1000 mile break in ? Really!?

[Stig / Major Tom]

OK, I've got 150 miles on my scooter - riding to work and a little eveing practice, with gentle throttle over a 3 week period.
Now I'm supposed to keep up riding at partial throttle, with regular oil (Not synthetic!) for the break in of 1000 miles.
Is there an automotive engine under there? These are break in methods for some new cars - and not even a whole lot of new cars - just a few.


A scooter: 1000 miles. Really?

I bet a large % of scooters are in the hands of 2nd and 3rd owners without this kind of mileage.

I'm a gonna do my best to be gentle (not listening to that 'other' school of thought that says you should break it in HARD!)

I'm going to change the oils every couple of weeks (cause it's easy and relaxing), and learn to get that front panel off so I can do the valves frequently - and then I'm going to ride it . It will probably outlive me. Synthetic is too slippery - nonsense , synthetic is best for Porsche - synthetic causes blow by and oil loss - hogwash, there is no such thing as a 'too slippery oil', use reg oil for break in; use synthetic oil for break in, etc. etc.,......

I'm just going to work on the new seat I bought, check the oils, listen for tappets and ride it with a smile on my dumb face.

[tclhb]

I went with Royal Purple 10-40W at 200 miles. I will pass 500 miles tomorrow. I consider it broke in. I think they're too conservative. I think I remember reading 2 1/2 minute warm up before riding too. I warm it up for at least 30 seconds, then just ride easy for the first 5 minutes or so. I'm not burning any oil, and its running great!

[TroutBum]

Just change the oils and adjust the valve clearance per the owner's manual. Any more than that and you are wasting your money and putting stress on the threads that will lead to early thread failure. It takes about a 1,000 miles before everything loosens up including the steering headset bearings. You will also find the engine runs smoother when it has 1,000 miles compared to when it had 500 or 600 miles.

I have a little more than 2,600 miles on my scooter and it now feels broken in. Even the seat is much more comfortable when riding for two hours.

[big blue]

Just change the oils and adjust the valve clearance per the owner's manual. Any more than that and you are wasting your money and putting stress on the threads that will lead to early thread failure. It takes about a 1,000 miles before everything loosens up including the steering headset bearings. You will also find the engine runs smoother when it has 1,000 miles compared to when it had 500 or 600 miles.

I have a little more than 2,600 miles on my scooter and it now feels broken in. Even the seat is much more comfortable when riding for two hours.

Totally agree, Amsoil scooter oil after 500 miles,I now have 2300 miles and it runs like a train. The valves were checked by dealer at 1500 miles and did NOT require reset.

[MotoRandy123]

Break in is a tricky subject. The manufacturer wants the least warrentee repairs possible so
the gentler you are the less things will break. That might not make the best performing motor.

I like to accelerate and decelerate a lot for the first 20 - 30 miles keeping the speeds below 30ish.
Then remember it is still not broken in for the next 980 miles. I will usually double my riding time
on sucessive rides to slowly heat cycle parts of the motor (IE 10 mins, 20mins, 40 mins) and go to
higher and higher speeds.

Of course you can't keep your revs below a certian point on a scooter and if needed you might
momentarily speed up more than you were planning just basically don't abuse it by going
max throttle for hours on the first ride.

Synthetics are another story. Break in is accually wear. A good real synthetic will slow or halt
all wear. So we generally want to allow some wear to develop full power then halt it. The rings
will generally seat within 600 - 1000 miles, the top end takes 6000 so it's best to wait at least
1000 miles before using synthetic and longer might make for a better performing motor.

I had a new truck that I put slick50 in at 2000 miles and it didn't break in until 40000 miles! (you
could feel it running smoother and mileage jumped)

[ckgonska]

I just drove it and took it in for service @ 600 mi.  It runs fine.

[Vivo]

Break in?  Manufacturers test run an engine before assembly and road test the scoot after assembly...