[junaid12345678]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

Hi guys,

Is it alright to go for a relatively long trip on a new motorcycle as long as we follow all the running-in procedure? I am planning to go on a 200km ride with my new Avenger 220. It has done 680kms till now and had the first service done about 100kms back (changed oil and lubed the chain). Should I wait till the bike rides a few more hundreds of kilometers or it would be okay as long as I don't go hard on the engine?

P.S: I am very patient and I don't have any problems in running under 60kmph or even 50kmph for a long time for the sake of the new bike. Avenger does not have a tacho to show the rpm, so we have to trust our ears.

Hi dude,

Long rides wont affect your bikes break-in-procedure but maintaining a constant RPM spoils the job. Even if you ride your bike at a constant speed, say @50 kmph, the engine speed will also be the same and its not recommended for a good run-in. Another thing is that as the engine is new, it creates a lot of debris that reduces the effectiveness of the engine oil and raises the engine temperature much more than the normal operating range. Both these things are bad during the break-in period. So it would be better if you wait a bit, spend some more time riding your bike, get used to it, give her the second service and set off for a long vroom.

Happy riding and be safe

[Sheel]

dudewithafiat ; I believe your crucial part of running-in is already over. You may go for as long (far) ride as you wish & I think it would be safe to cruise between 70-90kmph. It doesn't have a rev-counter, else it would have been easier.

Don't lug or rev the engine. Say 1st gear till 20, 2nd till 30 & so on. In 4th don't go above 65 just yet.

I did ~550 kms on day 2 of the Karizma I got in '07. Stuck to speeds between 70-90 throughout. Let it rip once a while.

@ junaid - To get rid of debris, it is recommend to change oil at more frequent interval. The deposits because of friction happens initially. I think 700kms is a good period to start opening the engine up.

To be on the safer side, get an oil change once you come back from that ride.

[junaid12345678]

Originally Posted by Sheel

dudewithafiat ; I believe your crucial part of running-in is already over. You may go for as long (far) ride as you wish & I think it would be safe to cruise between 70-90kmph. It doesn't have a rev-counter, else it would have been easier.

Don't lug or rev the engine. Say 1st gear till 20, 2nd till 30 & so on. In 4th don't go above 65 just yet.

I did ~550 kms on day 2 of the Karizma I got in '07. Stuck to speeds between 70-90 throughout. Let it rip once a while.

@ junaid - To get rid of debris, it is recommend to change oil at more frequent interval. The deposits because of friction happens initially. I think 700kms is a good period to start opening the engine up.

To be on the safer side, get an oil change once you come back from that ride.

Dudewithfiat; As sheel said, the crucial part of the run-in must be over by now as your bike has completed about 700kms, but that doesn't mean your bike is ready to be ripped unless you have bought it for special purpose of ripping and disposing. The entire process of running-in in most commuter bikes completes at around 2500 km. And going for a 200 km ride means most of the time you will be at a speed of 70-90 kmph and your RPM would be around 6000 or above. Isn't it overkill for an avenger which has completed just 700 kms? A Yamaha R1 can do such speeds in comfort, but is the method appropriate here, with a low end cruiser like avenger?

IMHO, give the bike a bit more run-in before going for a long ride.

Happy riding, be safe

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by Sheel

dudewithafiat ; I believe your crucial part of running-in is already over. You may go for as long (far) ride as you wish & I think it would be safe to cruise between 70-90kmph. It doesn't have a rev-counter, else it would have been easier.

Don't lug or rev the engine. Say 1st gear till 20, 2nd till 30 & so on. In 4th don't go above 65 just yet.
.

To be on the safer side, get an oil change once you come back from that ride.

Thanks guys. I already did the trip (couldn't wait ) , but I didn't rev the engine and wasn't on constant rpm. I kept changing. The oil was changed at 550k, so is it really necessary to change it again once I am back to Trivandrum day after tomorrow?

Originally Posted by junaid12345678

Dudewithfiat; As sheel said, the crucial part of the run-in must be over by now as your bike has completed about 700kms, but that doesn't mean your bike is ready to be ripped unless you have bought it for special purpose of ripping and disposing. The entire process of running-in in most commuter bikes completes at around 2500 km. And going for a 200 km ride means most of the time you will be at a speed of 70-90 kmph and your RPM would be around 6000 or above. Isn't it overkill for an avenger which has completed just 700 kms?

IMHO, give the bike a bit more run-in before going for a long ride.

Happy riding, be safe

It was in the mind that the bike hasn't run-in completely, so I did not cross 55kmph and the rpm may have been between 3 to 4k.

[junaid12345678]

Originally Posted by DudeWithaFiat

Thanks guys. I already did the trip (couldn't wait ) , but I didn't rev the engine and wasn't on constant rpm. I kept changing. The oil was changed at 550k, so is it really necessary to change it again once I am back to Trivandrum day after tomorrow?



It was in the mind that the bike hasn't run-in completely, so I did not cross 55kmph and the rpm may have been between 3 to 4k.

Hi dudewithfiat, hope you enjoyed every bit of your ride and regarding your bikes run-in, you just did the right thing by maintaining low speed and kept on fluctuating your rpm between 3 to 4k, definitely good for your bike. And regarding oil change, it's not that necessary to change your oil within such a short span provided that you rode your bike sedately. But do make sure to change your oil at the next service than topping it up. This will ensure you miles of happy riding.

Be safe.

[DudeWithaFiat]

Originally Posted by junaid12345678

But do make sure to change your oil at the next service than topping it up. This will ensure you miles of happy riding.

Be safe.

Yes, have to do that. For the next service at 5000kms, the manual suggests only a top-up, but I'll go ahead and change it.

