'08 R1200RT break-in tips ?

[TourNut]

Finally got to ride Friday, & above 4300 rpm , it seems to be sluggish especially in 6th at interstate speeds, like maybe it is carboned up or something . It doesn't act like it has 110 HP, maybe half. It only has 3400 miles on it. Question: am I riding it too easy to break -in correctly ? In the past, I tend to be easy on vehicles in the hopes they will last longer that way. Also I don't want to be pulled over of course.
But I want it to run well SOME day, last year was a wash with the computer programming handling predetonation issues , resultant re-programming , and then the fuel pump module quitting just before winter hit.
Any tips on this subject ? How do they act normally at that mileage ?

 

[mpmarty]

YMMV but I break them in like I stole them. My 04RT never used a drop of oil and I rode the $hit out of it coming home from the dealers which is a tad bit over a hundred miles. My 06RT has never been babied either. They were bred to run. Run them!

 

[womanridge]

Finally got to ride Friday, & above 4300 rpm , it seems to be sluggish especially in 6th at interstate speeds, like maybe it is carboned up or something . It doesn't act like it has 110 HP, maybe half. It only has 3400 miles on it. Question: am I riding it too easy to break -in correctly ? In the past, I tend to be easy on vehicles in the hopes they will last longer that way. Also I don't want to be pulled over of course.
But I want it to run well SOME day, last year was a wash with the computer programming handling predetonation issues , resultant re-programming , and then the fuel pump module quitting just before winter hit.
Any tips on this subject ? How do they act normally at that mileage ?

I agree with what MPMARTY says. Run it high. You wont hurt it.

 

[Polarbear]

Not good;

6th is not sluggish, if its right. BUT, I agree to run the crap out of it and don't be afraid of hurting it. Vary your rpm's a LOT for the first few thousand miles. GO all the way to 6-7000rpm's once in a while, in the lower gears. Just hold on tight. I think if you feel its sluggish, you may have an issue worthy of a dealer looking at. It should be a waranty issue. They are not sluggish. Randy

 

[swall]

Follow the recommendations in the owner's manual. Any advice to the contrary is kind of like an oil thread--a religious argument.

 

[New2rt]

"3400 miles" Have at it.

 

[mneblett]

Follow the recommendations in the owner's manual. Any advice to the contrary is kind of like an oil thread--a religious argument.

Agreed -- but the owner's manual is silent on *how* to run the bike after the first 600 mi/1Km.

I agreed with all the comments about not babying the motor. These things have very hard cylinder surface treatments, and hard rings -- they need enough combustion chamber pressure getting behind the top ring to push it hard out toward the cylinder wall to scrub the parts into one another, so run it. If you baby the motor, it will take forever to get the rings seated.

 

[pglaves]

We have 3 Oilheads. Two we bought new and didn't baby after 600 miles. One we bought used from a very careful (anal retentive) seller. It burns oil.

 

[deilenberger]

Up to the 600 mile service - follow the owner's manual instructions. After 600 miles take it on a 1,500 mile ride in West Virginia. At the conclusion of the WV ride it will be broken in. It will stop using oil around 2,500 miles. It will never use another drop of oil.

At least that's been my experience..

 

[TourNut]

Thanks, All
I'll follow your advice and see if I can get this bike straightened out to run good.
I've never had this problem with all the Hondas but they must be different technology. - probably the difference of the BMW cylinder surface treatment / hard rings , interaction mentioned above.

 

[PlaneGeek]

YMMV but I break them in like I stole them

DITTO, when I bought mine new the dealer told me "it's happiest at 4-7K" and 27,000+ miles later I have to say yes it is!

 

[swall]

Sorry, I missed the part about the 3400 miles on the machine. At that point, I would say you can run the engine within it's RPM limits up to redline.

 

[marchyman]

Sorry, I missed the part about the 3400 miles on the machine. At that point, I would say you can run the engine within it's RPM limits up until the rev limiter kicks in.

Fixed.

I was used to shifting due to a certain amount of vibration on my R1150RT. When I got my R12GS I hit the rev limiter a few times until I learned the feel of the bike.

 

[blueviewlaguna]

Up to the 600 mile service - follow the owner's manual instructions. After 600 miles take it on a 1,500 mile ride in West Virginia. At the conclusion of the WV ride it will be broken in. It will stop using oil around 2,500 miles. It will never use another drop of oil.

At least that's been my experience..

Hi Don - I thought I would insert my own experience here on break-in vs. oil usage. I received my 2010 R1200R with 9 miles on her 14 days ago. I kept rpm between 2800 and 4000 rpm for the entire 9 mile through 600 mile period while varying the load and rpm as much as possible (man, I am tired of short-shifting at 4000 rpm btw). Here is the interesting part - it used zero oil the entire period, the sight glass oil level has remained the exact same the entire time!, I could not believe it. And it's clean too - I am used to seeing some blow-by and combustion by-products muddy up the oil in the beginning of break-in for new motors.

The only perhaps "unique" part of my break-in is that I live on a steep hill were I climb 1000 feet in altitude for 5000 feet of road and it probably went up and down that hill at least 80 times (great for seating the brakes and getting a good accel/decel wear pattern on all the gears too). So lots of combustion pressure to torque up that hill could have helped seat the rings.

On a side note, do you think it would be worn in enough at 6000 miles (when I get that far) to use the BMW Syn oil?

Enjoyed reading your posts btw - cheers!

 

[cookie]

As always I look for Don's comment, he seems to make sense most of the time. I remember before I rode out with 9 miles on the clock the master tech at the shop said "don't baby it". I pretty much followed the book for the 600 mile service then I rode it pretty hard from then on. I have over 12k on my 08 Rt now and it seems to get smoother all the time. The oil consumption stopped at around 6k, now I never burn a drop. I change the oil every 3500 miles just because I can.

 

[TourNut]

Again thanks for the replies. After doing a brake job & front wheel bearings job on my wife's van I noticed it needed air in the tire. Then after airing ALL the tires in 3 cars and 4 motorcycles including the RT's ~12psi in the rear and 5psi in the front, Huh !!! (nervous throat clearing) Maybe that is why it seemed sluggish !
Must have been a long cold winter, check your tires.

 

[pch123]

Again thanks for the replies. After doing a brake job & front wheel bearings job on my wife's van I noticed it needed air in the tire. Then after airing ALL the tires in 3 cars and 4 motorcycles including the RT's ~12psi in the rear and 5psi in the front, Huh !!! (nervous throat clearing) Maybe that is why it seemed sluggish !
Must have been a long cold winter, check your tires.

Glad it is that simple. Good reason to have the factory TPM. Have a great spring and summer ride.

 

[TourNut]

Mine does not have TPM. However yesterday, in a long ride, I am riding it like others in this thread have advised to "ride it like I stole it" , etc. Noticed it is running better and better now, ran better yesterday than the previous year and a half, making me a lot happier with it; at one point I was ready to sell it before !

 

[Bezdelnik]

pressure

+1 on tire pressure. Make sure the tire pressure is correct. The winter has definitely played games with the pressure. Mine was a good 5 below what it should be. After adjusting the handling is better.