I ran the Supersport in very carefully, let it build up to the 2000 km point rather than in steps. I don't seem to suffer the mirror vibration that many Supersport owners are complaining about. Could just be coincidence.
Ever wondered how they run an aircraft piston engine in?, well what they don’t do is keep it at 50% revs for 620 miles , the main thing with running in is to keep varying the revs, don’t thrash it, get the first oil change done on time, modern engines and oils have come a long way since the days of the moggie minor when careful running in was far more important.
Food for thought. My 959 had two miles on the clock when I turned the key in Valencia in February. I spent the first 20 minute session going steady(ish) to get everything where I wanted it and tyres scrubbed. After that I rode it like I wanted. It now has just short of 3000 miles on the clock and hasn't missed a beat all season. Those are all race miles except two track days. Admittedly the oil and filter has been changed every 500 miles (oil sponsor of course) and it will get a full engine strip and rebuild over the winter but I'm fairly confident that normal road use and/or trackday use there would be no problems with any bike due to not being gentle with it to start with. Clearly warranty becomes an issue with road bikes so in my eyes that's the only reason to adhere to protocol. FWIW I have been seriously impressed with the 959 this season, stock motor, stock clutch with a some ohlins and an Akra, it has been mint! Probably shit itself at the first meeting next year now I've gobbed off
That’s correct Bob but they are run up to full power, when fitted to the A/C the recommendation is to use full power and ensure that cruise is above 65% to 75% and do not Nurse the engine, the only running in recommendations apply to the lubricant types used in the first 50 hours.
Been lucky to have several bikes to run in. Fz1, Multi 1200, KTM1290, GS1200lc. Same every time. Steady ish for the 1st hundred miles. Then ride them progressively harder without over revving (my version, not what the manual says. If the revs are not used then its not fully run in). All of the engines were sweet and used negligible amounts of oil, not needing topped up between services from 6k onwards. Labouring the engines, esp big twins would worry me more than a few extra revs. A few years back had a 1.9 130tdi passat from new. Followed the running in guidelines and ended up with a car that used oil. Fine in all other aspects. Suspect the long life oil to be the culprit, stopping the rings from fully bedding in?
It would be interesting to know what they do at the end of the production line, I suspect they run it up through the gears to full RPM and then switch off which probably does all the ring bedding in necessary ???
A constant question. Now who do you believe? The people who designed it, built it, developed it, tested it and stand the warranty on it? I worked for almost my whole working life for a large vehicle manufacturer. Our engine development people always told me a break in period was down to their design and very importantly the honing method and pattern and clearances used in the bores. Some engines we produced were designed to go flat (high idle) from day one and they were designed to do this. To the point that running them in could cause glazed bores and high oil consumption. Others needed a break in period to get the best result. Some of our engines competed at Lemans etc. The engines needed little break in, but then again they were designed and manufactured that way. I was also told not to use fully synthetic and having an oil and filter change after the break in period was a good thing. I have never had an engine that has used oil. So it really would seem the people who made it know best?
