Is it still necessary to baby your bike during the ``break-in'' period, or for the first 500 miles?

the reason i ask is, when i bought a new Audi over a decade ago, one of the engineers at the company told me modern car engines don't require the ``break-in'' period of your dad's Ford. he said modern materials and precision engineering make it unnecessary, but that people are so used to doing it that it's become something of an old-wives tale, or old-school habit.

having just bought a new stable-mate for my old monster, i'd love to know if i really have to keep calm for 500 miles, or if i can redline and wheelie this over-square italian from the get-go?



p.s. does anyone know of a passable board for panigales? or should i just stick with the DMF for all of my motorcycle needs? i haven't found anything decent...

let me ask you this in regards to your question....

do you care about using your warranty if you have a problem?

the reason I ask that is because a lot of machinery now has data recording for to be able to tell if you have been " abusing" the equipment for potential of voiding claims due to misuse....

They run the motors hard at the factory before they ship them out. The only important thing is to vary the RPM's for the first 1000 miles or so. Other then that, have at it.

that's what i figured. i am going to run this motor hard, and sincerely vary the RPM's!

thanks -- now about that 1199 board... anyone know of one? that doesn't suck?

dammit the owner's manual says not to exceed 6,000 RPM in the first 1,000km or 621 miles.

Quote from: showerfan on April 23, 2013, 06:39:28 PM
dammit the owner's manual says not to exceed 6,000 RPM in the first 1,000km or 621 miles.

They already did.

Another one for ride it like you stole it...just vary the rpms.

If you're really worried about it, have them break it in on the dyno for you (if they have a dyno). Guarantee they have a procedure for it, and will exceed 6,000 rpms in the process.

Yes but the data logger may tattle to the dealer on him. Not sure how sophisticated the ECU is, but a data logger is fairly common these days.

A: I seriously doubt there is a black box in any of these bikes. I haven't found it and have never heard of any warranty issues due to one.
B: They would have to prove that failure to follow the recommended break in was the cause of any damage. Good luck.

Most important to a break in is the varying RPM's

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Most important part of break in is to vary RPM and load.  I would avoid extreme high RPM for a while for two reasons; you really might want to get used to the bike and since Ducati is a small manufacturer they may or may not be able to hold the same close assembly tolerances as larger manufacturers.  Even if the computer can log RPM info usually manufacturers are concerned with serious over rev, for example, rev to red line, shift with full throttle to next gear and miss the shift or over rev from downshifting to a lower gear.

Point taken.

Quote from: showerfan on April 23, 2013, 06:39:28 PM
dammit the owner's manual says not to exceed 6,000 RPM in the first 1,000km or 621 miles.

You just paid ~$20k for that bike, you can't contain yourself for a bit more than 600 miles?

Do you think Ducati puts that break-in schedule in the manual just to crush your fun?

Quote from: Speeddog on April 24, 2013, 12:12:23 AM
You just paid ~$20k for that bike, you can't contain yourself for a bit more than 600 miles?

Do you think Ducati puts that break-in schedule in the manual just to crush your fun?

Quote from: Speeddog on April 24, 2013, 12:12:23 AM
You just paid ~$20k for that bike, you can't contain yourself for a bit more than 600 miles?

Do you think Ducati puts that break-in schedule in the manual just to crush your fun?

Bastardi! 

Quote from: Speeddog on April 24, 2013, 12:12:23 AM
You just paid ~$20k for that bike, you can't contain yourself for a bit more than 600 miles?

Do you think Ducati puts that break-in schedule in the manual just to crush your fun?

I think Ducati put that in the manual because a lawyer told them to.