New bike break-in & highway riding

[dgunay]

Hey fellas,

I purchased a brand new 2019 Yamaha Tracer 900 GT and will pick it up on September 16. I sold my '18 Z650 a month ago, after 2 years and 10k miles of riding I thought it was time to upgrade with a bike that is more suitable for my body type and highway riding. I was actually planning to buy at the end of the year, but I got a great deal so couldn't resist.



I have a quick question for break in period.

The dealer is approximately 250 miles away (Ottawa) and I am not sure about break-in procedure. I know I shouldn't keep the rev at certain rpm for a long period of time but I have to take it to highway at some point.

Should I take it to highway or just ride around the city for the first 50-100 miles then the highway? Am I overthinking about this?

Also, do you guys have any recommendation for the first oil change? I have Rotella T6 5w40 leftover from the previous bike, and just curious if I use this after the first oil change? I don't have to use at the very first oil change, but I'd like to know if anybody uses Rotella with his CP2/CP3 engines. Owner's manual recommends 10w40 or thicker w/ MA certification.

Thanks in advance

Dan

 

[wpod]

Just ride the bike as you need to ride it forget all the break in voodoo get on the bike and enjoy. Change oil change when ever you want though shorter is better than longer with a new engine / transmission

 

[Chris142]

If on the Hwy you can easily speed up and slow down as needed.

 

[loneryder]

I bought my Harley in Rapid City, SD and it was hard to vary the speed/rpms out there on the wide open roads. The first 100 miles I varied the rpms with different gears and speeds. I was on that 4 lane road that goes to Rushmore and was in the right lane with cars wizzing by. After that I just rode it normally without hard acceleration. Today with 14k on the clock it doesn't use a drop of oil. Just vary the engine speed and no hard acceleration for the first 1-150 miles and you should be fine.

 

[Eddie]

Read the owners manual #1.

 

[SeaJay]

Read the owners manual #1.

Hopefully it is much shorter in length than the several 100 pages in my 7 year old car's manual which would take hours to complete.

 

[BusyLittleShop]

To know for *sure* the degree of break in on your new bike take a compression test... if the engine
shows factory compression then ring seating is done... if you don't see factory compression then
more high revs to punch though the oil film... and don't worry... that oil film is protecting all the other
critical parts so you are not hurting the engine rather you're doing what is necessary for proper breakin...


If you cutaway a piston, ring and cylinder wall and inspect under magnification you see something
to the effect of "saw teeth"... Given that a film of lubricating oil holds the piston ring away
from the cylinder wall. Proper break-in of piston ring to cylinder wall requires that the ring rupture
or break through this oil film and make contact with the cylinder wall. During such "metal to metal"
contact, the little peaks on the ring face and cylinder wall become white hot and rub off. This
condition will continue to occur until the ring face and cylinder wall have established a smooth
compatible surface between each other. At this point, break-in is said to be relatively complete and
very little metal-to-metal contact will occur hereafter. In fact, as the break-in process
progresses, the degree of metal-to-metal contact will regress.

There is one little "sticky wicky" in this process, that film of lubricating oil is there to prevent
metal-to-metal contact. That's exactly what it will do and really that's what we want it to do.
However, during the break-in process, we must have some minute metal-to-metal contact as
previously explained. Therefore, rupture of the oil film is necessary. The factors under the owners
control can retard this necessary rupture are low power and babying the engine...

During the normal break-in process the points or ridges of the honed-in scratches are partially
worn away. During the actual oil-film rupture, only the ridges on the piston rings and cylinder
walls contact each other. The little "valleys" between the ridges retain a film of oil and thereby
prevent a total dry condition between piston ring and cylinder wall. B.M.E.P. or combustion
pressure forces the ring against the cylinder wall. This is the "key" to the break-in process. You
can see then that low power (low B.M.E.P.) won't provide the same results and the break-in
process will require a longer period of time. However, time in this instance will have a detrimental
effect on your engine because any prolonged, low power break-in procedure usually leads to
"glazed" cylinder walls. so the more revs the better...

 

[gman2304]

I was at the dealer when they uncrated and assembled my brand new 2008 Suzuki DL 1000. When they finished and took it for the test ride, I told the tech, now dressed in leathers, to “ride it like he stole it“ ! When he came back to the dealership after the test ride, the brake rotors smoked for about 5 minutes...LOL! That bike never used oil and was running like a top when I sold it several years later. Of course YMMV.

