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Trailer or ride a new bike home?

New bike owners: did you tow or ride home?

  • Trailer the bike home.

    Votes: 5 12.2%

  • Ride the freeway home (> or = to 40miles)

    Votes: 13 31.7%

  • Ride home with as much twisties as possible.

    Votes: 23 56.1%
  • Total voters
    41
I've headed straight to Skyline/Mines to break in vehicles, cycling between robust throttle, engine braking, and general twistie varied RPM action. And then the first oil/filter. Engine longevity has been great, no oil consumption. Not to say it wouldn't have turned out fine regardless, but a spirited break-in certainly is not a bad thing.
 
EvilBunny said:
I bought my bike brand new and put it on my trailer for two reasons, I didn't have my motorcycle permit yet, and I didn't have insurance on it. Otherwise I don't see an issue in riding it home. I had to keep it under 4k rpms for the first 500 miles so the freeway idea was out but it was out because of my permit anyways.
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As many other people stated, that's more for you to learn the bike than it is for the good of the engine.

Many people believe (and reasonably so) that you *want* to beat on the engine to break it in (meaning fire it up, ride it around getting it up to temp, then do pulls with the earl ones stopping at a moderate rpm but after a few of those go to high rpm, and always let the engine slow the bike down - see the Motoman link above)
 
I always pickup with my truck or have it delivered.

I need to go over the bike. don't trust the dealers. they give me reason not to, time after time. last time I had work done at a dealer I had a boot wet from oil on the initial ride.

did they even clean the grease off chain so it doesn't fling all over your rear wheel?
 
I did one lap of Berryessa on the way home from the dealer on my R1M
 
All the last vehicles that I have bought say to vary the speed, don't accelerate too hard till the engine is warm, and that is about it.

The BMW S1000RR actually limits the RPM until the 600 mile break-in oil change. My last BMW car would not let you go full throttle until the engine was fully warm. This all seems reasonable and not too difficult to do. I can vary my throttle in virtually all circumstances. :dunno
 
My first bike was ridden off the lot by my friend, as I hadn't learned how to use the clutch yet. I then proceeded to ride it with absolutely no regard to any special procedures at all (but, granted, my ride wasn't 1100 miles of Interstate 10).

I have no memory of what prompted me to take that bike in to service, only know that I did once or twice.

My seconds bike I rode home from the dealer, and immediately started freeway commuting on it. The only note here was that I made a point to run up and down a local road in order for the odometer to reach 600 when I arrived at the dealer close to my office for its 600 mile maintenance.

I never had motor problems of any kind on those bikes. My first one was almost non-maintenance. (What's chain lube?) I learned more about that on my second bike, in terms of actually performing it.
 
I think my test ride was maybe 10 miles or so, but I didn't get high into the rpm range during that. Within the 75 miles from Vallejo to San Jose, there was a little town riding on both ends, and I did some slower speed lane splitting for a short distance (i.e., used 1st-3rd gear and engine braking). Rest of the way was fairly consistent 5.5-6.5k rpms in 5th gear, occasionally using 4th and 6th. So, maybe only ~50mi of "droning". I don't think I revved past 7.5-8k rpm in the first 95 miles. The tach actually flashes red once you pass 6.5k rpm in the first 620mi.

I will definitely try to vary rpm and gears as much as possible from now until the 620mi KTM recommended run-in period. I'm at about 105mi now...not sure if I want to change the oil yet. I may do it after the next short ride, or just wait until ~600mi.
 
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Slabbed home on 2 new bikes from dealer. But I "played" with them first on some side roads going through the gears & various braking, as well as
scrubbing the tires for a nice chunk of miles before actually entering on the freeway. I figured just slabbing straight home from dealer will do nothing for the bike but just get it HOT!
 
Junkie said:
As many other people stated, that's more for you to learn the bike than it is for the good of the engine.

Many people believe (and reasonably so) that you *want* to beat on the engine to break it in (meaning fire it up, ride it around getting it up to temp, then do pulls with the earl ones stopping at a moderate rpm but after a few of those go to high rpm, and always let the engine slow the bike down - see the Motoman link above)
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I always let the bike get to temp before riding anyways. I let it idle until the rpms drop. But either way I just followed the book to be safe. The most money i've ever spent on any one thing might as well take care of it.
 
EvilBunny said:
I always let the bike get to temp before riding anyways. I let it idle until the rpms drop. But either way I just followed the book to be safe. The most money i've ever spent on any one thing might as well take care of it.
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Idling to all the way warm probably isn't the best option either.
 
I broke my Ducati sf 848 in by the book then it dropped a valve on my at 3900 miles.

Next time I buy a brand new bike I'm gona trash the shit out of it from the get go and sell it before the warranty is up to see if it yields different results

Disclaimer: don't buy a bike from me if i bought it new
 
Junkie said:
"Dramatic" likely means measurable on a dyno, which is dramatic for a racebike (especially if there are no downsides)it's an ancient web site that hasn't been updated in a long time
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So dramatic doesn't mean dramatic, it really means barely measurable?
I don't see any upside to ignoring manufacturers recommendations in order to gain barely measurable HP increases.
 
A break in thread......COOL! :)

If you have to highway - vary rpms. Don’t keep it at a constant. Shift often up and down to help vary rpm. Try to take back roads if you can.

Owners manuals were written by lawyers. With that said I’ve never heard an issue with a bike from either camp (those who followed the manual or those who follow moto man). It’s funny how passionate each group is lol
 
Blankpage said:
So dramatic doesn't mean dramatic, it really means barely measurable?
I don't see any upside to ignoring manufacturers recommendations in order to gain barely measurable HP increases.
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It might be a big enough difference for a dramatic result in racing.
 
As far as whether or not I'd trailer a bike home rather than riding it home depends on a few factors.
  1. How far is the ride?
  2. How much of it is freeway?
  3. Is the bike I'm buying capable of the trip?
My Goldwing, ZX14r, GSXR1000 to name a few were bought new out of town and I never hesitated to ride them home.

For my Russian POS (aka Ural) the dealer (50+ miles away) included free delivery so hell yeah, I had it trailered home.
 
I have always ridden the bike home except the last one. The Beta came home from Vacaville in the truck. I made it a promise that asphalt would not be the norm.
 
Junkie said:
It might be a big enough difference for a dramatic result in racing.
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I see. If you plan to race then the longevity of that engine isn't a concern to you. For the vast majority of owners who never plan to race they should just follow the manufacturer's guidelines.
 
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