Worst break in procedure?

[blackyam]

Hi. Would 800 mi on an interstate just be the worst break in procedure for a new R1200RT? Currently a hypothetical question, but it may not be in a couple of days if.... Thanks.

 

---John.

[Firefight911]

You should avoid steady state. Why not just route yourself on the more fun 2 lane secondary roads where you will vary the throttle by nature.

 

If forced to interstate just vary the throttle often. Moderate to strong acceleration followed by off throttle decels, etc.

[ryan_a1982]

Question regarding this thread. I just got a 2007 RT that had 3148 miles on it. I know people claim that BMW's aren't "broken in" until 20K or more...or whatever...

 

Question:

At the the 3K miles mark is the bike technically broken in? I have put 1,400 miles or so on it in the last week but I am not sure if I should be riding it a specific way. When I was looking at new BMW's the salesman said that you want to vary the throttle and not take it straight down a highway at steady RPMs.

 

Another Q: What is the typical break in mileage?

 

Thanks.

 

-Newb

[mbelectric]

Ryan, here's an old topic, pretty good reading:

 

http://www.bmwrt.com/faq/breakin.htm

 

Just about covers it all.

 

MB>

 

BTW, stay away from synthetic oils for a while. BMW rings and cyl walls are tough, I wouldn't even think about it for at least 20k miles.

[Firefight911]

Mark, did you just start an oil thread? Tsk, Tsk!!!

 

Quick go tell Triumph and Ducati to change their oil spec for their new product line. You know, the line that sells every bike new with synth oil.

 

Hee hee. Just like I told Amelia, sometimes it's just fun to start an oil thread.

 

By the time you get tk the 600 mile service, you should be riding it like you stole it. They don't like to be babied.

[ryan_a1982]

Phil, I am riding it like like I stole it! Mark, the previous owner got the service done at A&S BMW. Do you think they would push the use of synthetic, or do the dealers use real oil?

 

I have an apt for Thursday to get the break-line recall taken care of and a oil change. If the previous owner has synthetic in the bike should I switch back to regular oil or keep with synthetic?

 

Thanks,

 

-Ryan

[mbelectric]

Phil's the (oil) expert.. (Don't let him know that though.)

 

But perhaps he doesn't understand the difference between BMW engines and others. I'll 'splain it to him sometime.

 

Dino oil for now. Switch back if it's in there. In fact, I use it all the time, even in race motors with turbo's.. I bought my RT with 18k miles on it...It used oil. The previous owner ran syn since 1k. I changed back to dino when I got it, it now uses a small amount..I think rings have finally seated.

 

To each his own. I do know a thing about my BMW engines though.

 

 

MB>

[Firefight911]

Mark, you know I'm busting your chops some. I never use synth. I've had oil analyzed and never come close to using it's properties up by the suggested oil change interval.

 

As Mark said, to each his own. And as I have said a bazillion times, you will never get agreement on this topic. That's what makes it so fun to start an oil thread.

 

Do what you like and are comfortable with. Pretty sure the dealer will out what ever you want in there. Of course, they'll add their experiences in. See above. You'll never get concensus.

[NewBlue]

....short shift, as quick as you can and hold the throttle wide open to lug the crap out of the engine, I think that would be the worst way to break in the boxer engine.

 

You could follow the break-in procedure in the owners manual. BMW might know a thing or two about the boxer engine. Just tossin that out there!

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

By the time you get tk the 600 mile service, you should be riding it like you stole it. They don't like to be babied.

 

Ayup. Before 600, do not exceed factory-recommended RPM, but give it plenty of throttle. Not wide-open throttle, but not light throttle either. Accelerate up to the listed RPM limit, hold there for a second, then release and decelerate to about 2500-3000 RPM. Repeat until you're sick of it. Do this whenever you can, traffic permitting. Ideally, you'd be on deserted backroads where you can safely vary your speed that much.

 

After 600 miles it will likely still burn oil - this is what is meant by "not yet fully broken in" - but the sharp peaks on the cylinder bores will have all been worn off, and you can safely hit higher RPM's without doing damage. And you DO want to hit those higher RPM's - with a good bit of throttle - to break in the extreme ends of the cylinder bore (the piston/rings travel just a tiny bit farther up/down the bore at high RPM due to the stretching/compressing of all those parts under inertial loading).

[tallman]

Many times an older US Highway runs near the Interstate.

I'd exit and ride on it for a while.

Get back on, repeat.

That's if you have ti slab it.

Otherwise take the nicer roads.

Pics of the new ride.

[dirtrider]

Morning John

 

No not the worst as that would be cold starting/running the bike just long enough to idle it out in front of the dealer every morning then idling it back into the shop for night storage for 6 months straight.

Personally I refuse to by a bike from a dealer that does the above.

