WoodsRuner, your advice seems to have good points also. How about your thoughts on having performance exhausts on the bike and re-jetting BEFORE breaking in the quad.... breaking it in as you mentioned. Leave it "stock" during break-in or put the performance exhaust on and re-jet before break-in....does it matter?

 

Up until 30 or so years ago we were still telling folks to do the easy break in bit for a very good reason. Rings were all cold cast and cylinders were porus and unstable. Seating the rings consisted of an easy run in in order to wear the roughness off the cyls. and rings causing the rings to conform to the crude shape of the cylinders of the day. Bearing material also left a lot to be desired and the easy running served to hammer them into place without as large a chance of spinning them in their journals.

Todays standards and technology have given us parts that are much more consistent in size, shape and metallurgy negating the need for the old school ways. Chrome moly rings seat almost as soon as the engine turns over. That's one of the reasons the manufacturer of new engines air run all engines before they're shipped. You used to buy a new car or bike knowing it was going to use some oil for the first miles while in the break in period. Now days if your new ride used a comparable amount of oil you would promptly return it to your dealer for repairs.

By the way. Been building engines for over 30 years. Got a good idea what works and why by now but everyone needs to be responsible for their own.

 

I wouldn't think it would matter much, as long as, as Dangerous says, you aren't too lean.
A lean mixture can really screw up an engine. My only concern would be your warrantee.
I leave my quads pretty much stock until the warrantee expires. Unless you have a dealer
do it, such mods would void any warrantee.

I too have rebuilt a few engines in my time; motorcycle, quad, tractor, cart. The last 15-20
years has seen a difference in the break-in procedure. But the rings aren't the only thing being
broke-in.

 

I agree...that's what Ive always done and no problems...if it's put together right it won't come apart as long as the engine is warm

 

I'm sorry WoodsRuner. I didn't mean to imply rings were the only part involved. Any and all moving or stationary parts in an engine could be affected by the initial run time but todays consistency in parts manufacture makes any failure a small percentage in the grand scheme of things reguardless of how they are initially treated. For custom or race engines, failures are usually the aftermath of guys like us altering things to the point of sure failure.

How mods effect your warrantee depends greatly on your dealer and how accomodating they are willing to be.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. The warrantee is something I wouldn't have thought about. I think your right Dangerous.....if you were to keep the dealer somewhat involved in the exhaust/jetting he may work with you God forbid something goes wrong.

 

Thank you!!!! to all who have helped on this issue of break-in. It is priceless to have others out there with the experience and generosity to help those of us who are at a disadvantage when it comes to protecting & enhancing our investment in our machines!! Rop.