug a new motor.

Motoman break-in? I'm not convinced.

Vary RPM's thus cylinder pressure and ring load,

relax

increase

relax

increase

..uh oh, am I still talking about breaking in *bikes*?

 

[FJRMGM]

the bike really doesn't loosen up and smooth out until 8 - 9000 miles.

+1 - on mine it was more like 10-12k miles.

Feels good now at 80k miles tho!!

 

[FJReady]

Congrats on the new bike. It's a great machine, even for an old guy.

I did the modified Moto-Man break in that I found www.fjr1300.info many years ago.

6.5 years and 70K+ miles later my '05 bike is rock solid. No tick, no using oil, no engine trouble whatsoever. I did replace CCT as a preventative measure at ~ 50K. Mostly because of some horror stories reported here.

I believe that I had to keep engine RPM under 6K for the first 1000 miles. After that I rode it like I stole it. No problems. Of course you have a sissy Gen 2 bike so your results may be different. (at least you don't have one of those detuned French bikes)

FWIW, I rode across Idaho a couple years ago. Nice place. Enjoy your new ride!

 

[RavFJR]

As you can tell (from all the posts) this topic is somewhat subjective. Personally, I rode mine like a princess the first 20 miles (low RPMs to help bearing break-in), then from there and up to 600 miles, I did a Motoman - lite routine (vary the RPM and offer both acceleration and deceleration to help seat the rings). The one thing to be very concerned with is NOT to get the engine too hot when doing the break-in. I also didn't opt to using synthetic oil until after 5,000 miles. I do agree with most that you'll get your most 'efficient' performance after about 10K miles (gas mileage improvement, etc). From my last post, I pulled the 600 mile figure from a Yamaha (corporate) tech that was helping me with my stalling condition.

 

[Silverbullet]

My first two FJRs were broken in starting at mile one using the full tilt boogie Motorman method. My next two were done using the "break it in like you are gonna ride it" method which in my case means a steady mix of "run the living crap out of it when I want to, cruise along sightseeing when I want to". It hasn't seemed to make any noticable difference in how they ran later in life, or fuel economy, oil consumption, etc, etc. Other than maybe avoiding an extended period of running at a constant speed and RPM, I'd just break it in using whichever method makes you the most comfortable. Like others have mentioned, my bikes never really felt "broke-in" untill they had some thousands of miles on them.

 

[kiteflyer]

Thanks for all the tips. I will say that as far as initial break in, I kept it easy for about the first 50 miles. Then I tried a couple of runs per motoman.

Since then, I've kept it below 6K rpm but driven it like I want it to perform. I expect everything is good to go, but I'll keep it below 6K rpm until about 1000 miles.

I rode to downtown today (about 45 miles round trip) to take my Idaho Motorcycle Skills test and PASSED. Not bad for an old fart. I'm looking forward to miles of smiles on this fabulous machine.

Regards,

-Paul

 

[networkguy]

Thanks for all the tips. I will say that as far as initial break in, I kept it easy for about the first 50 miles. Then I tried a couple of runs per motoman.

Since then, I've kept it below 6K rpm but driven it like I want it to perform. I expect everything is good to go, but I'll keep it below 6K rpm until about 1000 miles.

I rode to downtown today (about 45 miles round trip) to take my Idaho Motorcycle Skills test and PASSED. Not bad for an old fart. I'm looking forward to miles of smiles on this fabulous machine.

Regards,

-Paul

Woot grats! Feels good doesnt it? :yahoo:

 

[rfespinosa]

I think a lot of the break in conventional wisdom is based on old information, when engine build tolerances were much looser than today's. And lubricating oil technology has improved tremendously.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with. I don't think the bike will know the difference.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Congrats on the new bike. It's a great machine, even for an old guy.

Hey, smart ass, he's only 58! :angry2: Jeez.

And it's a good thing I bought a used one, 'cuz I NEVER could have "taken it easy" for the first six or eight thousand miles. Or six or eight hundred. Or six or eight miles. :lol:

 

[FJR-Pilot]

Weather has been an issue since I picked up my 2010 FJR in January. I've gotten out a few times, starting with motoman's break in system ...

I too did the motoman break-in. I red lined it with 45 minutes of leaving the showroom floor. I do not ride it any differently now than I did when breaking it in. 45,000 miles on it now and she runs perfectly (like a scalded cat).

Ride the living piss out of it wherever you go! Use synthetic and change it every 6 to 8 thousand miles.

 

[Island_FJR]

The senior mechanic at the shop where I bought my bike said to ride it like you normally would but to not let it get too hot for the first while. Stop and go city driving in light traffic so you can wind it up a bit works well I think.

 

[FJRMGM]

I think a lot of the break in conventional wisdom is based on old information, when engine build tolerances were much looser than today's. And lubricating oil technology has improved tremendously.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with. I don't think the bike will know the difference.

+1 - the tighter tolerances, better piston ring technology and much improved cylinder wall finish and coatings make the Motoman a thing of the last millenium.

 

[bikerkash]

Go to Motoman.com and follow what he says. I have used his advise on 3 FJR's and they do not use oil and run great.

 

[SkooterG]

I think a lot of the break in conventional wisdom is based on old information, when engine build tolerances were much looser than today's. And lubricating oil technology has improved tremendously.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with. I don't think the bike will know the difference.

+1

FWIW, 226k on my first FJR's motor. Motoman break-in right off the lot, and rode the piss out of it after that. Used the standard dead dinasaurs oil.

And I never felt like it took so many thousands of miles for either of my FJRs to 'break in'. Me thinks it may be the rider's breaking in to the bike?

 

[Fred W]

I think a lot of the break in conventional wisdom is based on old information, when engine build tolerances were much looser than today's. And lubricating oil technology has improved tremendously.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with. I don't think the bike will know the difference.

Cheers to that... :drinks:

Breaking in an engine used to mean seating the piston rings and scuffing in the honing / machine marks in the cast iron cylinders bores or sleeves to get maximum compression.

Our modern alloy FJR blocks have a thin, ultra hard, ceramic composite cylinder wall coating. I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I think that means that there isn't a lot of bore wall break-in to be accomplished.

Lots of other plain bearings need to be broken in, sure, and things will "loosen up" some. And there's always a little manufacturing swarf that need to be flushed out by the oil and captured in the filter. But really I think engine "break-in" is an archaic term.

I'm still breaking mine in at 45k miles...