 

As mentioned in posts above, steady state speed and throttle is not a good break-in procedure and doing that significantly increases the chance you will end up with an oil burner for a long time.

 

Using the riders manual as your basic guide for speed and engine RPM’s you want to CONTIUUALLY vary the engine RPM and load as well as engine vacuum.

Lots of moderate accelerations, lots and lots of l-o-n-g down hill decels with some on and off the throttle on the coasting decels as that unloads the piston rings and allows the ring/cyl wall scrapings to purge from between the rings and piston lands.

 

If possible some engine cool downs during the initial break-in 600 miles.

 

Basically using the riders manual as an overall guide never ride at the same speed or same gear or same throttle position for any length of time. Remember you are also breaking in the transmission and final drive so keep that in mind.

 

If you must ride the freeway going home try to use off freeway roads as much as possible especially early on in the initial break-in. Then if you can ride in the timeframe that freeway traffic is light you might be able to do the coasting decels and vary the throttle and road speed enough to stay on the freeway. Just remember whatever you do in the first 600 miles or so can make a big difference in the amount of oil it burns later.

 

[Paul Mihalka]

BMW really loosened up the break-in requirements. Used to be in the 4.000 rpm range.

Now quoting from a R1200 owner's manual - odd mileage numbers are because of km to miles conversion:

Engine break-in speeds: 0 to 124 miles: 5.500 rpm. 124 to 249 miles: 6.500 rpm. 249 to 373 miles: 7.500 rpm. 373 to 559 miles: briefly maximum engine speed (I guess that means rev. limiter). Looks like BMW's description of "ride it like you stole it".

 

[RoSPA_man]

 

BTW, stay away from synthetic oils for a while. BMW rings and cyl walls are tough, I wouldn't even think about it for at least 20k miles.

 

I gather all the rules are now changing and the latest is that BMW is now recommending PowerLine or some such name - a Castrol Synth (or semi synth anyway) from 600 miles in all models?? Sorry I don't have more precise details.

[Mister Tee]

Keep in mind that the vehicles that ship with synthetic oil from the factory (some high end sports cars) have also been broken in first, at the factory using a technique similar to the "Mototune" method.

[sardineone]

Morning John

 

No not the worst as that would be cold starting/running the bike just long enough to idle it out in front of the dealer every morning then idling it back into the shop for night storage for 6 months straight.

Personally I refuse to by a bike from a dealer that does the above.

 

As mentioned in posts above, steady state speed and throttle is not a good break-in procedure and doing that significantly increases the chance you will end up with an oil burner for a long time.

 

Using the riders manual as your basic guide for speed and engine RPM’s you want to CONTIUUALLY vary the engine RPM and load as well as engine vacuum.

Lots of moderate accelerations, lots and lots of l-o-n-g down hill decels with some on and off the throttle on the coasting decels as that unloads the piston rings and allows the ring/cyl wall scrapings to purge from between the rings and piston lands.

 

If possible some engine cool downs during the initial break-in 600 miles.

 

Basically using the riders manual as an overall guide never ride at the same speed or same gear or same throttle position for any length of time. Remember you are also breaking in the transmission and final drive so keep that in mind.

 

If you must ride the freeway going home try to use off freeway roads as much as possible especially early on in the initial break-in. Then if you can ride in the timeframe that freeway traffic is light you might be able to do the coasting decels and vary the throttle and road speed enough to stay on the freeway. Just remember whatever you do in the first 600 miles or so can make a big difference in the amount of oil it burns later.

+1

After all that, the worst you can do is baby a boxer engine after the 600 mile service! Heating and cooling cycles also are a factor so that will just take some time.

[sardineone]

Another Q: What is the typical break in mileage?

 

Lots of variables can affect individual bikes. I'm confident my R1200ST engine was still gaining a bit more power between 10 & 12,000 miles. I could tell the difference with the softer edges of the power band getting a bit stronger.

[blackyam]

Hi, everyone. Thanks for all your replies.

 

When I opened this thread, I said that my question was "[c]urrently a hypothetical question, but it may not be in a couple of days." Well, it turns out that my question was hypothetical after all. Nevertheless, I hope that your replies will prove to be useful very soon. (See the penultimate paragraph below.)

 

The story: I'm in NorCal. I have a conference meeting in SoCal this coming Saturday. My plan was to ride down on Friday for the meeting (I-5 all the way for expediency because I don't have any days off before the Saturday meeting). Well, as I mentioned in another thread, my R1150RS bit the dust. I was hoping I would be able to pick up a bike before Friday, so that I would still be able to ride down; however, that may have meant doing the 600 mi break in on I-5. Hence, my original post here. Now it appears that I'll have to drive my wife's car down. :-(

 

My dealer has one 2010 R1200RT on the floor. I haven't been in the market to buy for several years and am not naturally a haggler; however, money's not loose, either. As I asked in my other thread in the Oilhead section, considering that we are coming to the end of 2010 (when will the 2011 model be out?) and winter is just around the corner, what do you think I can reasonably offer for the bike? I would also like to get a top case and engine guards if possible.

