Hey guys! Used to have a ninja 250 but upgraded finally! As I’ve never owned a new bike I want to make sure I’m doing this correctly.
I have the 500 and I’ve been varying Rpm’s, no lugging, no throttle past 3/4 and just taking it around the city. At 300 miles now.
What about taking it on the highway before the 600 mile service? I did around 5miles at 60mph and it felt like the engine was reving pretty hard in 6th gear, maybe I’m just overthinking it/babying the engine.
Also, with Honda’s recommend shifting points so low, do you guys ever thing the engine is struggling?
For the first service did your dealer do anything more than an oil change?
break in: Congrats on the upgrade! Everything you're doing is exactly what my dealer said to do. I asked my dealer the same question about the highway since my job is only 10-15 minutes away by highway and he said it should be fine if I'm not pinning the throttle to merge/pass and I still vary the rpm a bit even if it's just a bit between 55 and 65. I ended up not getting on the highway until the last bit of the break in anyway since it is my first full size bike and I wanted to work up to it but I wouldn't worry about it as long as you're not being thoughtless about how you're riding.
shift points: I have a 300 so I don't know if our 'recommended' shift points are different or not, but I saw them a few weeks ago posted somewhere and they were certainly uncomfortably low. If I'm putting around a side street sure I'll shift low like that because there's no need to go any faster but out on the road I always shift a bit higher.
First service: I did this myself, but my dealer just said they basically do an oil change and then check everything over on the bike - chain, make sure all the nuts and connections are tight, etc. If you do it yourself, don't skimp on the physical inspection part. My chain had too much slack and one of my upper shock bolts backed itself out a bit which I'm definitely glad I found.
First service: I did this myself, but my dealer just said they basically do an oil change and then check everything over on the bike - chain, make sure all the nuts and connections are tight, etc. If you do it yourself, don't skimp on the physical inspection part. My chain had too much slack and one of my upper shock bolts backed itself out a bit which I'm definitely glad I found.
I have to say that this is a foolish thing to do.
You can't expect that a regular guys in the neighborhood would know everything that needs to be checked, and how.
This is highly a safety issue, as there could be nuts and bolts that are critical for the safety of driving the bike, and you and everyone else could miss them.
Let the people who knows what they are doing make sure that the bike is a 100%, rather than saving yourself a few buck wanting to do it yourself.
A simple oil change is fine by itself, but this is the very first service of the bike. The dealer goes over the whole bike, every nut and bolt, and re tighten things to correct torque.
You guys have some balls to choose those bucks over safety, I'll give you that.
Welcome to forum. sounds like you have done a good job so far . After 300mile you should start to use most of the rev range every now an then .And some high speed crusing in top gear on freeway in short bursts. If motor feels reluctant to rev freely is still tight and needs more running in ,But if revs freely motor is almost run in and by 500 - 600 mile should be run in
I used flash lights and a halogen spot light and the coolant tank is just so opaque I cannot see through it. I had several people look and they cannot see through the coolant tank either. My limited experience with liquid cooled motorcycles is that one seldom has to add any coolant unless something is leaking.
I am not going to worry about it. My garage floor is spotless so if I develop a leak it will be quite obvious.
For those that have dogs don't allow any coolant to collect on your garage floor or driveway as dogs love it and it will soon poison and kill them.
Update: took the bike on the highway for a couple quick bursts and that really did the trick. The engine smoothed (rev wise) out a ton and cruises easily around 60. Gears have gotten much more fluid and it feels much more comfortable with different engin load.
" For those that have dogs don't allow any coolant to collect on your garage floor or driveway as dogs love it and it will soon poison and kill them. "
Excellent advice Kenny.
Gotta care for our best friends.
I'm being paranoid, I know, first new bike.
I drive about 30 minutes to work in the morning, which is mostly highway, 55MPH.
I found a nice back road that pretty much parallels my route, and it's 45 MPH or less, some nice twisty sections, some small hills, a few stops, a little bit of country, a little bit of city....really pretty drive. I drove most if yesterday, and then this morning all the way to work.
I didn't ever give it full throttle, and I didn't ever get over 55. I am assuming that this is probably the perfect route for break in?
The manual is very vague about Break-in.
"Avoid full-throttle starts and rapid acceleration","Avoid hard breaking and rapid down-shifts","Ride Conservatively"
I'm still a noob rider, all things being relative. Which is my point; what's considered conservative for this small bike?
Has anyone actually botched the break-in without realizing it, and what happened when they did?
I would have paid an extra few dollars to have the factory break the bike in for me. Wouldn't that be awesome?
You're route sounds perfect for a break in. The key is to vary the RPM, which by having small hills, twists, and a few stops workout perfectly.
Just don't become too paranoid and lug the motor. When breaking in I didn't accelerate fast, but I did stretch the gears before shifting to make sure I was using a full range of RPM.
Hi guys, I'm experiencing the same high rev issue. I'm at about 200 miles now and going above 50mph in 6th gear feels like I'm really pushing the bike too hard. Based on your this thread it looks like the high reving will go away after breaking it in (once I reach 300 - 400 miles)?
Also is there a way to see the RPMs/tach on this fancy screen? My last two bikes were 1970 Honda cb175 and a cb360 so I'm used to the tach!
Hi guys, I'm experiencing the same high rev issue. I'm at about 200 miles now and going above 50mph in 6th gear feels like I'm really pushing the bike too hard. Based on your this thread it looks like the high reving will go away after breaking it in (once I reach 300 - 400 miles)?
Also is there a way to see the RPMs/tach on this fancy screen? My last two bikes were 1970 Honda cb175 and a cb360 so I'm used to the tach!
Is this on a 300 or 500. You probably don't want to be in 6th gear until over 55mph its a semi useless gear.
Also i don't see how break in would change your bikes rpms. After 80 miles the bikes computer should have fuel and such adjusted enough where break in would no longer have any affect on rpms. Also no there is no tach on these bikes.
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