[pannick]

I've taken my CTX this morning and went for a ride; altough there are just 137 miles on the clock, I've done an additional 175 miles with speeds between 72 and 82 mls/hr. Would this hurt the engine?
The fuel consumption went down to 5,3 ltr/100km (1,4 gallon/60mls)

Greetings,

Nick

 

[sleepngbear]

It was recommended to me to keep the RPMs at or below 4,000 for the first 500 miles. At 82 mph you crept a little above that, but as long as you don't hold it there all day you're good. I stuck to that recommendation with mine despite the overwhelming urge to see what it could do, though I really wonder what kind of harm you'd do to these engines anyway as long as you're not constantly running WOT. They're pretty much bomb-proof at this point. But I was nice to mine until after the first 600-mile oil change.

 

[bob]

Same here. I resisted the urge. But don't think you did any harm as Ed stated. Varied engine speeds and making sure to warm up the engine enough are almost more important than just keeping it slow to enable the parts to properly seat. Of course the tolerances are so much better now and the engineering on this engine especially is so refined that these recommendations are just a little overkill. I still wouldn't suggest to burn up the highway on a regular basis until after the recommended break in miles are met.

 

[cjm76]

You know, I do not remember ever being told anything about a break-in period... And even though I breezed through the owner's manual, I don't recall anything there either. Does the manual say anything?


I did not do anything special during the early miles - and I like to test the limits. Like pre-loading my shifts and letting the rev limiter feather my throttle for me for shifting gears...

 

[bob]

You know, I do not remember ever being told anything about a break-in period... And even though I breezed through the owner's manual, I don't recall anything there either. Does the manual say anything?


I did not do anything special during the early miles - and I like to test the limits. Like pre-loading my shifts and letting the rev limiter feather my throttle for me for shifting gears...

Shame on the dealer then. It is indicated in the owners manual and in the service manual. HERE is a link to that subject. In the owners manual I think it's on page 10 where the first 300 miles is considered break-in and taking it easy during that time is recommended by Honda. This is rather standard for most if not all motorcycles that I've owned or read about. I've owned 2 brand new bikes (including this one) and it was about the same for both.

 

[kniterider]

Then GOD help me for I have sinned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have well over 16000 miles and I might have taken it easy for the first 50 miles..BUT since then ran it like I stole it!!!!! and it held 18 to 20 hours at a time for 17 days Still running like a champ.

 

[Reidion]

Then GOD help me for I have sinned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have well over 16000 miles and I might have taken it easy for the first 50 miles..BUT since then ran it like I stole it!!!!! and it held 18 to 20 hours at a time for 17 days Still running like a champ.

^ whatadouche...

overreact much? Anyway, just keep to what you feel is good, most vehicles have a first oil change break-in period where the revs should be kept under 4k (cars included)

*waits for kniterider to attack again*

 

[kniterider]

^ whatadouche...

overreact much? Anyway, just keep to what you feel is good, most vehicles have a first oil change break-in period where the revs should be kept under 4k (cars included)

*waits for kniterider to attack again*

IF you took that as an attack then god help you..I was being funny. anybody that has riden a new bike anytime in the last 15 years,, knows they are pretty much bullet proof now,, at least the hondas and beemers are anyway. WAS NO ATTACK,, Trust me in my 38 years line of work I got a pretty good idea of what constitutes an attack and does not..IF you were that easily offended by kidding I appologize to you and any other who is not experienced enough to understand

 

[sleepngbear]

Ok, everybody lets calm down and have a :smiley-party0005:.

There are probably as many opinions on how to break in a new engine as there are people with engines to break in. Maybe more. Every new vehicle I've bought, if anybody has anything to say, it's usually to take it easy for the first 600-1000 miles. By take it easy, they usually throw out a target RPM to stay under, which varies from one motor to the next. I've never had anyone associated with the sale tell me to ride it like I hate it right out of the gate. I would guess it's most likely a throwback to days gone by, and because new or old, you're probably less likely to have engine problems by taking it easy than by beating the crap out of it.

That being said, I've also heard plenty of people say that tolerances are much closer today than they were years ago, AND that many engines go through a break-in cycle at the factory. Which ones do and don't I cannot say. I've even heard that some manufacturers will take a random sampling of brand new vehicles and throw them on the dyno to make sure they're putting out what what the spec sheet says. And we know what happens on the dyno. I don't know any of this for a fact, but that's what I've heard.

Now all that being said, and with all the opinions out there on how to treat a brand new engine, some people baby them, and some people just run the piss out of them, and I don't think I've heard yet of a motor that's blown up from either one. I've heard and seen them blow from other things, but I can't say I've seen any attributed to an improper break in.

So ... as Reidion and I'm sure many others have said, do what feels right and what you feel comfortable with.

