Motorcycle Engine Running-in | How important is it?

What does running-in an engine mean and is it necessary?
Ask ten people what is the best way and why to run-in the engine and you are likely to get ten different answers.
This is because there is a huge amount of confusion and a huge amount of information all over the internet arguing and justifying different approaches.
In my opinion most of the information is outdated, because most of the information and techniques have come from our grandfather times!
Today I will share my thoughts on this subject and how I go about running-in my new motorcycles.
First things first, you need to know what you’re doing when “running-in” a new engine.
Some people think we are trying to bed-in the bearings, the crankshaft, the gears and the clutch plates and so on, and that is not the case at all.
The only component that is actually being run-in is the piston rings. We are trying to bed those rings so that they achieve a correct seal against the cylinder walls.
And we have a very small window to do this. About 50 kms or an hour at most.
Taking too long and being too gentle will not help bed in the rings to the cylinder.
The honing would have gone by then and so will the chance to bed the piston rings to the cylinder walls. It is an irreversible process.
The worst thing you can do while breaking in an engine is taking care of the engine like a baby by allowing it to idle for extended periods and by riding it ever so slowly and too gently.
This will place almost no load on the rings and the bedding process can fail.
Note, it is the violent, hard and high temperature combustion that gets the piston rings to expand, press and seal against the cylinder walls, not gentle operations.
I know quite a few riders who believe that they better err on the slow side than err on the fast side and end up babying the engine for a 1000s of kms!
This is more damaging that revving the hell out of the engine when it is new.
In fact revving the hell out of the engine does not cause any damage to a modern motorcycle engine.
There have been tests conducted on two identical engines where one of the engines was run-in using the slow step by step process as recommended by the manufacturer and the other engine was run at higher speeds including full throttle right from the start.
Ari Henning and his team at Motorcyclist Online had conducted such a running-in test on a Honda 300cc engine.
Unsurprisingly, to me, the results are that there was no difference in compression or performance or clearances in any of the components between the two engines post the tests.
Every parameter was exactly the same.
To me, the idea of the long and step by step running in is very old and outdated and not necessary anymore.
Manufacturers give these steps are just to ensure that if something were to break in the engine, one, it would be less dangerous if it broke at 3000 rpm instead of at 9000 rpm and two, the collateral damage within the engine would be less. That’s all!!
Believe me, once the first 50 kms is done on a new motorcycle, every km done from there is only more wear and tear and nothing actually improves.
There is no more bedding in or running in that is going to happen after that.
Routine wear and tear starts taking its course and the engine is only getting older from that moment onwards.
Modern engine technology is advanced enough to be able to hand all kinds of abuse.
Tolerances and metallurgy have come a long way since the cast-iron Royal Enfield Bullet and Yezdi 250 days and since the Ambassador and Premier Padmini days.
Gaskets have improved, oils have improved, metals and alloys have improved, machining has improved, tolerances have improved and designs have improved.
The main focus area, piston rings and cylinder walls are now designed and manufactured with a much more advanced honing pattern that beds in within the first 50 kms if ridden freely.
So, the bottom line is do not worry or stress too much about running in because whatever you do is not going to make any perceptible difference anyway.
Take the middle ground. Don’t be too slow and ride 1000s of kms running-in the engine and also don’t be rash and reckless and push the new engine to full throttle and rev-limiter right away.
Start the engine, warm it up for just a minute or two max and get riding.
Ride the motorcycle as you normally would and that will be good enough.
Enjoy the motorcycle and most importantly no matter how you ride, ensure regular oil changes as per owner’s manual.
Hope you enjoyed this video. Let me know what you think about running in.
Cheers!
#artofunwinding #bigbearbangalore #motorcycles #enginerunin #enginebreakgin #motorcycleadvice #engineoil #ducatimultistrada #norway #edelweissbike
/ artofunwinding

[@alvindavenport5657]

I’ve owned several bikes over my 40 years of riding. Many of these were purchased new. I follow the manufacturer’s recommendations regarding the break-in period when possible. There may be instances where I accelerate a little harder than I’d like in order to merge or pass a slower vehicle, but I don’t ride at higher rpms unless I feel it necessary. Modern materials and manufacturing techniques have reduced engine failures and oil consumption greatly over the past few decades, but I still try to break in bikes per the manufacturer’s Instructions. I’ve never had an engine failure or oil consumption issue, so I see no reason to change my pattern now. There’s a good likelihood I wouldn’t have damaged an engine regardless, but I can wait 600 miles to run a bike hard. I believe regular oil changes make more of a difference than how you break in a bike. I change mine after the break in and every 3000 miles after. Again, this works for me , and as they say, your mileage may vary.

[@bigbearbangalore]

Well said. Thanks for sharing.

