Tips and tricks for motorcycle care

Posted on by admin

Table of contents

Tips and tricks for motorcycle care
Rolf Henniges

counselor

technology & future

Tips and tricks for motorcycle care

Tips and tricks for motorcycle care
Breaking in a new engine is important?

Breaking in a new engine used to be important. And today? Thanks to modern materials and lower manufacturing tolerances, this is no longer an issue? There are many opinions on this. And victims of new purchases who endure torture for the first few kilometers between all theories.

Markus Biebricher

06/23/2016

Pistons hammer up and down, chains whip in guides, valves slam on seats, gears crunch together, bearings grind mercilessly. The inner workings of a running internal combustion engine is not a Waldorf kindergarten, but a metallic massacre held in check by ingenious intellectual efforts. This scenario is bad because my motorcycle is brand new. The fulfillment of a dream, my ticket to freedom and adventure. It should stay mechanically healthy. Always best.

Buy complete article

Tips and tricks for motorcycle care

Tips and tricks for motorcycle care
Breaking in a new engine is important?

2 pages) as PDF

€ 2.00

Buy now

“If you do not need to drive in, turn on fire immediately, then the box will perform well,” say colleagues. Editor-in-chief and mechanical engineer Michael Pfeiffer says: “Modern engines have such low manufacturing tolerances, the piston clearance is only a few hundredths of a millimeter and running-in oils are becoming increasingly rare.” And what about the effect on service life? Is overrated. “If you just warm her up well, nothing will happen, show her where the hammer hangs.” This could result in greater play in the slide bearings, the engine would run “easier”, and sports engines would need the whip immediately.

Full throttle? With the brand new, hard-earned moped?

None of this hurts my colleagues. But me. Full throttle? With the brand new, hard-earned moped? Doesn’t the heartless opening of the throttle mean that all bearing points and friction pairings are overburdened? Couldn’t there be wear-prone contact between metal and metal in spite of optimal lubrication? Because the surfaces are not so perfect after all, but look like rugged mountain landscapes under the microscope at the latest?

I thought that the first 1000 kilometers would be about gently removing the highest peaks and creating a stable base for the oil film. “First only do half the nominal speed,” advises an expert from the more sensitive group. That would be four thousand with this row twin. My senses expand inside the engine, but I’m not cool enough for what’s going on.


Tips and tricks for motorcycle care


archive

Important: warm up carefully. All dimensions and tolerances are matched to engines at operating temperature.

“Don’t drive too slowly, because then there will be material-consuming load peaks in the bearings,” says colleague Ralf Schneider. Another says: “In addition, the lateral forces of the piston and thus the friction on the cylinder raceway increase. Friction generates heat and this can damage the fresh surfaces. “Please don’t! So the first 100 kilometers piano with changing speeds, preferably over 2000 and under 4000 rpm.

At 350 kilometers my inner stethoscope glows. Does the engine sound normal? Are the piston rings wearing all around, is there now a healthy reduction in friction taking place everywhere? Do I make it easier with my driving style from changing, moderate load conditions to bring all parts together, will the twin thank you with low oil consumption and a long life? New concerns are flashing, because I’ve heard that so-called “primordial dirt” can also occur in modern engines: residues from production.

More about technology

PS knowledge: technology

  • Motorcycle technology clearly explained on 97 pages (PDF)
  • From starter to spark plug
  • Simple teaching of physical principles
  • Tips and tricks for practitioners

To the PDF for € 9.99

#image.jpg

The “original dirt” is getting me down

At 4000 rpm the Honda runs 120 km / h, which is okay. But really enjoy it? It does not work. The “original dirt” is getting me down. Because I think of the aluminum shavings that might be pounded down there now. Okay, they’re soft and won’t do much damage. But what about the residues from machining the crankshaft, the connecting rod or from honing? Isn’t it even high-strength quenched and tempered steel? And what about the extremely fine abrasion of the first few kilometers, which comes from piston rings, cams or gearwheels? It is also not exactly light food for finely machined sliding bearing surfaces.

Damn, I turned 5000 for a short time, although the remnants of casting sand may be up in the engine right now. Despite the complex washing procedure, they cannot be completely rinsed out of the cylinders and heads. The coarse components are retained by the oil filter. But the finer particles with a size of less than four micrometers wander cheekily through the filter and carve worry lines on my forehead with abrasive action. Now he’s nuts, you might think. But sandpaper for processing hardened steel does not consist of exactly the same silicon carbide compound as casting sand?

Somehow the Honda sounds different now

“Modern high-volume engines from Japan are certainly not manufactured using the sand casting process,” adds Schneider. What comfort! But somehow the Honda sounds different now. Deeper, duller. And it doesn’t smell so new either. Because the exhaust is now slowly burning free, says Michael Pfeiffer. 700 kilometers are on the clock, the engine seems to pull better. Everything done right?

In some engines, the valves are supposedly not really tight when they are brand new. Why? Because the cylinder head is machined in an untensioned state and the valve seats can easily warp when the head screws are tightened. That is why the surfaces of valves and valve seat inserts are deliberately left very slightly rough in order to enable fine adjustment during the running-in phase. “You can also drive hard,” says engine expert Schneider.

95 hp from 1000 cubic meters, that lasts forever

I long for the first oil change with a filter. The most important change in the life of my engine because the primordial sludge comes out, right? And when there is fresh oil in it, I’ll see what works. “Your drive is a car engine: 95 HP from 1000 cubic meters, that lasts forever,” says Pfeiffer. And if it doesn’t hold up, it’s due to assembly errors, material deficits or poor maintenance.

At 1000 km I cheer. The first hurdle is over. First hurdle? Is the drive-in spook going on now? Of course, because there are measurements that show that some engines still reduce friction after 15,000 kilometers. I look at the Honda in love. There is no friction between us. But unfortunately, all of life consists of wear and tear. If you can’t mentally endure the great technology and the brutal processes inside an internal combustion engine, you should try Waldorf education, right??

That’s what the manufacturers say


Tips and tricks for motorcycle care


mps photo studio

What do the manufacturers say on the subject?

What is the fact now? Run in modern engines carefully or does that really matter nowadays? We have consulted a few manufacturers as an example.

Everyone is hard pressed to be on the safe side: Honda advises against full throttle during the running-in period for the CRF 1000 L. BMW would like to carefully run in the four-cylinder thousands and limit their maximum speed via the engine control to 9000 / min until the first inspection. The boxer models should not turn over 5000 rpm during the first 1000 km and should not run at full load. Kawasaki recommends for the current ZX-10R: 0–800 km: maximum 4000 rpm, 800–1600 km: maximum 6000 rpm. In addition, you should let the engine run briefly without gas before driving off.

Like BMW, Ducati recommends changing load conditions, but also a maximum of 6000 rpm during the first 1000 km and 7000 rpm until 2500 km have been completed. Manufacturers want to minimize damage and warranty claims, which is understandable. It is also clear that engines for sports use are treated differently than those that have to last a long time. The most important advice is: always warm up carefully! The oil should have reached 95 degrees, the water temperature is not an indicator. MOTORRAD will soon be deepening this hot topic.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *