I have been told to take it easy with my atv durring break in by several people, but when my kawi dealer told me to ride it hard, I thought he was crazy. Good thing I took his advise. Check out this link.

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

 

Very interesting, especially since I just purchased a 2003 Raptor and the dealer mechanic told me to go easy for the first tank of gas. Anyone else have any opinions as to engine break-in, I have put about 5 hours on my new quad but now I am thinking that I should just ride normal fron now on and not baby it so much.

 

Serious engine builders know the importance of the break-in period for a new engine. There are always minor imperfections in the production process that are beyond human control. For example, you cannot make a rod bearing that is a perfect match for the crankshaft. However, given the right conditions, these imperfections can be worn away to form a more perfect match of friction surfaces. That is why you should use a conventional oil during the break-in period. It's lubricating properties are such that imperfections will wear away before the surfaces reach their final polished state. The prooperties of a synthetic oil are such that surfaces will polish over to their "bedded" state before the imperfections are gone. Having been left in place, these imperfections leave inconsistent oil barriers between mating surfaces which can lead to prematue wear.

 

Ride it like you stole it !Right from the get go ,break it in how your gonna ride it.Avoid extended periods of high RPM at first,but other than that ...Git after that thing.

 

That article has somewhat the right idea. Driving something hard during break in isn't always smart. It isn't always the fastest way to break in a ring. Another thing, not every engine's cylinder and ring hardnesses are the same. How can you apply one rule to everything? Well, what that guy says probably breaks in a lot of machines fairly well. But, break in can be done better that he said it.

Rings break in fastest at an engine's highest BMEP, which occurs at peak torque (full throttle, but usually at a much lower rpm than peak hp). Upon reading stringently specified breakin procedures from professionals, I noticed that many of them break in a full throttle, but none of these full throttle procedures allow the engine to rev at higher RPMS. They also all say to carefully watch engine temp, or else ring heat could cause varnish. Some of these engines (diesels and aircraft engines) are broken in before being delivered to the vehicle.

I think Kawasaki told us not to go over 1/2 throttle is to keep us from revving high during breakin. This is probably to prevent excessive ring heat and causign varnish. I can only guess, but it makes sense.

What other vehicle do you hold at ful throttle for a long time? Airplanes and ATV's. Certainly not a new car or a muscle car or a bullet bike. You normally don't get the chance.

What I tell people to do is to make sure they spend a lot of time at half throttle. Don't let it idle too long, warm it up gradually, then give it half throttle a lot. Don't drive it really slow too much either.

I didn't do this exactly, I couldn't keep my thumb off the gas.

Most people that just ride it an not worry are probably doing a decent job of breaking it in anyway.