Break-in procedure as per Daddog riders website (good read)

[2fun]

I am posting this here, because they are ATV enthusiasts, but the information should apply to all motors.

Take a look and see what you think!

All credit for this article goes to Daddog riders and this is where I got the info from per their permission.


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The DADDOG DOGRIDERS Yamaha YFZ-450 BREAKING IN YOUR ENGINE.


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Breaking in your motor is a hot topic, and is becoming somwhat controversial. There are expert mechanics who say to break it in hard and experts who say break it in soft.

Someone is wrong. (correct?) The Dogriders have tested the breakin Hard technique from [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] and have found their technique works great!
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BEST BREAKIN METHOD


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TO BREAK IN YOUR NEW YFZ-450!

YOU CAN JUST GET ON AND WARM IT UP a few minutes, then RIDE IT is the best way to break it in! RACE IT!, start it, idle it slowly till the oil is circulating, then drag race it.

thats what they are made for.

some racers run them without oil for a few minutes to speed in the break in, so obvisouly there are various schools of thought.

here are some reader reports on how various manufacturers FIRST test the new engines that YOU BUY":

5 More Reader Reports:

New Nissan Cars Fully Blasted:

A number of years ago I was in Japan working for Nissan Canada and we were invited to visit an assembly plant. You should see the final road test they submit the cars to on a dyno. The driver floors the accelerator and takes vital statistics from dials for about 3 minutes. If they pass this test they are OK. The Japanese must be laughing when they read the lines about engine break in. All of the motor vehicle industry insiders have been laughing at this situation ... for a long time.

New Ford Cars Fully Blasted:

I once took a tour of the Ford plant. The engines are all dyno tested and screamed to top RPMs at full throttle. That's when I knew the easy break-in engine damage warnings weren't true. The funny thing is that they checked my bag for cameras or video recorders -- that's not allowed !! Why all the concern about video & camera equipment ?? If there's nothing to hide, why is there an effort to hide it ??

New Honda Motorcycles Fully Blasted:

At Honda at Marysville Ohio the new bikes are strapped to a dyno wheel and run to red line and at over 100 mph before it is crated up and shipped. Didn't they read those easy break-in articles ?? After all, they helped pay for them.

Diesel Blastage @ Ford:

I can only speak for 1.8 Diesel for Ford as that's what I'm assembly engineer for, but once the engine is built its conveyered into a cell and then started. After idling for 30 secs (with a lot of auto checks on oil pressure, coolant temp etc etc) it's then taken up in 500rpm increments every 10 secs until the grand finale of 10 secs at max no load speed. I still cringed this afternoon when I walked past them screaming (as much as a diesel can) away. Of course, every so often half way through this a con rod will emerge from the side of the block but this is what the test is for, to show up any manufacturing defects. Screaming Diesels !!

New Aprilia Motorcycles Fully Blasted:

Every bike that leaves the Aprilia factory (and every other OEM factory) goes through each gear to the {rev} limiter, no bull, its part of quality control.

Bikes used to come in without the high speed indicator reset, quite often the bikes would have 175mph on the dash. I saw a Factory {model type} with 182mph on it, and I know I sure didn't do it. {Note: the 2 bracketed comments are my additions ~MotoMan}


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Bearings do not need to be BROKEN IN, they need oil and lots of it and they are good to go, they are as polished as they can be and when they run there is no metal to metal contact. there is an oil film, there is nothing to break in on a bearing.


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here is a nice web site that teaches common sense instead of work of mouth [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] Now here is something I hope you will remember, because it is very important. Almost ALL the wear on your motor will come from the first few minutes on the startup procedure. A high revving motor start on a cold day should be like grinding teeth to us, DONT DO IT>

try not to use your choke.

On a cold day, if you have a kick starter, go through the kick slowly a half dozen times to spread the oil a bit and run it slow tilll it warms up wellonce it is warm you can do whatever you want to it. It won't hurt it any if your oil is nice and clean.

The key is to run your quad OFTEN! (YEAH!) and start it slow till warm, and do not let it sit for days and days unridden if possible, but if so, try to crank it a bit before it starts, (plug disconnected) Dry metal on dry metal is very bad for cam journals. Give it lots of oil and it should last for a very long time.

your wear comes daily from the first two minutes of your startup.


