Heat Cycles

[TeamRealtreeHD]

Going to break in the motor this afternoon... how do you guys do your heat cycles? I plan on doing a few and then running a tank and a half through it easy.

[mopar1rules]

i never take it easy on my engines during breakin. just let 'em warm up real good and then drive it like i stole it. never had one problem doing this. drive it during breakin, the way you're going to drive it normally. i would drive mine through hell for like 10 min and then give a 15-20 min break. then go back out and do it again. repeating this like 4-5 times. i had no blowby on my pistons, breaking in my engine this way. i also ran 48:1 and amsoil dominator at the time of breakin.

[HammerShee99]

Going to break in the motor this afternoon... how do you guys do your heat cycles? I plan on doing a few and then running a tank and a half through it easy.

 

I've seen pretty convincing evidence that taking a lot of time to break the engine in isn't really necessary. If I remember right, there's a pretty reputable engine builder who claims that as long as you give the bike plenty of time to warm up before you ride it, you can pretty much rip on it right off the bat. There's a link to his case on not actually breaking the engine in somewhere on BansheeHQ, but I don't have it handy at the moment.

 

If you don't really trust that method, I think the most common way to do it is to let the bike idle for about 20-30 minutes, or until the cylinders feel hot to the touch, then shut it down, retorque the head, and repeat about 3 times, then ride it fairly easy for the first full tank of gas.

 

I've heard compelling cases for both methods, and I've heard of bikes going sky-high not long after both methods were employed. I'll see if I can find that link that I mentioned above, and if I do, I'll post it.

[HammerShee99]

Found it. Props to gregrob for posting it the first time.

[TeamRealtreeHD]

Hey, thanks guys. I just got done with the first 3 10-15 minute rides/cool downs. It really rips, I can't even explain it!