Two wheeler Running-in & the Essence of it
Three things need to be achieved.
(1) Heat cycling
(2) Proper Compression
(3) Smoothening of all the mating surfaces.
(1) Heat Cycling:-
This is nothing but making the engine and the packings to get accustomed to the heating cooling cycle thing gradually and is almost done by 3000kms on the odo. It has nothing to do with acceleration, only that the engine should never be over heated, and the continuous use period being increased gradually over time.Three things need to be achieved.
(1) Heat cycling
(2) Proper Compression
(3) Smoothening of all the mating surfaces.
(1) Heat Cycling:-
How to do it:- To do this one has to increase the continuous-in-use period of the engine gradually, ie., first using it for 10 min, then 15min, then 20min etc., b'coz a new engine heats up very quickly as it is still tight inside. This kind of cycles are only needed till around 3k kms. That's it.
(2) Proper Compression:-
This is the most important thing and is done mostly by 150 kms on the odo. It happens between the bore and the piston with the rings sqeezed in between. This is the trickiest thing to take care of, b'coz this is the thing which gives power & pick-up. The aim here is to let the piston move inside the bore as speedily as possible under some load (means while you are riding it), but as coolly (cold I mean) as possible, so that the metals score each other out without creating a mirror-like finish. A mirror like finish here will end up as an oil drinking engine. A mirror like finish will be the result, if one over-races the engine while it is very hot or never races it at all (a severely babied engine).
How to do it:- Simple....just one day and some few cycles of acceleration and deccelaration, without heating up the engine. Once the Bike is warmed up and oil is circulating fully (after a 15min ride, say), take it to a vaccant road etc., and while in 2nd gear race up the engine (throttle it up suddenly to 1/2) till you start hearing engine noise, grating kind of sound, and then suddenly fully close the throttle and let it coast along and wait till the rpm comes down.......... and then change gears normally so that you can ride at 50 kmph in the top gear. Ride for 4/5 mins like this so that the engine temp stabilises..............and then again do/repeat this for 3/4 times in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears.......That's it.
CHANGE OIL IMMEDIATELY AFTER THIS. AND YES YOU CAN GO FOR ANY OIL NOW, SEMI-SYNTH, FULL-SYNTH etc.
(3) Smoothening of all the mating surfaces:-
This is about the overall wear-n-tear of the engine as a whole and decides the overall life span of a vehicle. This is a slow process, and the time span varies from brand to brand and depends on the type of metal used. Bullets and Pulsars (about Apaches I don't know yet) use very hard metals and attain the smoothness at around 9k/10k kms. Honda/HH etc get it around 3k/4k max. Some BMWs need nearly 15k to become smooth as they use very very hard metals in their bikes.
How to do it:- Normal riding styles laced with occasional rippings, gradually of longer and higher ranges. But the key word here is never to over heat the engine. Pls remember this, "High RPM never kills an engine. It is the heat which destroys it."
Users who want to own it for long can follow the manufacturer's riding instructions here and go forward with it.
For hard riders, will recommend frequent oil changes and/or to go for synth/semi-synth oils at this stage. It may be of help as this will to some extent help in increasing the over all life by better heat dissipation, but don't wait for the usual 4k/5k/6k kms etc to change it. Change it at 2k/3k max.
Other things of importance till 5000kms
(1) Check and tighten all types of nuts and bolts in your Bike in the first 3000kms. Its important.
(2) Do not ride at a constant throttle for more than 3 mins. Change the throttle position to zero and then back to old position....quickly. This forces new flow of oil into the needed areas.
(3) Change gears frequently and give short bursts to the engine till the comfortable zone always, and make it go higher and higher gradually....in all gears.
(4) Do not ride the Bike at a time continuously for more than 20 mins. Take a break.
(5) Do not change petrol type frequently. Stick to one, preferably the normal type, but from a good pump.
This is the most important thing and is done mostly by 150 kms on the odo. It happens between the bore and the piston with the rings sqeezed in between. This is the trickiest thing to take care of, b'coz this is the thing which gives power & pick-up. The aim here is to let the piston move inside the bore as speedily as possible under some load (means while you are riding it), but as coolly (cold I mean) as possible, so that the metals score each other out without creating a mirror-like finish. A mirror like finish here will end up as an oil drinking engine. A mirror like finish will be the result, if one over-races the engine while it is very hot or never races it at all (a severely babied engine).
How to do it:- Simple....just one day and some few cycles of acceleration and deccelaration, without heating up the engine. Once the Bike is warmed up and oil is circulating fully (after a 15min ride, say), take it to a vaccant road etc., and while in 2nd gear race up the engine (throttle it up suddenly to 1/2) till you start hearing engine noise, grating kind of sound, and then suddenly fully close the throttle and let it coast along and wait till the rpm comes down.......... and then change gears normally so that you can ride at 50 kmph in the top gear. Ride for 4/5 mins like this so that the engine temp stabilises..............and then again do/repeat this for 3/4 times in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears.......That's it.
CHANGE OIL IMMEDIATELY AFTER THIS. AND YES YOU CAN GO FOR ANY OIL NOW, SEMI-SYNTH, FULL-SYNTH etc.
(3) Smoothening of all the mating surfaces:-
This is about the overall wear-n-tear of the engine as a whole and decides the overall life span of a vehicle. This is a slow process, and the time span varies from brand to brand and depends on the type of metal used. Bullets and Pulsars (about Apaches I don't know yet) use very hard metals and attain the smoothness at around 9k/10k kms. Honda/HH etc get it around 3k/4k max. Some BMWs need nearly 15k to become smooth as they use very very hard metals in their bikes.
How to do it:- Normal riding styles laced with occasional rippings, gradually of longer and higher ranges. But the key word here is never to over heat the engine. Pls remember this, "High RPM never kills an engine. It is the heat which destroys it."
Users who want to own it for long can follow the manufacturer's riding instructions here and go forward with it.
For hard riders, will recommend frequent oil changes and/or to go for synth/semi-synth oils at this stage. It may be of help as this will to some extent help in increasing the over all life by better heat dissipation, but don't wait for the usual 4k/5k/6k kms etc to change it. Change it at 2k/3k max.
Other things of importance till 5000kms
(1) Check and tighten all types of nuts and bolts in your Bike in the first 3000kms. Its important.
(2) Do not ride at a constant throttle for more than 3 mins. Change the throttle position to zero and then back to old position....quickly. This forces new flow of oil into the needed areas.
(3) Change gears frequently and give short bursts to the engine till the comfortable zone always, and make it go higher and higher gradually....in all gears.
(4) Do not ride the Bike at a time continuously for more than 20 mins. Take a break.
(5) Do not change petrol type frequently. Stick to one, preferably the normal type, but from a good pump.