[@andrewmarks3551]

Couldn’t agree more 👍 When Cosworth used to break in their DFV engines, on a Dyno, in my home town of Northampton UK, mild ‘scouring powder’ was sprinkled into the intake trumpets! As you say, modern materials, manufacturing tolerances, and accurate fuelling/heat control render the old process obsolete. It’s only the rings to bores and that’s why Cosworth did what they did! Good video 👍

[@bigbearbangalore]

Thanks for the interesting bit of information on the legendary DFV. The DFV V8s utterly dominated F1 for many many years. Cheers!

[@andrewmarks3551]

@@bigbearbangalore Interesting article here 👍

[@jimmydickson8854]

Thankyou for the honest tutorial taken on board

[@bigbearbangalore]

🙏

[@balabodhiy730]

That’s absolutely correct science.. super, well explained

[@bigbearbangalore]

Glad you liked it!

[@bliveinanan2761]

Words of wisdom sir..Thanx for sharing your experience ..🙂

[@bigbearbangalore]

🙏🏻

[@sajidquadri3046]

Invaluable information, thank you.

[@bigbearbangalore]

Thank you.

[@supradeepnemani1937]

Hey buddy, So good to see you here. We met @ Kundapura RM. 😎😎😎 you’re bang on about the Run-In thingy. I’ve applied the same RunIn technique on my 2007 MACHISMO 500, 2014 Conti GT & 2019 Ducati M821. And I still have all three running smooth and trouble free. I want to add something here. That’s to ensure the minimal use of clutch and brakes. So was crazy enough to choose the time of delivery of the motorcycles and the road was pre determined 😀😀😀

[@bigbearbangalore]

Hi! How are you? Running in is a bit overrated. So like I said, there is no need to sweat over it and lose sleep. Ride free and enjoy the ride. Cheers!

[@Vasishta_]

Well said, manufacturing has evolved a lot, so as the fuel.

[@bigbearbangalore]

Indeed!

[@KaizerBillimoria]

Hi Sir, My thoughts exactly. 👍🏾

[@bigbearbangalore]

Cheers!

[@surk6626]

Watching this great video in 2024... As Bosky motioned, my knowledge on Run-in used to be on slower side. But somehow, I never followed this instruction diligently... seems my way of doing is slightly sensible now after watching this. This channel deserve 10 times more subscriber.... I will be happy to meet Bosky shortly as we both are Bengalooreans..

[@bigbearbangalore]

🙏🙏🙏

[@julianrose810]

I remember you reviewed an old friend, a Meteor 350 loaned to you by a dealer who claimed 500? customers had been loaned the bike after your initial review. You said it was much improved and that says it all really....

[@bigbearbangalore]

Yes, this engine felt smoother after many kms than when it was new.

[@jeevanrajb]

As per my experience you are right.. Drove about 1Lakhs km car / bike.. got fantastic mileage / performance even though I didn't pamper the engine after few hundred kms..

[@bigbearbangalore]

Good to hear. Cheers!

[@DCSPORTSTER]

I agree with you totally. don’t drive it like you stole it but don’t baby it either. Being a mechanic I’ve seen lots of engines were people have baby them, warm them up, and driven easy, and they usually have valve problems and burn oil long before they get too many km’s on them. You can let the engine run for a minute if you want, but warming up your engine is a really bad idea, causes a lot of unnecessary wear. I always tell people don’t exceed half red line till the engine is totally warmed up then drive it anyway you like. I’ve been doing that for 40 years and I’ve never had an engine yet go south on me and always get lots of kilometers out of them.

[@bigbearbangalore]

👍

[@TheRmoroni]

thank you !

[@bigbearbangalore]

You're welcome! Cheers!

[@ridewithbcraja]

Thank you sir

[@bigbearbangalore]

Welcome! Cheers!

[@syedmohammadumairahmed]

Genius for a reason

[@bigbearbangalore]

🙏🏻

[@prabhuraaj101]

I was given the same old advice by manufacturer when I bought my Interceptor 3 months back. But I failed to do that after 250 Kms as I was getting comfortable with my machine.. I dint feel the need to be any more soft with it.. and I went above 80 KM/h right after 250 Kms. And there have been an occasion or two where I revved it fully out of temptation... thank god I heard you... my reiding pattern was never too rash... but it was inconsistent, like I will slow one days I will racy some days... I was never constant.. I was little doubtful inside until this video that I may have damaged it.. I realise how childish it was. though I watched couple of your videos, I subscribed only today. Only piece of advice that will be helpful for me is about vibration. I get very good performance from my interceptor. but there is a wired behavior with the engine.. I am too keen to know if it common on all interceptors or just mine. The throttle is having its own behavior. So rev matching becomes too confusing. What happens is, Until 2500/3000 rpm the engine vibration is low/nill and pickup is good as it shud be, but when it is reached 3000 rpm.. I feel like the engine is being resisted by some sort of internal friction/vibration.. which I perceive through the vibration on handle bars(not worse but a level unusual for interceptor). So I will have to break this barrier by revving it a bit more and then engine releases its next of wave of horse power after this tiny reinforced throttle along with this vibration. but this does not happen always.. some times I just climb up to high revs without any mess and vibration... this happens 30% of the times only.. mostly when I have crossed some slow traffic. I wonder where the problem is. Does the engine counter balancers need adjustment? But one thing I noticed is, in such occasions when I take a break and let the engine cooled down a bit and ride.. it gets resolved almost all the time.

