agreed... my quad was broken in the same way and had considerable amounts more power than his. NOW my rings are starting to go and it is loosing a lil compression so it isn't quite as fast as it was last year.

 

Jumping on your new quad and beating the crap out of it is no way to break it in.Like others have pointed out in previous posts,there are "high" spots and hot spots that need to be worn in on fresh engines.Theres nothing wrong with slowly bringing the engine into the upper rpms,but hard acceleration or blasting the throttle will do nothing but burn and score these areas.

Its good to give the engine the full range of rpm while breaking it in,but not under full load.Once you damage a cylinder,it will do nothing but get progressively worse in time.It could be a couple weeks or a couple months,maybe a couple years.Only time will tell.

As far as the Motoman site,what the hell do they know?I've been to there facility and its a little rinky dink hole in the wall.They have absolutely nothing in stock ever.Their not engine builders,their retailers,and crappy ones from what I've experienced.There knowledege of atv is nill IMO.They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression,well I'll never deal with them again.

 

1st off, you are (I assume) talking about a 2-stroke whereas this fellow has a 4-stroke. (for all I know this may apply to 2-strokes also, but I have never tried this method on a 2-stroke, and the Motoman article is talking specifically about 4-strokes)

2nd, you aren't even aware of the "Motoman" article I am referring to. For your convenience, I will post a link to it. He builds winning race-bikes for racers, and has built and torn apart more than 300 race bike motors. More than you or I put together I would imagine.......

He also shows pictures of pistons that come out of bikes broken in with his method vs those broken in "by the book"

You (I assume) are talking about the internet/retail parts store, which I in no way was referring to.

Sorry to have this guys thread all mucked up, but perhaps he will gain some useful knowledge out of it none the less. Here are a couple of informative articles from the author in question.

A long read, but if you are open to "out of the box" thinking, you may just get an education out of it.

Motoman Break-In Secrets

Is Break-In really needed for Bearings??

 

His methods explained are by no means considered "beating on it" in my book.He used a dyno that presented a "load" for the engine and progressively applied rpm and engine load.He just uses a dyno to decrease break in time.This is by no means a "new" method of break in.

A dyno will allow you to control the break in process with minimum chance of engine failure and wear.If you honestly think you can break it in like this on the street,your high on crack.On the street or dirt,your biggest problem will be piston overspeed(educate yourself).Any excessive wheel spin or rpm that is generated without the appropriate engine load will destroy,not break-in a new engine.Piston rings can and will burn.The burning that I refer to is the overheating of the ring to the point where the properties of the metal have been drastically changed.

I wouldn't recommend anyone using this method,unless it was performed on a dynomometer,by a competent individual.

The most important part of break-in IMO is varying your rpm.Acceleration and deceleration are the best way to break in an engine.You shouldn't hesitate to bring the engine into the upper rpms during break-in,just make sure the power delivery is linear and don't go past 3/4 throttle for the first 30 minutes.Blasting the throttle is a no-no,instead gradually give it more throttle until the engine pulls itself into the powerband.Again,vary your rpms,roll thru the gears and decelerate using the engine breaking.

I've broken all my engines this way.The compression always checks to the maximum of specification.

 

I must be high on crack.
If you don't think any tire will load an engine your missinformed. It loads it, and loads it hard. Pop it in 5th and find a hill to climb. It will load an engine.
Everything I build is within .00025 and this is with automotive parts. The smaller the part to machine, (like a quad crank) the easier it is to get it to super close tolerances.
I've never seen a "burn" piston ring. I've seen some loose tension from over heating the motor from lack of oil or water. I've seen a lot more that polish the bore of there engine because someone told them to richen the carb up for breakin. Same goes for the 20 to 1 oil mix on breakin. Too much oil on a new two stroke will hydraulic the ring away from the bore. Although a polished bore is not as bad on a two stroke. For a four stroke, it's bad news.
I have torn down many race engines that have gone through a WOT breakin. Guess what? Not one has ever had any scoring. Not one. Have I seen scoring on a new motor? Sure I have, and the person that owns it always blames the parts or the breakin method. Funny when they mic the bore they or some machine shop set the bore to piston clearence at .002 on a true forged piston, and that is the cause of their problem, not the parts or the breakin method.

Do what you want with your breakin. I've always had success, with very good ring seal.
New bike, quad, car, truck- completely warm up the engine and make SURE it is up to operating temp. Go to WOT a dozen or so time in a short drag race. Short shift a bit if you have gears. It will load the engine harder.

While I'm on my rant; another thing people have talked about is metal shavings in the oil. If you have shavings in your oil you have BIG problems!!!!!! About the only thing your should have in your oil is something that looks like black dust. Also some very small hair looking metal is ok on the sump magnet. This will be ring and bore metal and is what you want to see. There better not be any big curls or chunks. If I have time I will post some pictures of what I found in my oil filter on my V for my first change. It was not spottless, but it was very nice. Not much to speak of in the pleats at all. This was with a WOT breakin.

Like I said, I'm not recomending this method or saying others are wrong. Just stating what works for me.

 

Thank-you! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]
I am thinking Sheesnojoke didn't FULLY read or UNDERSTAND the Motoman article. He specifically tells you to take the (bike in this case), out on the road and give it full throttle runs, loading the motor.

In fact, the three ways to break it in per Motoman:
1) on a dyno
2) on the street, or off road (Motocross or Snowmobile.) (seems this would be in the dirt no??)
3) on the racetrack

Here he says:
On the Street:
Warm the engine up completely:
Because of the wind resistance, you don't need to use higher gears like you would on a dyno machine. The main thing is to load the engine by opening the throttle hard in 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear. (hmmmm... opening the throttle HARD you say??)

And here:
The best method is to alternate between short bursts of hard acceleration and deceleration (again HARD acceleration/deceleration)

You can also apply an extremely large load on the rings in the sand, with paddles.
Like DRturbo said. Break yours in how you wish, but I think I will chose to go off of the advice of professional motor builders who not only talk the talk, but also back up their talk by showing the proof. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Its impossible to control engine load on the street or dirt.What I mean by "control" is applying the appropriate load for the rpm and throttle position.Its alot easier to control the load on a dynomometer.

I guess to each his own,I've replace over 50 + top-ends over the years in various engines.I've never used this type of radical break-in as you described.My results have been excellent,compression numbers are always on par with what they should be or better.

I say,if it ain't broke,don't fix it.

Just like the whole synthetic oil issue,conventional oil has been doing a dam good job for over 100 + years,why should we think synthetic oil is going to do any better.I'll take 100 years of success any day.