When I had the 95" upgrade on my 01 RK done I followed the break in technique from the moto link you provided. No problems or issues. Bike was still running strong 15000 miles later when I traded for my Streetbob.

 

Engine braking is essential for seating the rings. you need to get the combustion pressures up to push the rings against the cylinder walls. On a new motor i change the oil at 200,500 and 1000 miles. Keep it off the freeway as a steady throttle is no good for break in. Ride back roads with lots of turns. this way you are off and on the throttle at every turn.

 

Twisting the Throttle Often Varying Speeds, Engine Braking, Cool Down Periods after 50 Miles, 100, 500, 1,000 Mile Oil Changes all make sense to me .. Running it WOT consistently right off the bat does not ..

 

This is a topic as hot as which oil to use.the motor builder/machinists know the correct way to breakin a new motor,the rest are blowing hot air.Break one in hard,you can bet it will not last as long as a motor broken in by the book.Only exceptions are racing motors and riders who do not care or know any other way.

 

I bought my bike in January and I live in North Carolina, so heat wasn't too much of a factor. I varied the speed, still gave it cool down times and broke it in like the dealer advised. It sure seems to run great now.

 

Think about this. If you take your new bike on the highway and ride it for 10 minutes at a steady 3000 rpm, the pistons will have made 30,000 trips up and down the cylinders and every other moving part in the engine will have done their thing also. Figure in the time the motor has idled, accelerated and otherwise been running and I'll wager that it is "broken in" much faster than one would think.

 

"10 minutes at a steady 3000 rpm" is exactly what you shouldn't do...I'm not sure what your point is, are you saying varying speeds on and off the throttle will take too long to make 50 miles...so ride 10 min. at 3k RPMs!? The whole point in breaking in the engine for the first 50 miles is so your valves seat and you don't wend up with a motor that burns oil. Granted, you can take the chance and break your bike in any way you want, but I've had great resukts following the Mfg'er's breakin proceedure with my last 2 new HDs absolutly no engine related problems, including 124k on my Evo, and none of my bikes burn oil. A constant speed / RPM on a new motor is the last thing you want to do.

 

I broke mine in pretty hard, 0-80mph full throttle a few times and then rode it like normal ever since. This advice was given by the tech that built my 103, maybe they were trying to sell more parts, but since it was under warranty maybe not.
My bike runs great, gets decent mpg, and does not burn any oil. 15k and counting. The one thing my mechanic warned against was sustained rpm within the same range, ie interstate cruising in a single gear. So I stayed on back roads and varied my throttle and gearing for 500 miles or so.

 

Only pointing out that the pistons, and other moving parts make many thousands of revolutions long before the recommended break in period and I'm wagering that the break in occurs much sooner than expected. Never did understand the valve seating thing. The valves and seats are ground to specific tolerances and should be a correct fit from the git go. What exactly occurs during this "seating" process?

 

To ensure long engine life, low oil consumption, and good power and torque, it's recommended that a freshly built motor, or new motor, in order to let the parts, including the rings, the bearings and the valves, break in gradually and slowly acquire a wear pattern. If the first miles of driving are too aggressive, there is the chance that the bearings could gall and seize, that valve seats might not seal properly, leading to burned valves, and that rings would not seat, making for high oil consumption.