And kniterider is probably going to he11. I know, because I'll be saving him a place.

 

[kniterider]

Been there,, Got kicked out,,, afraid I would take over

 

[kniterider]

Oops darn it my outside voice again sorry

 

[bob]

I thought @kniterider was being funny.
Like I stated in my earlier post and also what Ed said...
Most of the break-in tradition or recommendations are a bit overkill. Nothing hurt by driving easy the first few hundred miles. But I really don't know that anything is hurt in driving hard either. Most of this is based on old traditions passed down from a great many years ago... as in from before ANY of us were riding or driving even. In those days you really did have to take it easy so as not to blow out the seals and then after those miles have the head bolts and other engine bolts checked and re-torqued to spec. because they would be loose. These days it doesn't hurt to be easy on the engine at first but build up to driving it hard after a good warmup. Only time will tell on a hard run engine. That time is likely to be 10-15 years of running many thousands of miles per year. To the OP I would say don't worry about it. Just ride.

 

[Kookopelli]

I took it relatively easy on mine for the first couple hundred miles mostly because I was getting used to a new bike, but once I was comfortable with it, the riding became a lot more brisk. That's just how I like to ride. I am definitely not a toodler. I scrape pegs and slide the tires once in a while. I enjoy accelaration, lean angles and using gears. It is just me.
I service it correctly and take care of it, I have a little over 11K on the odo and it still runs like it is new. Actually better because I put a Power Commander on it.

 

[pannick]

Thanks for the advises friends.
It seems that it will be a sunny day today so I'll ride some more km's.
By the way, do your CTX-es have the same Hp's as here in Europe? Mine's got 84 Hp, opened the gas yesterday when the light went green and it was like a small rocket..
Greetings and tnx for the responses,
Nick

 

[Texasgolf43]

In the owners manual it stated break in just the first 300 miles. Did seem kinda low but it is a Honda.

 

[bob]

...
By the way, do your CTX-es have the same Hp's as here in Europe? Mine's got 84 Hp, opened the gas yesterday when the light went green and it was like a small rocket...
Nick

Same PEAK HP... rated at 84 at 6000 rpm. HP ramps up to that so from a stop it's not there yet. What you feel launching from a stop is TORQUE. The torque curve is relatively level from about 2000 rpm to about 5000 rpm. Even that does rise just a little as rpm goes up and peaks somewhere around 78 lb ft around 4000-4500 rpm. Actual figures vary a little lower depending on the exact condition of the engine and other parts of the drive train .
And both those numbers (lower than advertised when new) will improve with miles to a point.

 

[Willcee]

Rode mine before I bought it had about five miles on it, yes it ran 100 mph. Don't think it hurt it but is under warranty.

 

[csdexter]

(...) is under warranty.

Which will be void if your dealer really wants to play judge with you ;-) The ECU keeps a record of various things, along with the top speed and what odometer reading was it achieved at.

Given the potential for financial loss for Honda (by ... let's call them less than honest warranty claims) and how trivial is it to implement in the ECU, I'm willing to bet it has separate snapshots for before/after the break-in period.

Once again, most dealers don't even know what an ECU is, let alone have the proper tools (i.e. the actual Honda gear) to dump the log from it -- but I thought it would be a good idea you made an informed decision about the risks.

 

[sleepngbear]

Which will be void if your dealer really wants to play judge with you ;-) The ECU keeps a record of various things, along with the top speed and what odometer reading was it achieved at.

Given the potential for financial loss for Honda (by ... let's call them less than honest warranty claims) and how trivial is it to implement in the ECU, I'm willing to bet it has separate snapshots for before/after the break-in period.

Once again, most dealers don't even know what an ECU is, let alone have the proper tools (i.e. the actual Honda gear) to dump the log from it -- but I thought it would be a good idea you made an informed decision about the risks.

And THIS is why dealers tell you what they tell you about breaking in a new motor, on the off chance that you have one who does know what an ECU is. Probably won't blow it up, but just in case... better safe than sorry, I say. YMMV.

 

[Miks]

Before each bike is shipped, they are ran on the dyno through each of the gears, and taken to redline before the bike is packaged up to go. They want to make sure the mapping is correct, the grears are ok with the strain of the motor, etc.

Modern manufacturing tells us that tolerances are so tight, that virtually no break in is required for the most part. However, new metals reacting together, along with what I have heard on a Honda motorcycles, is that it is a special break in oil, that probably taking it a little easy on the bike before taking it to the track isn't a bad idea.

I had a friend who purchase a new Kawasaki ZX-7 and gave it a 2 mile break in period before totally using the powerband to it's maximum. He told me "break it in fast, the bike will be fast!" Anyway, 26,000 HARD miles later, the bike seemed to run like normal?