 

I also noticed in the Classified section a 2007 R12RT for $9,800, but that's in NC; however, there is also a 2006 R12RT for $15,000 (quite loaded) that's only a few hours away from me. I've sent a PM about the second one.

 

Anyway, as I also mentioned in my other thread, I would appreciate it if you would let me know what you think I can reasonably offer my dealer for a new 2010 R12RT.

 

Sorry for the length of this post. I do appreciate everyone help. And I hope to put all your break-in (or wear-in) advice to use before long. :-)

 

---John.

[Travman]

As I asked in my other thread in the Oilhead section, considering that we are coming to the end of 2010 (when will the 2011 model be out?)...

 

The 2011s are out now. In fact I got one sitting in the garage. Going through the break in now as stated in the manual. Best type of roads during the break in would be hilly curvy roads (like North GA mountains) where your constantly varying the throttle and doing some light breaking. Also, don't forget to lightly scrub the tires for the first 100 miles or so and go easy on the brake for the first couple hundred miles.

 

 

[ragtoplvr]

Just take every on and off ramp. They are usually every 5 to 10 miles. shift from 6th to 5th and after a few hundred miles even 4th if on ramps near by. It will be fine.

 

Rod

[DiverRay]

what part of NorCal are you in? The dealer near me has both a 2010 and a 2011 on the floor. The 2010 is loaded, and the tag says 19.6 plus++. I picked up my 2007 from him for 14.8 out the door with the 4 year unlimited warranty. He would probably let the 2010 go for about 21 or 21.5, maybe less. This is MY guess, so you can work on prices if you have a good down.

PS, dealer is Santa Cruz BMW...

[blackyam]

Hi, DiverRay. Thanks for your reply.

 

what part of NorCal are you in?

 

I'm about 4 or 5 hours from Santa Cruz BMW.

 

The dealer near me has both a 2010 and a 2011 on the floor. The 2010 is loaded, and the tag says 19.6 plus++.

 

[snip, snip]

 

He would probably let the 2010 go for about 21 or 21.5, maybe less. This is MY guess, so you can work on prices if you have a good down.

PS, dealer is Santa Cruz BMW...

 

Would you consider 21 or 21.5 out the door a good price for a 2010? (Knowing that would give me a gauge.)

 

I picked up my 2007 from him for 14.8 out the door with the 4 year unlimited warranty.

 

Please tell me more about this "4 year unlimited warranty." Is that available for a 2010, as well? Does it usually cost more?

 

Thanks again.

 

---John.

[DiverRay]

21 would be a good price, as you know, the sales tax in this state would be almost 2K!

The warranty was an extra cost, about 1K is "normal". I got it because o the problems with the final drive on the '07 models. It is actually an insurance policy. you are betting that BMW is wrong about what will go wrong with your bike. I don't have a lot of extra money, so I went with the "bike WILL break".

If you are really looking, call the dealer and ask for Ernie. Tell him Ray Matteis gave you his name. It may not help, but it can't hurt!

 

[blackyam]

DiverRay, thanks for your reply on price. And thanks, everyone, for your continuing suggestions.

 

Hi, y'all. OK, my wife and I decided that we would take the plunge on a 2010 R1200RT. We'll be digging into our emergency savings to help with the down payment to keep the monthly not too bad. We hope to return something into our savings consistently before another (a real one) comes up. So, if all goes well, I'll be breaking in (or wearing in) a new bike before long.

 

Phil C, you wrote, "By the time you get tk the 600 mile service, you should be riding it like you stole it. They don't like to be babied." I've read that elsewhere, too, but what really does "ride it like you stole it" mean? Paul M wrote, perhaps in line with Phil C's thoughts, "BMW really loosened up the break-in requirements. Used to be in the 4.000 rpm range. Now quoting from a R1200 owner's manual - odd mileage numbers are because of km to miles conversion: Engine break-in speeds: 0 to 124 miles: 5.500 rpm. 124 to 249 miles: 6.500 rpm. 249 to 373 miles: 7.500 rpm. 373 to 559 miles: briefly maximum engine speed (I guess that means rev. limiter)" [my emphasis]. But then Frantz writes, "Despite having a 10,000 RPM Red Line, I never operate the engine over 7,000 RPM. My normal shift point is 4,000 RPM, and 5,000 when I'm in a hurry." So, I'm confused.

 

I would try to hit the rev limiter on my now-kaput R1150RS once every week or two to "blow things out," and now I'm wondering if that contributed to its early demise. (BTW, I used only dino oil; never synthetic.)

 

I would appreciate any clarification on how hard one may or should ride an RT, both during the first 600 miles and after. Thanks very much, as always.

 

---John.