How to break in a new motorcycle...

[Peyton696]

I will hopefully be purchasing a 2009 696 in the next week. My First bike was 2002 620 Dark (buddy dropped it....never make that mistake again) and I currently own a 2007 Harley Davidson V-Rod Night Rod. The V-rod was the first bike I'd owned new and I lived in Alaska when I got her and it was winter, so I had a longgg time to research everything, too include break in. I found the exact article posted in this thread, and with that I contacted my friend who was a certified HD mechanic. I was told ride her like you would ride her, period. When I finally got it on the road, I opened that baby up and rode her like I ride her right now. Sometimes hard, sometimes smooth, worked through all the gears, did engine breaking, etc. I have never had a problem with the performance of this machine. If I get a new monster this week, I plan on riding it home and I plan on putting her through her paces and I expect no problems. I think the mfr break in process is tedious and ridiculous.

Oh yea, I also put a new exhaust on my V-Rod before ever breaking it in too.

To each there own but I know what has worked for me.

Cheers

Peyton in FL

[ChrisH]

Bringing this back from the grave.......

I brought a brand spanking new Monster 696 home over the weekend, and am concerned about engine break in & warranty. I have had great success with hard break in on every other new engine I have had, and had decent to OK results with motors that were too babied at the start of their life.

Ducati specifies 600 miles below 5.5 to 6k and then what like another 6-700 miles under 7k which is weak sauce IMHO. My question is, can Ducati use the DDA port to verify how high the motor has been revved? If not, I'll feel more comfortable breaking in things my way.

TIA

[mstevens]

can Ducati use the DDA port to verify how high the motor has been revved?

No. It's just a port. Even if you actually had a DDA plugged in, it doesn't have a massive memory. Besides, your dealer simply doesn't care how high you've revved the engine or whether you've really followed proper break-in procedures.

It's your engine. Treat it the way you like.

My wife is trying to follow the recommended procedure for breaking in her 696. I'm struggling to do so on the MTS 1200S I picked up 3 days ago. Our success is limited.

[ChrisH]

Awesome, thank you! Once this darn rain goes away I'll give it some more revs then. I'll continue of course to vary throttle & load like you should on a new engine, but the 6k limit seems overly protective. Too bad that after waiting a month for the bike we get rain forcasts that cover every day for the next week