Well, There you have it. 20 replies and all agree. Riding your bike will surely Break it in.

 

I picked up my 2017 SGS at 5 pm on a Friday afternoon at a dealer about 8 miles from my home. Sunday at 4 pm it was coming off the lift for the 1000 mile service. Everyone's situation is different and preference on riding is different but I just couldn't get off of it.

 

Haha, that's hard core for sure. I'd love to have that kind of time to myself bro.

 

Just hit the 200 mile mark and have a vacation all next week, so hopefully, I'll get first 1000 miles by middle of next week. One thing for sure, I'm loving this SGS... so much better than riding around on my old Sportster 48...

 

Every break in thread usually has this method included, don't wait for the web to come to you.
I used it on last three Harleys, bikes all ran/run good and no measurable oil consumption between changes.

 

I've done this procedure with 3 snowmobiles and my 2015 RGS. The MoCo's break-in procedure is kinda a joke IMO.

My 3 snowmobiles all cracked 6,000 miles (which is fairly decent on a sled) without oil consumption or problems. My RGS just hit 24,000 miles and not a hiccup or a drop of oil. No reason you should be driving 5 miles a day. GO RIDE

 

i bought 3 harleys from my local dealer.his place is just off the interstate.i set the cruise on 80 on my ride home.30 miles of interstate.never a problem with any of them.i am old school,break it ln like you are gonna ride it.

 

Do what the owner's manual says. The designers of the motor know what's best for it.

 

The only thing I can figure is MOCO is trying to protect the engine with the procedure because it doesn't really make sense to me either. They tell riders to ride at certain speeds when the engine break-in is more about RPMs. I guess lower highway speeds are suggested because they want the break-in below 3000 rpms, but really some 3500 to 4000 rpms stretches of riding is good for a break-in because it stretches the crank and rods a little.

Personally I think if they would say just say "Normal city and highway riding with no lugging for best break-in results". "No lugging" is only added to prevent riders from babying the bike. Ride it normally.

Now saying all that, I personally believe aggressive city and highway riding gives a good break-in of an engine. I use the mototune method because it sets the rings in the first 20 miles.

When I say aggressive, I don't mean crazy or competitive. If riders would just get to speed mildly aggressively like mergining into 75 mph highway traffic and down shift to use the motor for braking, the bike will get a good break in.

One thing mototune says that I don't agree with is that the break-in, however it is done, is completed in the first 50 miles. What you have after is what you will always have. Or something like that, I haven't read it in a few years. But I have bought several used cars that lost oil between my first few 3000 miles oil changes. After a few thousand miles of my style of driving, my engines get better gas mileage and don't loose oil between changes. One of those is my 03 Corvette strangely enough. My wife believes that driving safe means going slower than everyone else. Her cars never get broke-in.

Beary

 

Never ever lug it even after the break in period, but for sure during that time. Lugging is one of the worst things you can do to a new engine.