May 20th, 2009, 09:04 PM | #1 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Ash
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250R Posts: 114
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Finally broken in.
Hello All,
I bought my '08 Ninja with about 250 miles on it - I have no idea how the previous owner rode, but I would try my best to follow the user manual. Up until 500 miles I tried to keep the rpms below 4k. Not always easy for a noob getting used to the throttle, and it required a lot of tedious slow riding in the neighborhood, but it was good practice. For the next 500 miles I tried to keep rpms below 6k. Not as hard to do since I could get out of the neighborhood now. But with the occasional highway jaunt, I did go beyond 6k, but 99% of the time I tried keep to the 6k limit. Good gas mileage as a result - I had recorded 61 mpg! I am finally beyond the 1000 miles break in! No more peeking down at the tach while accelerating! MPG will drop, but I feel as though a great burden has been lifted! I was just happy so decided to post. -Ash |
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May 20th, 2009, 09:13 PM | #2 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: addy126
Location: Tx
Join Date: May 2009 Motorcycle(s): '09 Kawasaki N-250 + '09 Vulcan 900 Classic Lt Posts: A lot.
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Ash... everybody breathes that sigh of relief when you follow the odometer breaking the 1000 mile mark. Then at that moment.... you blip the throttle and cross that 6000 rpm mark with wild abandon... <grin> Congrats!
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May 20th, 2009, 09:17 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
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May 20th, 2009, 09:21 PM | #4 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Aaron
Location: Wildomar
Join Date: May 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250R, 2009 KTM 690 SMC, 2001 Suzuki GSX-R 750 (track bike) Posts: 172
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I rode it like I stole it from day 1. It now has 7K miles on it after a year of riding it, and runs strong.
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May 20th, 2009, 11:18 PM | #5 |
ninjette.org member
Name: D
Location: cali
Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Kawi Ninja 250R Posts: 114
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i don't know how you did it but i couldn't have it under 7k in my area. the bike would have been too slow.
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May 20th, 2009, 11:38 PM | #6 |
Some weird Canuck!
Name: Greg
Location: Ontario - Canada
Join Date: Dec 2008 Motorcycle(s): '92 CBR250RR "Babyblade", 2008 Ninja 250R, 2001 CBR600F4i Posts: 209
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I didn't really care about the "break-in" period. The bike had to go on the highway to get home.. 120km/h all glorious 9k rpm or whatever it was, the whole way home. Kawi gives me a warranty to fix anything that needs to be replaced.
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I still like CBR's more Just kidding. |
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May 22nd, 2009, 07:56 AM | #7 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: addy126
Location: Tx
Join Date: May 2009 Motorcycle(s): '09 Kawasaki N-250 + '09 Vulcan 900 Classic Lt Posts: A lot.
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May 22nd, 2009, 09:03 AM | #8 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Rick
Location: Alexandria, Louisiana
Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 05 Blue Ninja 250 Posts: Too much.
MOTY - 2017, MOTM - Jan '19, Oct '16, May '14
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Now you can open her up and see what she's got.
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May 22nd, 2009, 10:42 AM | #9 |
============
Name: Nick
Location: Occoquan, VA
Join Date: Nov 2008 Motorcycle(s): '09 Ninja 250R Posts: 518
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I only lasted a couple hundred miles of "taking it easy"
Although, it was a good way to learn. |
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May 22nd, 2009, 12:48 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
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I'm that, but there are break in methods that run contrary to what the factory recommends and I chose to follow those guidelines instead. Many others do, too.
The factory recommended break in procedure is, IMHO, unrealistic, plus it can lead to a "dog" engine. |
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May 22nd, 2009, 01:15 PM | #11 |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
Blog Entries: 7
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I hear this from time to time, but I don't believe it has any truth to it. I've never seen, or even heard of, a single poor dyno result of a supposed dog engine due to how it was broken in. But you can find hundreds of people online who are particularly proud of their specific break-in regimen which in their opinion resulted in a great engine because it hasn't broken down on them yet.
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Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered) |
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May 22nd, 2009, 01:25 PM | #12 |
250Arrrgh!
Name: Andrew
Location: San Francisco
Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 250R, 2001 996 Posts: 143
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I broke mine in hard and....13k miles later all I can say for sure is that it doesn't burn oil.
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May 22nd, 2009, 01:25 PM | #13 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Greg
Location: Rhode Island
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2013 ZX6R 636 Posts: A lot.
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I think ultimately the only way anyone ever knows is to run 2 engines following 2 breakin methods (ride it like you stole it, and baby it). Then get to a certain amount of time/miles and dyno the engines to see power differences (which might be the result of other factors) and tear them down to see wear and tear.
A twist on this is also with different oils (syn vs fossil). Again performance and wear. Thhis would include the transmission and clutch. I have heard some clutch plates have worn better with syn oil, but become less efficient at transferring the power. |
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May 22nd, 2009, 01:30 PM | #14 | |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
Blog Entries: 7
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Quote:
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Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered) |
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May 22nd, 2009, 01:38 PM | #15 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Greg
Location: Rhode Island
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2013 ZX6R 636 Posts: A lot.
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i have even heard at the dealer one guy sells a customer oil, then the another employee says hi to the customer and asks what hes buying. another employee then says why did he sell you that? this causes the 1st employee to want to choke second employee.
not to mention 2 engines, same break in regimen, same oil, 2 different hp numbers on the dyno. |
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May 22nd, 2009, 02:30 PM | #16 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
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Quote:
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May 22nd, 2009, 02:46 PM | #17 |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
Blog Entries: 7
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Of course not, IMO the whole point of forums like this is to share what we think and talk about it. In some cases we get to debate it ad nauseum as well, which can be fun in its own way.
But in this particular case, internet motorcycle boards have gone off the deep end, and this board, which is in some ways targeted at newbies, doesn't have to dive in along with the rest. The mantra of break-in being the be-all and end-all, along with the conspiracy theory that the designers and builders of the motorcycles know less about what's appropriate for their own products than its customers, well, it is only an opinion. And IMO, it's an opinion that is supported by absolutely nothing other than a bunch of other opinions. It can most certainly be shared as many times as whoever wants to share it, but as it can be supported by just about nothing concrete, it isn't immune to others happily sharing their counter opinions as well.
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Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered) |
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May 22nd, 2009, 02:56 PM | #18 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
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... as long as you're not telling me to shut up.
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May 22nd, 2009, 02:59 PM | #19 |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
Blog Entries: 7
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Never! Worst case is I'd implement a per-post fee only for those riding green bikes on islands.
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Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered) |
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May 22nd, 2009, 03:36 PM | #20 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
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I'd be okay with that. Just as long as it wasn't something aimed specifically at me.
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May 23rd, 2009, 01:06 AM | #21 |
Ninja Newbie
Name: Ben
Location: Austria
Join Date: May 2009 Motorcycle(s): EX250K9 Posts: 126
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I followed my dealer's advice and drove my 250R at under 6k rpm for the first 500 km, and under 9k rpm until the 1000 km service. Now (~1300 km) I just keep the revs low right after starting off with a cool engine, to let the oil get into all the engine parts and get to proper operating temperature. But after that, I ride it up to the red line if I feel like it.
I rode a lot in the last few days after I got my bike back from the 1000 km service. Being able to rev the Ninja up is a f***ing blast! |
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May 23rd, 2009, 08:45 AM | #22 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Whodat
Location: Ware Is.,MA
Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): I pass the wind! Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Mar '13, Jun '14
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Kelly, they are aiming for you. Duck, you lunatic.
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If everything seems under control; you're just not going fast enough! |
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May 23rd, 2009, 10:58 AM | #23 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
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