Just drove it home today and I LOVE IT! Wonderful bike!
(06 GS500F if you missed my initial post )
I have some pictures i'll put up as soon as I find my dam SD card reader.
But in the mean time, seeing as the dealer forgot to give me the manual, and I cant get there to get it till monday,
What is the recommened break-in period for a brand now bike.
And just how strickly should it really be followed
P.S. So umm... now that I acctually the the bike do I get my super special GStwin.com decoder ring! :P lol
Your manual will dictate the do's and don'ts during the first 500lkm .. Ride it like you would normally basically...and don't take it to the racetrack or prolonged hiways runs......have fun !!!
Quote from: Thadeus on April 21, 2007, 05:47:47 PM
Just drove it home today and I LOVE IT! Wonderful bike!
(06 GS500F if you missed my initial post )
I have some pictures i'll put up as soon as I find my dam SD card reader.
But in the mean time, seeing as the dealer forgot to give me the manual, and I cant get there to get it till monday,
What is the recommened break-in period for a brand now bike.
And just how strickly should it really be followed
P.S. So umm... now that I acctually the the bike do I get my super special GStwin.com decoder ring! :P lol
Asking about break in is like asking about which oil is better, or what kind of gas to put in it. Everybody has an opinion. A search should give you more than enough information, but Suzuki says keep it under 6000 RPM I believe, and try not to stay at the same RPM for long periods of time. Oil change at 600 miles. Something like that.
its 5k :) and an oil change at 600 miles .. but i got mine up to 8 k at about 120 to 300 miles .. and she runs like a charm
like egaeus said we've all got opinions. I've always preached and practiced "break it in like you intend to ride it". If you're going to baby the thing it's whole life, break in all nice an easy. If you're going to ride it like a normal person, then break it in like that. Etc.
The only constants among us all is to keep from cruising at a particular RPM for long until you're bout 1000 miles into it. Rings and seals and all set in after about 10 heat cycles and after that you can pretty well do whatever you want. Change the oil every 500 miles or so a couple times, too. This helps get all the heavy greases and contaminates from assembly out of the case.
+1
When my bike was delivered here last december and I got home from work, I went through the papers they had left me and noticed there was no owners manual. I called them up and the guy said that it should be under the seat at the back near the toolbag. So I went outside and checked and there it was.
Paraphrasing from the manual which is right in front of me:
| Initial 800km (500 miles) | = | Below 5500 r/min |
| Up to 1600 km (1000 miles) | = | Below 8000 r/min |
| Over 1600 km (1000 miles) | = | Below 11000 r/min |
Vary the engine speed. This allows the parts to 'load' (aiding the mating process) and 'unload' (allowing the parts to cool). Although it is essental to place some stress on the engine components during break in, you must be careful not to load the engine too much.
Quote from: foobar on April 22, 2007, 01:52:48 PM
Vary the engine speed. This allows the parts to 'load' (aiding the mating process) and 'unload' (allowing the parts to cool). Although it is essental to place some stress on the engine components during break in, you must be careful not to load the engine too much.
+1 ... as for the rpm's , there are as many people that tell you that "if the parts aren't machined and mated properly at the first startup , they'll never be" as there are that tell you to keep them below x-rpm . I have a buddy that swears by running the bat-sh*t out of them for the first few hundred miles lol ... he's big on AMA racing and he pointed me to some website i'll try to find for you guys (the guy says that the increased heat and compression helps the rings seat better ... he had a ton of pistons out of bikes broke-in using the factory method vs his method) .
Everyone seems to agree that the RPM's should never stay at one place too long though
If it were my bike, I'd change the oil at about 100 miles for the first time to be sure you get a lot of the metal flakes out of the case, also put a heavy duty magnet on the oil filter, that will keep the contaminates in the filter.
Oh, and congrats on the new ride man, that kicks ass!
ANyone know what the initial break in examination costs at a dealership? I currently don't know a thing about motorcycles besides learning how to ride them. Also how about an inspection for the bike? Help a newb out
Quote from: Newbasaurus Rex on May 28, 2007, 09:08:32 PM
ANyone know what the initial break in examination costs at a dealership? I currently don't know a thing about motorcycles besides learning how to ride them. Also how about an inspection for the bike? Help a newb out
I personally wouldn't bother going in for the 600 mile inspection, all they do is change the oil, tighten frame bolts and charge you $200. Do it yourself but save the receipts from the oil purchase to prove that you did the work yourself. They might say that not going to them will void the warranty, that is bullshit, just make sure you can prove that you actually did the work, take pictures of your doing it and you're good to go.
Ive had mine 2 weeks today,07 gs500, and it runs great. Got 750 miles on it I guess, without running out to look. Here in WNC, 600 mile service is around 125.00 plus any parts. I did the first 500 by the book, but The last 250 Ive rode it like I normally would. Its all the rider. Just dont get crazy, I pushed mine a bit with the long highway ride, bout and hour each way. But i did vary the speed a bit, between 80-90 with one incrusion burying the speedo coming off a long mountain run.
I tried the "break it in like you would normally ride it" on a moped and it didn't go well. I ended up replacing 3cyl, pistons, and rings in about a week :D I would recommend following the instructions in the manual. They seem like decent instructions.