New bike break-in/oil question?

buzz1

Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
90
Location
New Jersey
Well, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a new ’05-ST1300. It was delivered today but due to a torrential downpour in S. Jersey, the only thing was left for me to do is to look at her parked in my garage.

I’ve been reading this forum for several months now and I have a couple of questions:

1. Did anyone try the break-in method outlined on motorcycleinfo.calsci.com?

2. The article talks about Rotella T synthetic oil and non-OEM oil filters. Did any of you currently use them? Any pros, cons or other remarks?

3. I spoke to the service manager where I purchased my ST and he recommended to Follow the owner’s manual for the break-in, OEM oil filters and oil. He also stated that if I wonted to use Synthetic oil to be sure it’s made for motorcycles.

Just curious if anyone tried any of these controversial methods.
 
DONT use fully synthetic from day one !!! Running in, the parts need to mate together so a small amount of wear is beneficial. This will be impeded by using fully synthetic. :(
I have a friend who bought an ST1100 second hand from a proud owner who said he had used the best synthetic oil since the bike was new. He later found it was burning oil a pint every 2000 miles :eek: It turned out the bores were glazed & it had never bedded in properly. The engine was re-bored and run-in using regular oil - problem solved.
I switched to fully synthetic because I intend to do high mileage, after I was sure the engine was run in. This was at 16k miles though sooner may have been OK. However I should add that at about 10k miles I noticed fuel comsumption improving and the whole bike smoother, so I suspect it was still bedding in then. I have done this (switched AFTER running-in) on other bikes to use fully synthetic and it seems to work, e.g. 93,5000 on a Kawasaki ZX9 and all still running like new, original clutch, used no oil etc.

So the moral is dont be too soft on your new bike, let it run in properly before switching to synthetic. Just ride it like you would normally but dont let the engine labour at low revs, and dont overrev it until after about 1000.

Have fun :) :03biker:
 
Kinzer1,
I followed the calsci break-in to the letter. You'll also find a plethora of information on calsci about Filters and Oil there as well. You'll also find a ton of debate on this forum on what oil and filter to use.

I will tell you that I did my first oil change at 100 miles and there was plenty of particles in the oil as well. Therefore, I personally was not impressed with the performance of the OEM filter. I switched to the Pure-One. However with that said there was a ton of debate on this very forum today about that very subject.

I didn't switch to synthetic until I had 7000 miles on the bike. You need to give the engine time for the parts to wear-in. It is in my opinion, beneficial based on everything I have read. Be prepared to have a helluva time getting the factory filter off as Honda factory employees a gorilla to install them initially.

In the beginning I would change the oil a little more frequently as there's bound to be more particulate in it due to the break-in process. I inspected my oil during the draining process by running it thru some 15 micron filter media. ( I use to work for a Aerospace Filter Manufacturer). As I like to see what's going on inside the engine. I can tell you after about 4000 miles my visual inspections seemed to be relatively clean. I ran another 3000 miles on regular dino that is to say Rotella-T 15w-40w before moving over to the blue bottle Rotella-T 5w-40w. I should also mention that I would be concerned about the engine oil weight you choose as you live in a much colder climate than I do here in beautiful Sunny tropical Florida. Especially since you'll be breaking it in during the winter months. The Only seasons we have here in Florida is Basketball, Football and baseball.:D

In the end, as long as you change the filter and oil at a regular frequency of around 3k-4k miles your bike engine will last 100K miles. Keep in mind the ST is not a high rpm engine like many of the rice-rockets out there. Once agian, you'll see plenty of debate here on this very subject.

Welcome to forum.....enjoy your New Toy
 
You're going to find varying opinions on all of your questions. If you do some searching you'll find opinions on the things you asked about.

1. Did anyone try the break-in method outlined on motorcycleinfo.calsci.com?
Yes, but I'm not sure it made any difference. Others have tried it but I'm not sure if they can claim any benefit from it.

2. The article talks about Rotella T synthetic oil and non-OEM oil filters. Did any of you currently use them? Any pros, cons or other remarks?
Yes. Lots use Rotella but others use Mobil One Gold Cap (NON energy conserving). There's AmsOil users and OEM oil users also. Sometimes it depends on the bike what works best. I had a clutch slip issue that only seem to be solved by using Mobil 1. The official stance of any dealer will be the Honda oil. Switch to synthetic between 1000 and 4000 miles.


3. I spoke to the service manager where I purchased my ST and he recommended to Follow the owner?s manual for the break-in, OEM oil filters and oil. He also stated that if I wonted to use Synthetic oil to be sure it?s made for motorcycles.

The dealer will tell you that for warranty purposes. And he's right on the synthetic issue. But basically get a synthetic oil that is NOT "Energy Conserving". It has friction modifiers that addd to clutch slippage.

Thanks,
Curt
 
Thanks to all of you who responded. I guess this controversial issue will go on for a while. The intent was to get personal experiences and I did. Thanks again and you?ll probably will hear a lot from me in the future.
 
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