I noticed that most of the new bikes on the show room floor of the dealership near me have 11 miles. I'm one of those who believes most of the piston-ring break in happens in the first 20 miles. The sales guy said they have zero miles off the truck, so what does the dealer do in that 11 miles?

Beary

 

They generally just ride 'em a few miles to make everything works properly.

 

When a tech works on a bike he is supposed to test ride it to make sure everything is right. 11 miles is far from broken in.

 

Probably a designated route that every bike goes on. That way the boss knows where the bike is and how long his tech will be gone.

Imagine the chaos,
I'm going for a test run
OK
Tech comes back 4 hours later and bike has 200 miles on it

 

These two techs were on one of those designated routes.

2 bike riders die in wreck
Men testing cycles for dealer hit by Jeep Cherokee
Sara Lee Fernandez Caller-Times
Saturday, May 13, 2006



Area motorcyclists prepared Friday to pay tribute to two Corpus Christi Harley-Davidson employees who died from injuries suffered in an auto accident late Thursday while they were taking two of the legendary cycles on a test run.

Corpus Christi Harley-Davidson at 502 S. Padre Island Drive closed its doors Friday in memory of William Eugene Steed,34, and Hunter Freeman, 22, who were struck at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday by a Jeep Cherokee traveling north on Joe Mireur Road which crossed over the median, first sideswiping Steed, knocking him from his motorcycle and sending him flying about 150 feet before he landed in a ditch, police said.

Police said the driver of the Jeep Cherokee then overcorrected and collided with Freeman. Freeman died on impact while Steed was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead at about 2 a.m. Friday. Both men, described as technicians for the local dealership, were wearing safety helmets. Both died of multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Nueces County Medical Examiner's Office.

Four people in the Jeep Cherokee suffered minor injuries, including the 24-year-old driver, police reported. No arrests or citations had been issued late Friday. Police said.

Preston Douglas, owner of Corpus Christi Harley-Davidson where Steed and Hunter worked, said both men were honest, hardworking and well liked.

"We're a pretty tight-knit family out here and it's hard on us," Douglas said. "Both of them are fine guys, they were great members of our team, honest and hardworking and we will miss them a great deal."

 

sounds like a bad accident ...

Test ride at 10:30PM ??

 

They also run the bikes on a dyno @ the factory to make sure everything is working. I saw this when I went to the York plant.

 

Agreed, very bad incident...but like you pointed out, 10:30pm test ride

 

This brings up a question from me. I've owned VW's all my life and had various wrenches work on them. After complete rebuilds, I've always been told to break them in like I drive them. One wrench flat out told me there is no break in.
My point is this; VW's and Harleys are air cooled. The major difference I see is VW has lower compression and horsepower. Why do air cooled bikes require break-in periods when air cooled vehicles do not?
Another question; why is there a break in period on a new bike that has been dyno'd? You go through the entire power band, multiple times, to do a dyno. Why is this ok and not acceptable on the road?

 

10:30 is correct, something about trying to finish up some work, it was legit. I've been on this road and its the last place I would go if I were just out for a cruise.

Farm road that has several curves with view unobstructed. Jeep saw 2 headlights, thought it was a car. Bikes seperate, gap opens and closes, jeep driver confused.