 

[Bonz]

As soon as you start that engine up vary the engine RPM under load for the first couple of rides. Don't let it idle and don't just cruise.

As has been said, you have to keep cylinder pressure up to expand the rings against the cylinder walls. That happens under load with acceleration and also deceleration. Engines love deceleration under load when they are breaking in because it pulls oil up into the cylinder walls.

Most folks aren't going to compression test the engine, so by keeping the engine under load on acceleration and deceleration you will accomplish what you need to on the first couple rides. Doesn't matter if it happens at the factory, in the first 5 miles or in the 40th mile, you're going to ride the bike for tens of thousands of miles so just keep the engine under load whether acceleration or deceleration and the job will be done in a couple of rides without question.

In my estimation, truth be told, when the engine was started at the factory and tested before being created to ship, most of the initial break-in has taken place with respect to the pistons, rings and cylinders. Once you get through hundreds of miles on a new bike then everything else goes through heat cycles such as the transmission, cams, valve train etc and accomplishes the break-in on those parts.

When I broke-in new JE high compression pistons and rings into the cylinder bore on the ZRX1200, did a couple rides of about 25 mi each as described above and hasn't used a drop of oil in 5,000 mi oil change intervals for the past 20,000 mi since the install. Didn't hesitate to run it up to 4-5k RPM under acceleration then roll out back down to low RPM under engine braking, then accelerate back up to 5-6k rpm, decelerate back down to low RPM accelerate up to 6-7k rpm, you get the picture.

Also, you'll want to get the engine up to higher rpm under load fairly soon as rod stretch allows the rings to mate with the cylinder wall at that last nth degree of piston travel upward in the bore.

We all realize what an owner's manual says however there is more than enough evidence out there to show that the more aggressive break-in does no harm and potentially has benefits from the perspective of better mating of the pistons, rings and cylinder wall.

 

[Alain2]

Just vary your rpm speed (Compression/decompression) and keep the rpm under what the manual recommends.

I don’t believe hard breaking is better for the engine, the rings don’t need high rpm to reach high pressure. And it’s more than just about rings, especially on a motorcycle with shared sump; bearings, clutch and transmission gears also need break in.

Soft break in cannot really go wrong if you do it right, it takes time, but why risk it. I’m not saying hard break in is necessarily terrible, but I believe you do take an unnecessary risk to the process, such as a hot spot that could remove a bit too much material too fast.

 

[alarmguy]

Its simple, really.
Dont over think it. The key is to ride it gently but firmly. Dont wind out the RPM's and Dont Lug it either.
Other then that, it doesnt matter if your on the highway or off the highway, actually on the highway is more gentle then off.

Here is the key on any new engine, vary the speed. On the highway, constantly speed up and then take your hand off the throttle to slow down, all with in reason off course. More or less, vary your speed.

I did the same as you, though, a different brand. I traded in my Yami Vstar 1300 and I bought a new off the showroom floor Road King back in 2014 at a dealer in the Smoky Mountains (Pigeon Forge, Rocky top Harley), while it was raining no less. I had a 250 mile run home, just ride normal without beating on it and without lugging it and keep on your mind to vary your speed.
6 years later and now getting close to 30,000 miles, bike has never needed a repair and never needs make up oil between changes.

By the way, good luck with the bike, that is an AWESOME looking bike (wish I could have a 2nd bike in the garage)
Boy, now I am checking out this bike online, wow, its got me thinking ... though, I can only have one bike to be fair to the wife but ... the RK is the longest I ever owned a bike and if I knew for sure I was done with 2up long trips as I got to think of my passenger/luggage.
Ah too dream ... never say never ...
I was/am very happy with the Harley, exceeded my expectations by far ... but having owned a past Yamaha I am also a big fan of them.
Two different riding purposes of owning a bike both good. Plus of course my feeling, price wise, a lot of value in Yamaha, just the features I would hope for vs. some much more expensive sport tourers that have more then I would want and one reason why I have a Road King, instead of a Street Glide or Road Glide, same frame, less "bloat" for me personally.

 

[dgunay]

Thanks for all the input. I'll just vary the speed-gears-rpms and take it easy.

Its simple, really.
Dont over think it. The key is to ride it gently but firmly. Dont wind out the RPM's and Dont Lug it either.
Other then that, it doesnt matter if your on the highway or off the highway, actually on the highway is more gentle then off.

Here is the key on any new engine, vary the speed. On the highway, constantly speed up and then take your hand off the throttle to slow down, all with in reason off course. More or less, vary your speed.