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1) Use the next door neighbor reading technique with everything you read (pretend your next door neighbor wrote it! not some EXERT!)-- you'll be surprised at what happens. Your real-world intelligence will skyrocket.

2) Don't allow experts to think for you. Observe, test and measure things for yourself.

3) Make mental still pictures to visualize reality.

4) When you've mastered #3, practice making mental moving pictures.

5) Question everything, especially the most widely assumed premises !! That's the key to forming truly logical conclusions.



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here are two articles that we believe are not the method we would use to break in a new quad And is not the best way we think, but they are here for you to read, cause many RACERS and EXPERTS will give you this, it is even found in the manual!

Each to his own. is an article on how to break it in SOFT:
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Break-In Its new, its pristine, how long do you have to baby it? By K_____ C_____, (Well known mechanic) Originally published in S______
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The following post is for fairness, so that you can DECIDE to break in the way you want to. We have decided, and are happy we did try it the way we did. They run superb, and no 450 with the same mods has ever beat us.
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Break-in is the final finishing operation in manufacturing an engine--and you, the owner of a new bike, perform it. At the factory, the bike builder hones the cylinder walls to a fine finish, grinds cams and tappets to accurate, smooth profiles, and makes co-rod journals to high standards of roundness and accuracy. but even with all this, metal surfaces remain microscopically rough, consisting of tiny peaks and valleys. When you start a new engine, these surfaces must slide over each other; wherever the peaks stick up higher than the local oil film thickness, metal hits metal, welds momentarily from the intense local pressure, and then tears away. The oil sweeps a residue of particles away, carrying them to sump and filter. Some metal is simply pushed into shape, protected by oil additives, it deforms physically rather than being welded and torn. Throughout the engine, this process works, quickly at 1st, then more slowly as break-in proceeds. Once the high spots are knocked or pushed down, the roughness of the surfaces no longer sticks above the oil films. Piston rings have filed themselves into a fine fit to their cylinders. Bearings spin without metal-to-metal contact, on full oil films. Break-in is complete. This process can have three possible outcomes: (1) If the break-in begins at high RPM and heavy throttle, the process may generate more heat and metal debris than the system can handle. Then the result is destruction of contact surfaces in some parts of the engine. (2) If the break-in begins at a lower energy level and builds up gradually to higher revs and throttle, the washing action of the oil will keep up with the generation of wear particles, and the surfaces will bed into each other in such a was that the oil film can carry the load. (3) The 3rd possibility is that break-in will fail-- usually as a result of such light-duty operation that parts are not loaded together forcefully enough to bed-in to one another. Rings glaze and fail to seal. The engine never delivers full power. Fortunately, this is rare where production machines are concerned. Factory break-in procedures are designed to steer the middle course--not so vigorous as to damage surfaces, not so timid as to have no results at all. Generally, recommended break-in consists of operation at a variety of moderate speeds, alternating with no-load coasting. The idea behind this is that firm part-throttle operation for a period puts a load on bearings and other parts, forcing their surfaces together so they can polish each other to a fine fit. No-throttle coasting removes much of the load, allowing the oil system to flush away the wear particles. Gradually increasing the load (higher RPM and throttle) allows the bedding-in process to build up over time, rather than applying a possibly damaging load right at 1st. Rob Muzzy of Kawasaki notes: 'It wont break in until you really run it hard,' noting that, 'With today's thin, low friction rings, you cant get the parts to reach each other without a good load.' He says his team breaks in its race engines in much the same manner as for the street: 30-60min of moderate operation on the dyno, just in case there are some really rough areas, followed by several pulls (that is, hard acceleration across the powerband.) He says that only by the 3rd pull does the engine begin to show its real power. For a street machine owner, this dyno break-in translates to a period of moderate operation (Muzzy mentions 500 miles), followed by some hard acceleration. Sustained, high-speed operation is not a good idea because it provides no wash time at low load, during which the oil system can flush away any wear particles. Once the break-in milage has elapsed, the oil and filter are changed to remove the metal-loaded oil, and the (possibly) heavily-loaded filter. Break-in Lore and myths: You often hear something like this: 'break it in fast and it will be fast, break it in slow and it will be slow.' There is some truth here because break-in has to apply enough load to force the parts into mutual machining action. If you timidly try to break it in at very low speed and almost zero throttle, you may never force the piston rings to shave themselves into good contact with the cylinder walls. That will result in a poor seal--and a poor performance. But the 'break it in fast' part of the saying seems to imply that the faster you push during break-in, the faster your engine will be as a result. Not so. If you push too hard, too soon, the parts will score and scuff each other because the heat generated will be enough to destroy the oil film locally. A scuffed piston ring doesnt seal. Many engine builders agree that you should not try to break in an engine on synthetic oil. If the oil film is too good, it will support even parts with extensive surface roughness. Only a small amount of local bedding-in may occur on the piston rings, in a poor fit (glazing) that improves only very slowly over time. Manufacturers of synthetic oils are almost unanimous in their insistence that this is not so, and that break-in is normal with their excellent products. But too many engineers and tuners have seen break-in either fail or take too long on synthetics for this to be the entire truth. Muzzy says that his team breaks in engines on mineral oil, and will run the fresh engine the entire first day at the track on the break-in oil, before draining and replacing with racing synthetic. Synthetic oils are frequently chosen for racing use because low viscosities can be used that will cut friction losses by a small amount. This may be worth the trouble on the racetrack, but for street use, the choice between mineral and synthetic oils is yours. Street engines run well with mineral or synthetic oils of the reccommended viscosity. Your more important decision will be to follow a reasonable break-in procedure. Treat your engine with respect for its first 500 to 1000 miles, and it'll repay you by delivering its best possible performance.
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In the article "Give It a Break-In" in their F_____, M____ asked four top engine builders— _ ______ ____ ______ how to break-in a new engine for peak power output and optimum life. What follows is a summary of their break-in recommendations. Initial start (If the engine was run at the factory or properly set up by the dealer, skip this step) Start the engine only to bring the oil and coolant up to temperature with little or no load. Stop the engine and check for oil and coolant leaks. Then allow the engine to cool to ambient temperature. First ride Ride for 10 to 15 minutes at 3,000 to 5,000 rpm. Vary the engine load and avoid top gear. Then allow the engine to cool to ambient temperature. Second ride Ride for 10 to 15 minutes at 5,000 to 7,000 rpm. Vary the engine load, use short bursts of acceleration, and avoid top gear. Then allow the engine to cool to ambient temperature. Third ride Ride for 10 to 15 minutes at a maximum of 8,000 to 9,000 rpm. Vary the engine load, use short bursts of acceleration, and avoid top gear. While the engine is warm, change the oil and filter—use high-quality low-viscosity conventional oil such as Valvoline SAE 30 motor oil. Do not use synthetic motor oil. Subsequent rides Ride for 15 to 20 minutes gradually increasing the engine load toward redline. Avoid lugging the engine but rev it freely, especially in the lower gears. After 250 to 500 miles, check valve clearance. After 500 miles, check the steering. After 500 to 1,500 miles on conventional motor oil, change to synthetic motor oil.

