I always changed the oil at the first 5 miles . Then at 100 miles, then again at 250 miles then again at 500 miles, this was purely for the bike!! Mineral oil is very cheap and just changing the oil and not the filter is no hardship and the results for a better engine are worthwhile given that you only have one chance at doing it!! Once the bike is warmed up the rev it to the required redline this will help stretch the con rods to the required length that they will be used to. Do not pussy foot around and use the entire rev rang in the first 600 miles.
Wow very informative, not that I'm likely to ever get to put it into practice tho. I just hope the person I buy from has read this info.
Given that engineering tolerances are so good now with modern CNC machines the enforces of running in now is truly not rocket science most modern units are 99% okay, so having one that is dodgy is pretty remote unless it had a problem from the factory.
i've recently picked up a 2012 blade on march 1st, now with just under 700miles on it i thought i'd share my own personal running in process that the bike went through... Ok, so lots of conflicting opinions out there on how 'best' to run an engine in, so i decided that i would ask in the dealers on the process they recommend and then consult the manual whilst still sat in the dealsership prior to the first ride - surely if there's a process to be adhered to, like a lot of other bikes, i.e. 'do not exceed xxxxrpm for X amount of miles, then increase to xxxxrpm etc etc', it would be in the manual. Upon reading the relevant section in the Honda owners manual (without having it in front of me now) it describes a running in period of 300miles, and during this time one should avoid full throttle starts, harsh braking and harsh acceleration. No mention of limited revs or an extended period. The dealsership told me that Honda now strap their engines onto a machine which simulates the running-in period (apparently, but it makes sense) and that means that it's literally a case of bedding the tires, clutch and brakes in. I would just say i'm very strict with warming up engines - always have been, always wil be, so i allowed a good few minutes/miles of riding before lifting the revs beyond 3500rpm. Armed with that knowledge, and a lovely, long 210mile ride ahead of me that day from Reading down to Devon via a selected route of twisties, i opted to stay below 6000rpm (shift lights set to flash at this point)until i was in Devon; allowing me to bed the tires and brakes in and get used to the power. I stayed around 3-5k generally and was always accelerating or decelerating, due to the the nature of the roads, and smoothly applied the throttle to around 2/3rds of WOT wherever possible. As the mileage increased I began revving gradually higher when accelerating so that by the time i'd reached Devon i'd slightly passed 6000rpm a few times... i couldnt resist the urge! For the return journey i reset the shift lights to flash at 8000rpm and again continued to increase the revs and add more power up to and beyond 8000rpm on a few occasions, with plenty of throttle out of the corners on some great roads. Once i hit the 300 mile mark i'd allowed the bike to rev to around 10,000rpm but even now i would say there's only been a handful of times i've really pushed it up that high - no need to really, it's plenty quick enough. that's my procedure i followed. it's the first brand new bike ive owned so cant comment on previous experience, but im confident i've done a fairly good job! Sam
I also picked my new blade up on the 1st of march, at present it has 90 mile on the clock. I'm just ridinig round under 5k, as the mileage increases so will the revs. PS The new suspension works a treat and feels much better than my old RR-B.
This is to all new Blade Owners! Firstly, this thread has been Hijacked! lmao. Running in???? He's talking about the first demo on the new 12 blade! His comments are duly noted, and appreciated. Having never ridden one, I can only speculate, but this is His opinion, and I for one respect that! As I also respect those that have come after OP. Now, my thought on the under-power feeling, and this applies to any bike with all of the new emission control systems is that these do stifle power, and power delivery, because if the Honda is anything like the Gixer thou. Then My God, your in for a shock when you de-cat! When I had a ride on my old fella's thou, it felt like a 600! I thought he'd switched the winter mode on!! But he hadn't, It was just the Exhaust System! He replaced with decat and some Werx cans, Yoshi box. The result... OMG! I'd like to get my RR5 on the Dyno, to see what she's Pulling! Cos, the guy on the 10 plate blade the other day seemed a little shocked when I went past him....hehehehe
Hey PeterT (or anyone else), you mentioned in the first post about the BPF having z clonking at low speed that they all seem to do. I noticed this too but the dealer says they've never heard if it. What's the deal here then, anyone with 12's care to say if they've noticed this? Cheers
Yes I have noticed the low speed clonk, both on the demo and mine, but then my CBF500 (2005) does the same oddly but that could be because it's f****d. Don't see it as a problem. No such thing as running in oil these days, according to Honda UK tech dept. Off the record Semi synthetic oil is recommended. (10-30). Will be running mine is as suggested by Only1Matrixxx, same as I've ran in my other new bikes.
