How to ride your bike in the Break in period?

So you have finally bought your new bike. After all the hours you spent searching for your perfect bike and got your bike. And now you are stuck on this new question… Motorcycle Break In. Fear not here is the perfect way to get you started on your new set of wheels. But first, let’s get to know why Motorcycle Break-In is so necessary.

Reasons Behind Motorcycle Break In

When the bike is pushed out of the factory, the engine is completely new. The piston and the piston rings are in a snug fit. The walls of the cylinder have abrasive texture on it. The same type of structure is on the pistons. For the bike to have the perfect compression ration this seal should be proper and the fuel should not spread in the walls of the engine.

That is why the friction of the 2 surfaces should be such that it makes a proper seal. This can be achieved by a proper break in method. By subjecting the engine to different stress levels one can make sure that the seal is perfected. Now all this might sound very technical but fear not. We are here to simplify it here for you. Make sure that you follow the following points while you do your motorcycle break in. 

What speeds to maintain?

This is the main question that people ask? So the answer is any speed. It does not depend on your bike speed. The thing that matters is how fast your engine is. As a rider, you should understand that the Motorcycle break in is dependent on the RPM metre. For an ideal break in one should explore all the rev bands of the bike. 

One simple method is to divide your usable RPM into 3 parts. You should explore every band for 15 mins. So now if you are driving at 30 Km/h, then you should make sure that your bike runs in all these 3 ranges. Also, keep in mind that idle the bike for 5 mins before taking it for a spin. In India, the majority of you have a single-cylinder bike and the new bike that you have bought might also be a single cylinder. So it’s necessary for the bike parts to have some free moment before you force them to go faster. Another thing to keep in mind, we have asked you to explore all the 3 RPM zones but that does not mean that you jump from one zone to another very fast. This will cause excess stress which the piston is not yet subjected to.

So a gradual increase is necessary. Also after all this a cool off is necessary

Cool Off – When, Where, Why?

The cool off is necessary after every half an hour of riding.

So when you ride across these various RPM bands then the piston and the piston walls become hot and mouldable. With a cool off you basically set the engine to a slow settle down. This helps the engine walls to come back to their original shape gradually. In the motorcycle break in process the cool off is very necessary as the rest day in a gym. 

The question arises now were to do this. So the best place to break in a motorcycle is the ghats. The winding roads provide proper gear changes and rpm lifts. Also, the engine braking and the incline stress gives the engine all types of stress. All said, if you don’t have access to the ghats or are simply not too comfortable riding the bike on the twisties then you can do it on a highway too. Just make sure you keep an eye on the odometer. For every 0.50 km maintain the same speed and rpm value and take a break after every 20 km. Let the bike cool off till you can touch the engine and then ride again. Also do not neglect the first service as this is where your bike will end its break-in period.

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