[Spitfire]

good writeup!!

[4strkepwr660R]

Interesting......Im quite shocked how they floor the cars and bikes before they r sold.

[2fun]

Originally posted by 4strkepwr660R
Interesting......Im quite shocked how they floor the cars and bikes before they r sold.

Yeah, kinda surprized me too!:

Makes sense now though!

[DCox]

When I ordered my first Cummins diesel truck, I contacted the Cummins engineers direct and they told me the best way I can break it in is to immediately tow something heavy and put it under load, followed by moments of respite.

I followed their advice on two new trucks and have never burned any oil after break-in.

It would still be a cold day in Gehenna, however, before I load a new two-stroke like that, although future evidence may convince me to do otherwise (after sufficient warm-ups of course ).

[2fun]

Originally posted by DCox

It would still be a cold day in Gehenna, however, before I load a new two-stroke like that, although future evidence may convince me to do otherwise (after sufficient warm-ups of course ).

Why would you not do this for a 2-stroke??

Do not the same principles and factors apply?

I would think that seating the rings would still require the same method regardless??

Please explain your concern on a 2-stroke??:

[Woody_YZF]

Speaking of Cummins, right on their site they say if you tow a lot that your break in is only for the first 5000 miles vs. the first 12,000 or so if you don't tow (take it easy). I have broken in my last probably 10 machines or so with the mototune way and have had no issues, however I didn't have any with the ones I broke in easy either. I just hate wasting time going slow. LOL