[@bigbearbangalore]

Hi! The fact that you did not ride it in a constant way likely helped the running-in. Inconsistent throttle response may be due to various things and you can get it checked at the service centre. However, the engine behaviour does change slightly based on ambient temperature and engine temperature. About the vibrations, try to get all the bedding bolts re-torqued. May be some bolt is not fully tight. Cheers!

[@prabhuraaj101]

@@bigbearbangalore thanks..

[@swaminathannagarajan5782]

Broke a few myths. Thanks bosskey

[@bigbearbangalore]

Thanks!

[@VivekNa]

Day 1 rev the hell out of it, in short bursts. After 300 km change oil Done same to Bullet, Duke, RC, R15 etc

[@bigbearbangalore]

👍

[@sudhansuranjanmohapatra6429]

Nice video. I do not exceed 50kmph speeds upto 500 kms of new Cars/motorcycles that I have owned and change the oils at the prescribed kms instead of the duration. Was surprised to learn that Mahindra prescribes the oil changes upon driving prescribed kms instead of every 6/12 months . Till dt I have only covered around 14000 kms in my Honda WRV which was purchased in May 2017 and have changed engine oil 3 times instead of getting this changed every year . I trust Castrol Magnetec for all my vehicles. I have found that using speed/ premium petrol enhances the mileage ,pick up & smoothness of the engine and is worth paying the premium. Seeking your esteemed opinion pl.

[@bigbearbangalore]

Thanks. Interesting info you've shared. Thanks.

[@TheStig.]

Thanks for sharing! In my opinion, just don't keep revolutions constant. Keep changing the revs so as to make the engine pass through different heat cycles. Contrary to the old belief of going on a gentle highway cruise the minute you pick up the car/bike.

[@bigbearbangalore]

True. Vary the loads and the speeds. Cheers!

[@adinath7]

where is this.... such wonderful roads. is it Norway ?

[@bigbearbangalore]

Yes! Norway.

[@anuroopvinod]

Sir does your interceptor make tik tik noise from valve area? Mine does. Is it related to bad running in? I'm afraid to give them to re service center as I have experience they make things worse.

[@bigbearbangalore]

It used to do that once in a way and I got it fixed. And that is the valve gap that can vary with engine temperature. Nothing to worry about. If it is constant then just take it to the service centre. They can fix that. Cheers!

[@sandeepshankar5226]

Would this apply for traditional 2 strokes such as Yezdis?

[@bigbearbangalore]

Two strokes are finicky and ancient. Technology and development stood still in them hence they likely need to be treated the old school way of running-in in a dozen measured stages for 1000s of kms! Cheers!

[@mohammadaaqibjawedkhan2341]

Sir will this R&D applicable in 2 stroke old engines?

[@bigbearbangalore]

Hi! Old 2-strokes need to be run in the old fashioned way.

[@jeevanreigns9955]

Does this even apply to RE 650 engines. A reply would be appreciated ☺️

[@bigbearbangalore]

Hi! I would apply it to all modern engines. Once again, my point it there is no need to baby a new engine for 1000s of kms, rather, I would ride it gently for a 100 km and then ride freely. Of course freely does not mean hitting the rev limiter! Cheers!

[@adityaanand2315]

बोस्की सर जिन्दाबाद

[@bigbearbangalore]

🙏🏻

[@Thecuriousmind123]

So basically the test results show we don't need a running in period to start with..

[@bigbearbangalore]

Gentle progression is ok. No need to baby the engine.

[@dipankardas1760]

Piston rings and cylinder liners are made by different mechanisms and machines. What's wrong in giving them ample time for gentle bedding. The Ari Henning video you mentioned showed more ring end clearence in the thrashed from the start engine. You are not a mechanic that's confirmed.

[@bigbearbangalore]

Hi! Thanks for letting us know what you think about running-in. Cheers!

[@srinathiyengar.mudgal]

That means go out on the highways to run in......

[@bigbearbangalore]

👍

[@WidleyWesident]

Oh no, another Stuart Fillingham. Please don’t do it as he’s tedious and soporific and you don’t want to make people sleep, do you? 🥲🥲

[@bigbearbangalore]

😃 Oh no!! Hey, I got some videos that are more active and entertaining. Hopefully at least those won’t put you to sleep. Cheers!