I did the same as you, though, a different brand. I traded in my Yami Vstar 1300 and I bought a new off the showroom floor Road King back in 2014 at a dealer in the Smoky Mountains (Pigeon Forge, Rocky top Harley), while it was raining no less. I had a 250 mile run home, just ride normal without beating on it and without lugging it and keep on your mind to vary your speed.
6 years later and now getting close to 30,000 miles, bike has never needed a repair and never needs make up oil between changes.

By the way, good luck with the bike, that is an AWESOME looking bike (wish I could have a 2nd bike in the garage)
Boy, now I am checking out this bike online, wow, its got me thinking ... though, I can only have one bike to be fair to the wife but ... the RK is the longest I ever owned a bike and if I knew for sure I was done with 2up long trips as I got to think of my passenger/luggage.
Ah too dream ... never say never ...
I was/am very happy with the Harley, exceeded my expectations by far ... but having owned a past Yamaha I am also a big fan of them.
Two different riding purposes of owning a bike both good. Plus of course my feeling, price wise, a lot of value in Yamaha, just the features I would hope for vs. some much more expensive sport tourers that have more then I would want and one reason why I have a Road King, instead of a Street Glide or Road Glide, same frame, less "bloat" for me personally.

Thanks! This is my first Yamaha, and second motorcycle. I just needed a bike that can do everything good, for $9400 USD I couldn't find anything (brand new) that has more features. Also, I always wanted to have Yamaha's CP3 engine. I was also looking for Versys 1000, Multistrada 950S, 20' Africa Twin but they were much more expensive than this.

I was happy with my 18' Z650 but it felt small when I was riding it (6'1" 210 lbs). It was never a good fit for me. Well, it was my learner bike that's why wanted to have something cheap, lightweight and still relatively fast - which is a great bike for that purpose. I took 6 advanced training courses in the last two years so I felt I was ready for an upgrade.

 

[jeff78]

Congrats on the new ride. I've owned an FZ-09 (same engine and chassis save the Tracer's longer swingarm) since new and it's got 68K miles on it now. My experience with Rotella (used T4 for the first oil change, then T6 from 1200-7500 miles, and tried T5 at some point later) has been 'meh'. Shift quality wasn't that great with any of them and deteriorated quickly with the T6.

Other oils I've tried: Valvoline motorcycle oil (synth and dino), Motul 7100, Red Line, Valvoline VR-1 SAE 40.

Best oils for shifting were VR-1 and Red Line, with the Valvoline motorcycle oils very close behind. Motul was disappointing for what it cost.

YMMV.

Personally, if I had to ride a brand new bike back home 250 miles, I'd do around-town riding for the first 50-100 miles then get on the highway, rather than just get on the highway immediately. Unless the highway is safe enough where you can be constantly varying RPM's and throttle without the risk of being rearended.

 

[BusyLittleShop]

Thanks for all the input. I'll just vary the speed-gears-rpms and take it easy.

You're welcome...

 

[ragtoplvr]

You are breaking in way more than just the piston rings. You are bedding brakes and clutch, and burnishing the gears in the transmission.

Ride like you need to so no one runs you over on the road. Safety is most important. Just use all the gears, avoid full throttle high rpm, and shift down once and while . moderate braking, moderate clutch use. Check the chain after the first 50, but it probably will not change.. Then after that first oil change, start running it harder. I personally like to do that first oil and filter change, so later when I go to high rpm with maximum oil volume there is much less chance of filter bypass.

Rod

 

[Bonz]

With respect to going to filter bypass, you are saying because of the initial break-in and the materials the filter has trapped?

 

[ragtoplvr]

With respect to going to filter bypass, you are saying because of the initial break-in and the materials the filter has trapped?

I do see that as a possibility. For the cost of an oil change I personally choose to eliminate that possibility. May be more of a possibility on motorcycle because of additional possible swarf from gears and clutch.

 

[totegoat]

Enjoy a smooth, safe ride home.

 

[dgunay]

Thanks!

I am on the fence for manufacturer's extended warranty. They gave me the prices below they claim they have a promotion. All prices are in Canadian dollars

1 yr extra (2 year total) $385 - regular $550
2 yrs extra $475 - regular $660
3 yrs $595 - reg. $800
4 yrs $695 - reg. $900

No deductible etc.

Would you take it or leave it with 1-yr warranty? I know the chances are low as Yamaha is a reliable brand, but just wanted to hear if you have any experience?

 

[totegoat]

7,200 miles on my 2018 Yamaha, never back to the dealer.