Running-in bike engines

RoysonBobson

RoysonBobson

RoysonBobson

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Does anyone know why bike engines have to be run-in on the road when car engines are run in whilst they're still in the factory?

I'm guessing it's more economical, anyone got anything better than that?
 
I know Ferrais are run in before delivery, but I thought all cars still had to be run in?
 
Dogbreath said:
Who told you that!
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Our BMW dealership told us that when we picked up the 5-Series in November :confused: ....

When we got the race engine from the builders he'd already run it for mapping on the dyno-cell, so it was simply "keep it under 8,500 for the first event" :D

Bike engines - there's a linky somewhere to an article explaining it..... and supposedly you're meant to ride it like you stole it.
 
Westyfield2 said:
Our BMW dealership told us that when we picked up the 5-Series in November :confused: ....

When we got the race engine from the builders he'd already run it for mapping on the dyno-cell, so it was simply "keep it under 8,500 for the first event" :D

Bike engines - there's a linky somewhere to an article explaining it..... and supposedly you're meant to ride it like you stole it.
Click to expand...

A purpose built race engine is one thing ;) but production car manufacturers certainly don't run engines in at the factory. It would take far too long and cost them an absolute fortune in fuel for starters.
 
In any engine (that hasn't been ran in), you will gain better power if you rake the dung out of it. Things will break much faster though, and you'll start to loose a lot of power towards the end of its life.

If you run it in like you are supposed to, then although you won't get a slight increase in power, you will get a longer life out of the engine components.

MX bikes don't require running in, as they are highly tuned, and will probably need rebuilt if used properly (hammered)

Also, due to decreased tolerances in manufacturing, it is less likely that problems that the "old timers" used to get back in the days of flawed parts occuring (piston scoring, bearings breaking, weak spots in the piston crowns etc)

As with anything, the more power you use, the more wear and tear on the engine, if you drive around sensibly then it will last longer.

Plus it always feels great when you know you should be treating the engine gently and you 'accidentally' rev the balls off it (mainiac grin) :D
 
SGCWill said:
Plus it always feels great when you know you should be treating the engine gently and you 'accidentally' rev the balls off it (mainiac grin) :D
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True. "Keep it under 6000 until the six-week service, and under 8500 for the first year" and then 'accidentally' hitting 9500 whilst overtaking :rolleyes:

Dogbreath said:
A purpose built race engine is one thing ;) but production car manufacturers certainly don't run engines in at the factory. It would take far too long and cost them an absolute fortune in fuel for starters.
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Righty. Cheers
 
RoysonBobson said:
True. "Keep it under 6000 until the six-week service, and under 8500 for the first year" and then 'accidentally' hitting 9500 whilst overtaking :rolleyes:
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Maybe I'm taking your rolleyes the wrong way but when I say "rev the balls off it" i'm talking 16000rpm+ , you.....you car driver!

Can any biker say "I don't like to blip the throttle when I get a new bike, I like to wait until my engine is bedded in and it's safe to do over 8Krpm"*

*except you twin or single cylinder guys
 
Dogbreath said:
A purpose built race engine is one thing ;) but production car manufacturers certainly don't run engines in at the factory. It would take far too long and cost them an absolute fortune in fuel for starters.
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Exactly what I thought! But the dealer said "there's no need to run it in as it's been run in on the bench"..... but I'm like it's only a standard BMW diesel! Nothing special.
Though a few weeks later I proved him wrong about some of the telematics stuff, so I guess he was wrong about the running in too.
 
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No car engines are run in, I doubt bike engines are either.

They may be hot tested once in the engine plant and again in the car at the assembly plant, but that is all.
 
As said this is a big can of worms. Choice is yours at the end of the day. When I got my GSXR600 SRAD (the only new bike I've owned) I did about 5 miles using up to a max of 6500rpm due to speed limits, then just rode it hard as I'd reached an NSL zone. Had my valves etc checked at 32000miles and all were still spot on and the engine never lost any oil. Not to say the engine will last as long as one that was run in more sedately (to the manual).

The choice is yours!!
 
When I got my new Golf I asked this very question and was basically told there was no need to run in the engine. The only thing they did say was to not use cruise control for the first 500 miles or so or keep the engine under little load at constant revs for extended peroids of time. I basically drove it as normal, although I did take it slightly easier than I do now, and I've had no problems with the engine.

I know people that do the whole running in thing and have oil usage issues, but my car doesn't use a drop.
 
Driving a car very gently from new means there is a risk of glazing the bores and rings before they have properly bedded in, which gives high oil consumption and reduced performance and economy.
 
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