Run In period - First 600 miles/1000km

June 25, 2003, 11:11:51 PM

Hello fellow GS500 peoples...

Quote0-500 mi < 5000 RPM
500-1000 mi < 8000 RPM
1000+ mi < 10000 RPM

I realise that above is the factory standard way of running in a new GS500 - or basically any new motor it seems this is a standard procedure. However there are some websites floating around on other boards and motorbike websites that advocate giving your bike a thrashing from new

Their theory is that everything "beds" better this way and that the motor responds better after this kind of treatment early on. Basically you ride the bike the way you will ride it in the future.

Personally my logic does not allow me to agree... however I have put up a post at cbrworld.net to find out more info, there was a link to a website there a few months back telling people to run their bikes in hard, basically thrash its guts out.

In the meantime... does anyone have any comments? Would the fact that a bike is fuel injected etc make a difference?

I personally would take the manufacturers way as gospel!

Ride safe...

June 25, 2003, 11:30:01 PM

www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

There it is ----

I should have just waited about 30 minutes and I could have just posted that link and you would have avoided having to read my dribble!

Let see what people think?!

TheGoodGuy · June 25, 2003, 11:49:24 PM

I dont fully agree with motoman, but he does make sense in one aspect, yes 80% of the break in is done within 100 miles so make sure you vary the load a bit the first 100 miles and then do an oil change.

I ofcourse went the full course.. and boy was that a long time. I took nearly 8 months to do 600 miles. Ofcourse now I am at 63xx miles and a mere 16 months later.

June 26, 2003, 12:29:48 AM

8 months? 600 miles? why did it take so long???

I want to get the 600 miles done in a weekend!

Nothing worse then having to worry about keeping your revs under a certain number!?

Has anyone run a bike in like this guy is suggesting?!

Wrencher · June 26, 2003, 02:18:13 AM

I know alot of race motors are broken in that way, and the break in method used by a fair number of shops on a dyno is somewhat similar so I don't think its a terrible way to break it in and it does make a fair amount of sense. I think it takes a little longer than MotoMan claims and less time than the All Mighty Factories do.

Having said that, Motoman is not going to be doing any Suzuki waranty work for me, so the factory break-in method ultimately wins. Suzuki wants it done this way and they will waranty the bike, do it any other way and they won't (or at least they say the won't).

YMMV. Just my $0.02 worth.

Lars · June 26, 2003, 03:20:42 AM

The factory can never be wrong. They manufactured the bike and know what's good for it and what's not. If it was better to trash it for 100 miles, they would have advised to take your bike to a racetrack, or to ride on the highway in 4th gear.

Also, he mentions in the beginning that it's for new engines with a finer crosshatch honing pattern. Don't know if the GS has such a pattern since the engine is from the late '70s.

Finally, look at this:

It's impossible for a piston to look that clean when it's used. Even the top of the piston is clean!!

glenn9171 · June 26, 2003, 07:18:32 AM

I think the factory suggestions are mostly a "CYA" scheme. They are probably covering their asses in more than one legal arena. Making sure new riders get some seat time before thrashing the bike. The bike does need time to be broken in, but I think they are going overboard on their schedule. Kinda like the way the speedometers are grossly out of whack. To protect us from ourselves. This way it could in no way be the manufacturer's fault if the bike malfunctions early in it's life.

I wonder why no other vehicles have break-in procedures such as these? You go and buy a sports car and it doesn't have a sticker on the tachometer restricting you to 45% of the redline for a certain period of time. I say it's all legal BS.

Casimir · June 26, 2003, 07:49:20 AM

Quote from: glenn9171I wonder why no other vehicles have break-in procedures such as these? You go and buy a sports car and it doesn't have a sticker on the tachometer restricting you to 45% of the redline for a certain period of time.

I beg to differ.

A friend has an Audi TT and it had similar break-in instructions to our bikes. Keep the revs low and vary the load for the first few hundred miles.

pantablo · June 26, 2003, 09:55:49 AM

race engines get broken in hard. But they also usually get a full rebuild quite often. I'd stick to manufacturers recomendations. If you're getting the 600 miles in a weekend what difference does it make...just do it per manuf. specs.

June 26, 2003, 03:20:34 PM

I agree that the safest way to run in a bike would be via the manufacturers recommendations. However the website suggests that ultimately the performance outcome you can expect is reliant on your break in.

We all want more ponies right?

But at the cost of "maybe" damaging your new engine?

gilson8 · June 26, 2003, 05:19:35 PM

Yeah Keyzer i have done 144 klms so far on GS weather and work has slowed me down but i am definitly going by the factory running in just make sure you vary speed dont go to sydney and back lol just make sure you vary the speed and trips .anyway when do you pickup your GS

June 26, 2003, 07:05:28 PM

I could get the black one tomorrow... but I want the blue, not sure how long I will last waiting for the blue when a perfectly good and cool looking black one is sitting on the dealer floor?

Can I ask what you ended up paying "on the road" for yours?!

Cheers!

Richard UK · June 27, 2003, 11:50:02 AM

Keep to the recommended max for the recommended miles, but the most important thing is to vary the revs widely between the recommended bands. You can probably do as much damage by running in at constant revs as you can by thrashing it too soon.

News:

Run In period - First 600 miles/1000km