Beginners Guide to Running (Break in ) of a new motorcycle

Congratulations on getting your new motorcycle (or rebuilding its engine) and now you have to perform one of the difficult tasks. You need to break in or run in your new motorcycle. This is one of the most asked question among new motorcycle buyers but is it necessary? Lets find out.

Run in simply means using the machine adequately until its engine parts (Rings , Piston and block) are polished and its engine internals are also freed up. When any engine is assembled, it has new parts and they have to work in harmony together.

In commuter vehicles, these parts are not properly finished (to save cost, they are not polished) Hence by doing run in (riding gently at slower speeds) helps polishing these parts and machine than performs up to the mark.

It is also necessary to have at least two oil changes during run in period. The polishing will have some shavings and particles will mix with engine oil. So changing engine oil twice is recommended. I is also recommended to have less load on vehicle during run in( only 01 commuter) but you can reside an other commuter if needed. Just be extra careful while riding.

Many people often confuse speed and run in. Yes one has to be gentle with the machine but it doesn’t mean that it should be kept below 40 kilometers only. The vehicle should not be abused and one can pick speeds up to 60, 70 kilometers easily. The usual run in period is around 1,000 kilometers. If the engine is rebuilt than it should be around 1,500 to 2,000 and if its a 2stroke motorcycle than it should be 2,000 to 2,500.

Also another popular wat to run in your machine is to vary the speed, for couple of kilometers giving a hard acceleration till 70 kilometers and than coming back to 40 kilometers . This process is called hard run in. What ever method you may try make sure to have a stop after 10 to 15 kilometers and let your machine cool down.

Our majority machines are air cooled ones, doing run in in summers can be a pain. Bike tends to heat up in run in period and the weather is also hot. Best time for run in in summers is early in the morning or later in the evening. If you can buy motorcycle in winters than its the ideal time to perform run in.

We hope that now all the myths about run in period and how to perform it are cleared. Hopefully you will enjoy it and your vehicle will perform above and beyond.