What is the proper break in period?

[planethopper]

I just bought the Ducati Streetfighter and would like to know the proper break-in procedure. Some people say there is no break in, other people say it takes 2500 Klms. So far I have put on 400 Klms and have stayed below 6000rpm, not an easy thing to do. So, whats the real scoop?

[The Goochman]

At the risk of asking a dumb question, how about following the recommendations in the owner's manual?

Covers your butt and protects the warranty.

I also suggest that you change the oil within the first 1000 km regardless of what the manual says. Full synthetic is the way to go. I run Mobil1 MX4T in my 749.

Dave G

[planethopper]

Sometimes the owners manuals go a little overboard on things. I had a CBR1000RR a couple years ago and the owners manual would have had me in 6th gear in the city. The owners manual for the Ducati says to stay under 6000rpm for the first 1000klms then up to 7000rpm until 2500klms.

[chris fournier]

Break in these days is pretty much about the rings mating with the cylinder surface. There is an old saying, break an engine in slow and you have a slow engine, break an engine in fast and you have a fast engine.

At high RPMs your connecting rods stretch and consequently your rings are reaching the very top of your cylinder - important! If you baby your engine you don't get to this area of the cylinder...

In my opinion break in should consist of running your engine from idle to redline and working through the gears never sitting at a fixed RPM for long. Avoid heavy loads/low RPMs. Break in is pretty much a myth persisting from the old days, materials and finishes have improved dramatically from the days of cast iron cylinders and 60 grit grinding stones...

I've broken in all of my new bikes this way and they've all been reliable, and shown strong numbers on the dyno relative to published figures.

[planethopper]

Now that is the kind of reply I was looking for! Thank you very much.