[junaid12345678]

Dudewithafiat, Are you sure that the second service is at 5000kms? If so, then 4.5k kms interval seems quite large unless you are using synthetic oil. Do Bajaj recommends synthetic in their manual? In any case, I would suggest an oil change at 2500 kms.

Happy riding, be safe

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by ashis89

5) Every morning, I let the bike idle for 2 mins before moving on and then ride it meekly for 2 kms before freeing up a bit. Anything else to be done to ensure good engine life?

You should never let an engine just idle away when cold. Under idle it hardly builds up any heat, so in fact you are actually wearing it down more.

Just start and drive away, carefully avoiding high rpm / loads until its properly warmed up through and through and you'll be fine.

Jeroen

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by junaid12345678

Dudewithafiat, Are you sure that the second service is at 5000kms? If so, then 4.5k kms interval seems quite large unless you are using synthetic oil. Do Bajaj recommends synthetic in their manual? In any case, I would suggest an oil change at 2500 kms.

Happy riding, be safe

Yes the Pulsar and the Avenger have the 2nd service at 5k kms and 3rd at 10k kms. Bajaj uses its own oil- Bajaj 10000 DTSi which it claims has a drain interval of 10k kms with top-ups at 5k kms.

I know its surprising and I can only imagine the condition of engine at the 10k kms. I would suggest to stick to the traditional 2.5k kms interval for oil drain and use mineral oil of the given rating. I have been doing the same in my bike which has run about 5.5k kms till date.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

You should never let an engine just idle away when cold. Under idle it hardly builds up any heat, so in fact you are actually wearing it down more.

Just start and drive away, carefully avoiding high rpm / loads until its properly warmed up through and through and you'll be fine.

Jeroen

Well I don't know for sure but I have been following this routine and I feel that the engine feels very smooth when I ride after idling without any sluggishness, even in this winter. But when you ride when engine is cold and no idle, the engine is sluggish and power delivery is jerky.

[junaid12345678]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

You should never let an engine just idle away when cold. Under idle it hardly builds up any heat, so in fact you are actually wearing it down more.

Just start and drive away, carefully avoiding high rpm / loads until its properly warmed up through and through and you'll be fine.

Jeroen

Jeroen, the purpose of idling for one or two minutes is not for heating the engine, but to ensure proper oil circulation as well as seating the oil between all moving parts of the engine. Its for preparing the engine to get heated. If you keep the bike under the morning sun for half and hour, you can heat up the engine well. But that doesn't mean that your engine is properly warmed up. Hope you got my point.

Originally Posted by ashis89

Well I don't know for sure but I have been following this routine and I feel that the engine feels very smooth when I ride after idling without any sluggishness, even in this winter. But when you ride when engine is cold and no idle, the engine is sluggish and power delivery is jerky.

with ashish. I have personally observed the same that my bike tends to be smooth throughout the day after idling and rough otherwise.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by junaid12345678

Jeroen, the purpose of idling for one or two minutes is not for heating the engine, but to ensure proper oil circulation as well as seating the oil between all moving parts of the engine. Its for preparing the engine to get heated. If you keep the bike under the morning sun for half and hour, you can heat up the engine well. But that doesn't mean that your engine is properly warmed up. Hope you got my point.

No I don't. If it takes one or two minutes to get proper oil circulation going you have a big problem!

Contrary, as you prove, to popular believe, idling from cold is the worst thing you can do to a any engine. Start, everything that needs oil/lubrication will have so within seconds, then slowly drive away.

You will actually have very poor lubrication on cilinder liners/piston rings untill you reach normal operating temperature. Idling just prolongs it!

Jeroen

[Sheel]

If one can vary the revs while the engine is warmed up, nothing like it. Say shifting between 2,000 to 4,000 revs. Gently. Let the engine's rpm settle prior to doing this.

[mvadg]

All very valid points above.

Just want to chip in. I discovered some time back that my Aviator had no oil filter! Just a strainer.

If this is the case with your bike/scooter, I'd recommend oil changes at shorter intervals. I could hear a distinct change in engine sound after changing the oil.

I remember reading that the first oil change should be done after 1000 miles (for cars); this is to remove the oil with all the metal particles that have contaminated it. It would be better to do this sooner for bikes and scooters (I think).

[(Alok)]

Originally Posted by mvadg

All very valid points above.

Just want to chip in. I discovered some time back that my Aviator had no oil filter! Just a strainer.

It shouldn’t be like this. Mostly 4 stroke bikes are having centrifugal filter in addition to strainer (which are a project to get clean, so mechanics avoid it).

[ashis89]

Last month my office colleague bought a RE C350. He didn't get it readily from the Bangalore dealer so he scourged around and finally got it from Sambalpur. His brother rode it for 550 kms to his home town Berhampur, maintaining speeds of 80-100 kmph. His 1st service was scheduled at 500 kms. He did it at 900 kms.

We suggested him to courier it to Bangalore. He refused saying his new bike will get scratched and planned about riding it here. I then told him about the new engine and proper run-in. He shook his head in affirmative. Finally a couple of days ago, when the bike was 1200 km old my colleague and his brother rode the bike all the way from Berhampur covering some 1500 kms in 2 days at speeds of 80-100kmph. He was complaining that the bike didn't go beyond 100 even at full throttle and the bike was guzzling petrol. As per him, the bike took almost 60 litres of petrol for the whole trip. He hasn't yet changed the engine oil saying that the oil costs Rs.900(I dunno much about REs so I don't know if it is true).

Talk about running in.


I had read a lot about the Classic series and had high expectations. I had a small ride on his bike(my 1st RE ride) and found it vibrating like hell(especially the handle bar) and the engine felt like a generator. Can any RE owner shed some light if it is normal for a RE or there is some issue? I have gone pillion on my uncle's '62 Bullet and remember it being much smoother and less vibrating though it was louder.