When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
With any luck by the time you pick the bike up, most of the serious break-in will have already been done for youby the dealer during, "Dealer Prep".
When the guy takes it out for its test ride, and opens it wide open a couple good times just after getting upto operational temp on its maddin drive out of the box!
Hey sgn, I'm with you on not changing her from stock until after break-in and wish I had waited. It's gotta be nice to feel that the changes have done something.
Doing Stage 1 is not an issue, just get the appropriate download. I've used a modified hard break-in approach myself that has worked well for me. The key is to vary the RPMs and never ever lug it. I wouldn't recommend engine braking for the first 500 miles either.
If you want it to run strong and not burn oil on down the road, run it like you stole it from the get go, vary speeds, take up fast and let off to seal rings, just dont overheat it. I wouldnt let some rookie tech dyno a new motor, I had rather be in controll of its break in. First 50 miles is the crutail period, after that whatever you do doesn't matter much.
+1 That old way of breaking in engines is....well OLD. That way was good back in the days of very loose tollerances in the engine building process. So the piston rings had to find a "Seat" so that oil wouldn't blow by into the combustion chamber. Now, engines are built to very exact and close tollerances and the rings are seated and theengine is well on it's way to being broke in before they leave the plants(Assuming HD runs every bike on a dyno after assembly, which I am pretty sure they do).
Here's a very good read on the break in; http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
The break in I summed up, is taken from the basics of this article, its been around for many years, OLD, yes so what it, still yeilds the strongest longest lasting engines out there.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.