Hello there. I recently sold my trusty 250ex and bought a brand new 300ex. It was broken in per manual instructions and the oil was changed a little before the suggested 20 hours. It has only been out four times, and the first run was on a smooth grassy field to encourage a perfect break in. I also adjusted the valve clearance at the same time as the oil change, and i washed it so well before hand and was so careful that theres no way anything is messed up in there. The air filter is cleaned every run (which averages 6 hours of engine-on time) and then re-lubed with PJ1 foam filter oil, as suggested by the dealer. Today it developed a habit of belching out a rather impressive cloud of blue smoke when it's under load, at high RPMs, and during deceleration. It gets better. According to the spark plug, nothing is wrong with the engine. The plug has a thin film of black soot around the metal base, and the porcelain is barely off-white. The heat mark is about 1/2 the way up the ground strap, and there are no weird deposits anywhere. Whats happening inside there and why? (By the way I do have that fancy four year $0 deductable warranty so tell me the cold hard truth-whatever it is it's free)

 

did u baby the throttle, and be really easy on the engine during ur break in?

 

Naturally. This is what amazes me. I cannot think of anything I could have done better. I just need to know where the oil is coming from.

 

In some cases breaking in a modern engine by babying it does not allow the rings to seat properly. If it is a oil and not a messed up carb causing your blue smoke let the dealer repair it for you. Next time give it some gas and find a big hill to go up and down so that you can give 3/4 to full throttle for a few seconds while keeping the rpms in the maximum torque range and a couple thousand below redline for that engine. Search the internet for break in procedures. The time when parts actually wore together because of sloppy tolerances is of a bygone era. New engines are made to very high tolerances and require a modified break in procedure to that which we were taught by our fathers and grandfathers.

Honda makes a really good and tight engine. You should not see any blue smoke for the first 10-15 years of ownership [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Thanks mysterious catlike engine master. I'll go get my 300 fixed for free and then do that. It makes sense.

 

...strange that the manual tells you the "old style" break in is how break in should be handled

 

I was also nervous when changing break in techniques. I have a very long list of off and on road vehicles which have undergone this new treatment and everything has worked very well. Since reading about this I have used this technique on the following vehicles with success.

Honda 900CBR
Hayabusa
1st YZ 426
2nd YZ 426
XR650
400EX
Grizzly
Bruteforce
LT160
BearTracker
TTR125
TTR90
YFZ450
Ford F350 Diesel
Ford F250 Diesel
KLR650
CRF450
GSXR1000
Probably more I can't think of right now.

You can see from the list I have had quite a few owners manuals come and go through my hands and they all recommend a little different break in procedure. I can't answer why the manufactures recommend the procedure they do, like I said I was skeptical and nervous when I first tried it. I am usually the guy that follows the manual to the letter, but the more rigourus break in technique seems to work better for me.

From my engineering background, the science and logic behind the procedure is valid.
I could go into the details but they are rather lengthy and have been covered much better on other sites then what I could do here.

 

Look at the site below, it will give you a much better explaination as to the science and procedures.


http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

 

i have always wondered about the break in.the way i'm looking at it if you can take a nascar put a new motor in it and run 800 miles at hi rpms..thats one heck of a break in..what about a funny car they are almost rebuilt every pass and still go 300 in a few seconds.now you will proably say that you can't compare the two to a atv's motor but the way i see it a motor is a motor.
hey if you got the warranty blow that baby up so you get a new motor.

 

I agree with the "get on it" break in. Don't try to blow it up but do make it work some. I have a powerline rd near me that goes from 2800 ft level to 4500 ft level in 4 miles.

This is the 1st place my new or newly rebuilt bikes go. Plenty of uphill, downhill and shifting up and down.

If you totally baby the thing the cross hatch will wear away before the rings seat.