Vibration vs. RPM vs. Throttle Position

[BoxerSteve]

Anybody wanna discuss the merits of synthetic oil, or share their opinions on blue pipes?

Dunno about that, but Michelin makes the best tires!

David R, if you don't buy motoman's page on breakin, maybe you will give more weight to Popular Mechanics? Their recommended break-in procedure is not much different.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/ho ... -a-new-car

[David R]

Breaking in an engine is more than rings. What you are doing is lapping in all the parts. Plain bearings, cam shafts, timing chain tensioners and guides, transmission gears, shafts and bearings, Clutch and the driver.

All need to be broken in with a little respect.

I don't agree with beating the snot out of a new engine. If you want to, go ahead.

I am a 30 some year mechanic. I have rebuilt a lot of engines and seen a few failures.

Do as you wish. I broke in my R1200R by the book. Look at the manual, procedure has changed.

In the end, first it will wear in then it will wear out. They all do.

I rebuilt the motor in my r1100RT at 130,000 miles. It didn't need it.
My ford truck has 278,000 miles on it. Its driven every day. Dino oil and it burns a couple quarts in 5,000 miles between changes.

David

[Paul-from-VA]

I'm with you David, lots of parts getting acquainted besides piston rings and cylinder walls.

[BoxerSteve]

Breaking in an engine is more than rings. What you are doing is lapping in all the parts. Plain bearings, cam shafts, timing chain tensioners and guides, transmission gears, shafts and bearings, Clutch and the driver.

All need to be broken in with a little respect.

I don't agree with beating the snot out of a new engine. If you want to, go ahead.

I agree.

But I didn't say "beat the snot out of it", where did that come from? I said "don't baby it". There is a happy medium.

[David R]

Boxersteve
I agree too. Motoman wants to take the engine up to redline when its new. I see no reason. Things make extra heat especially the first few miles.

In the old days, after a rebuild (with carburetor) the idle speed would have to be turned down a couple of times after the engine was run because of ring friction. As they seat, then engine turns easier. SO the first few hundred miles the engine is making more heat than it ever will from friction. This is one of the reasons not to take it up to redline or run it too hard. Now that we have Idle Air Controllers with stepper motors, the idle is kept at the desired speed. No adjusting of carb is necessary. The friction is still there and the adjustment is still made, just now with a screwdriver, the computer does it.

Running the engine hard keeping in the recommended RPM limits is a good compromise. Using engine braking makes vacuum to suck the crap out of the cylinders. I change the oil after a hundred or so miles and look at it in the bright sunlight. You would be surprised at how much metal in in that first change.

In my R I changed the oil at 190 miles and 900n miles then at 3,000 (on the odometer) The second oil change looked good.

David

No matter how you do it, enjoy the bike!

[Hatepylons]

Wow! Had a bit of reading to catch up on. Sorry for not responding, I was out putting 1800mi on it last week. Turned out the issue was the throttle bodies. I was able to sync them the night before departure, didn't even get a chance to road test it due the late hour before leaving. They were shockingly out of spec for ~700 miles (almost 2in on the MotionPro sync tool). But I'm glad it worked.

Thanks for the feedback guys. And FWIW I followed the BMW guide to the letter...... except that the bike had 54 miles on it when I bought it. I put on the first 15 during a demo (that I followed the instruction manual on), and the remainder was from two test rides that happened in the span of a couple of hours while I went and sorted finances. Hope they behaved.

[Mark_1]

Hatepylons,

Sounds normal. You should notice a big improvement at the 600 mile service when the valves are adjusted and the throttle bodies are synchronized. ...... Mark_1

Ah, I love it when I'm right. Glad to be of assistance!

Mark_1

[shawn_speed]

I just want to express my appreciation to everyone that has contributed to this thread. it is music to my ears.

My bike addiction is only 18000 miles - Ducati S2R1000 - one year old. Just picked up a 2012 R12R with 3,800 miles in Florida and rode it home to Phoenix. It seems whatever these things do, I got. The fuel strip failed right away and the vibration at idle and twisting the throttle past 75 mph drove me crazy. Went into the Pensacola BMW dealer. Service manager revved the engine on the center stand and pronounced all normal for a cam head. Disparaged the fuel strip and it's uselessness but let me ride a 2013 wet head GS which was a blast.

Bike got over 6,200 miles coming into Phoenix. The scheduled maintenance showed the valves to be within spec but the TB's were way out of synch.

I now get the classic gurgle, much better low end grunt and very happy revving. My psyche is a little mangled because of worrying about it all the way home but am getting used to the idle side to side shake and training myself to enjoy the hammering that comes with twisting throttle at 5000 rpm.

I hadn't really pushed it till I got into Austin. Between Austin and home had quite a few triple digit speed runs which reduced the oil level about a quarter of a quart. Now using Amsoil synthetic and will take the advice of this thread to rack up miles with the excuse that the engine will get smoother.

One question. It is very tempting and easy to blip the up-shifts without the clutch on this bike. If there is no grinding and no missed gears, will there be any long term damage?

[David R]

All I can say is you got a beautiful bike there. My first BMW was 25 years ago. I'm hooked. My 2012 R is most like my 1976 R75/6. Some folks say "I drank the kool aid" well, what ever it is, its a true appreciation for the bike. I love the power of a twin. It just keeps getting better.

At 18,000 miles, my valves are still in spec. My throttle bodies have not needed to be adjusted yet.

Ride bike, fill with gas, Ride bike
change oil and filter
Ride bike
New tires
Ride bike

Repeat..........

David