My buddy just bought a 2016 Low rider and has only ridden it home putting about 25 miles on the bike.

What riding procedure should he practice for breaking in the engine and seating the rings,,,and for how many miles should he do this? How many approx miles will it take to fully break in the engine.

 

It's all in the Owner's Manual! Have your buddy read it. From front to back. Twice!

 

No periods of long highway riding for the first 500. That's pretty much it. Dont' be afraid to get on it. Change to synth oil after 1K.

 

Ride it like you normally would, but don't "lug" it or flog it.
And don't ride it into "handlebar" deep flowerbeds!

 

Leave it a bit longer before you change to synthetic. like everyone says, ride it normally but they do take a fair bit to break in. l've been fortunate enough to have 2 new Dynas and a NRS in the last 9 years and they'll all done at least 20 - 25 thousand k's before l reckon they were giving their best.

 

Taken right from the Manual





The First 500 Miles (800 Kilometers)

The sound design, quality materials, and workmanship that are built into your new Harley-Davidson will give you optimum performance right from the start.
To allow your engine to wear-in its critical parts, we recommend that you observe the riding rules provided below for the first 500 mi 800 km .

1. During the first 50 mi 80 km of riding, keep the engine speed below 3000 rpm in any gear. Do not lug the engine by running or accelerating at very low rpm, or by running at high rpm longer than needed for shifting or passing.
2. Up to 500 mi 800 km , vary the engine speed and avoid operating at any steady engine speed for long periods. Engine speed up to 3500 rpm in any gear is permissible.
3. Drive slowly and avoid fast starts at wide open throttle until the engine has warmed up.
4. Avoid lugging the engine by not running the engine at very low speeds in higher gears.
5. Avoid hard braking. Break-in new brakes with moderate use for the first 200 mi 300 km

 

As many opinions and suggestions on this as there are riders. From the kid glove softness of the owner's manual recommendation to the Mototune method.

If your friends bike has 25 miles on it the rings are seated, that window of opportunity to seat the rings properly closes quickly. With all my new and rebuilt engines I follow more the Mototune method; I run a series of RPM drills to seat the rings and drop all fluids at 25 miles. From there I'll vary speed, RPM, and gear selection for approximately 1k miles doing frequent fluid changes to keep any potential debris to a minimum. During that first 1k I'll be all over the RPM range and I do run those RPM's up

As far as how long it takes to fully 'break in' an engine? Again, this is just opinion but I don't think this 103" began to feel broken in until 6k miles. From there she just kept feeling and performing better the more miles I rode. As petefwa noted, these beasties take a bit to truly break them in. How this Wide Glide feels now compared to 2k miles on the ODO is very different; it was around 6k miles she started to feel alive

 

First answer ^^^^^ and its a ringer !

How, I wonder, are salespeople trained these days ? I'd have thought the salesman would have presented the manual and break-in instructions on closing !! Thats what my sales guy did.

BTW, if there was any aggressive "cowboying" going on during that first 25 mi trip home, subsequent break-in coddling will be pointless. Its broken in.

 

^^^I'm so proud...the word's spreading^^^

MOTOTUNE all the way, baby!!!

If you're following the "textbook" break-in, you're feeding the local service center. Do yourself a favor, ride bike off the lot & hit the MotoTune new engine break-in at 1st opportunity. Trust us, you're going to reap the rewards.

 

From a builder's view...it depends on the rings you are using. Old school iron rings take a break in period like the manual describes. If you use moly faced rings with a fine hone pattern on the jugs, the rings (and engine) break in in a matter of minutes. That's why racers all prefer the moly rings. Use chrome faced rings and break in can go on for months.