How to Break In a Motorcycle – Kawasaki Ninja 300

How to Break In a Motorcycle – Kawasaki Ninja 300
This is just a quick video explaining how I broke in my 2013 Ninja 300. There are many methods you can use to break in a bike, this is just the way I did it. Please like and subscribe! Thanks for watching! – telkins10

My channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/telkins10
Ninja 300 videos: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiC6nhFZY4FhzZD73cb4K93EydGdm60Do
ATV mudding: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiC6nhFZY4FhvltNGI99B3ewumOREI1OH

21 thoughts on “How to Break In a Motorcycle – Kawasaki Ninja 300

  1. Yep, I got he same advice from the dealer on buying my SE 300. I pretty much kept it within the safe range venturing outside the boundaries every now & then. My bike just had the first 1,000km service & all is sweet. I even managed to fit all the mods before that service so its all in tune. Check out my vids if you get 5 & safe riding gents!

  2. Thanks bro, i bought my ninja 300 today. This video is awesome. How long did it take you to get 600 miles?

  3. This bike attracts morons. It gets the attention of new bikers trying to get a brand new bike for their first bike. I work on bikes almost everyday. When I’m asked about the break in period on this particular bike I ask why the hell would you spend 5500 dollars on a 300! There are scooters that can shit on this bike. I know that because I have raced people with this bike on a modded scooter. Buy used! Buying new and have no idea how to break in a bike? Seriously!

  4. doesnt sound like you were too hard on it but the manual was written by engineers building on decades of experience and testing and thinking you can do it better .. makes you a numbnuts lol .. way to propagate the youtube myths .. i like the way the guys with seized motors and holes blown in pistons like the guy with the new zx10 i saw the other day just cant put 2 and 2 together and it was a ‘factory defect’ .. look around long enough and the ‘fog’ may begin to clear … luckily these japanese motors are VERY well made and can take the punishment of the ‘pros’ that are ‘breaking it in hard’ .. and about ‘dealer advice’ .. those asshats are about as far from knowing anything about engineering as you can get ..

  5. How tall are you because I plan on getting a 300 but I’m 6′ 3″ so how do u think I’ll fit on it

  6. Did you take your bike to the dealership when you hit 600 miles, or did you just do the maintenance yourself?

  7. and after that treat the road as if you are trying not to tear tissue paper. I achieved 52.5 mpg city in a stock cx honda civic 1993 over the course of an entire year. another family member blew a head gasket on their civic in 20k miles. I asked if they drove it hard – “no”    no?  yet the tires were 80k tires and had lasted only 20k – people just don’t comprehend the massive forces involved in abrupt acceleration and breaking and in driving that phenomena home u need do only one thing = simply ride a bicycle. having pedaled up to 600 miles a week for years, u learn only one thing – STAY OFF THE BRAKES or u will wear yourself out. In a gas engine, staying off the brake saves energy too and that is how to achieve monstrous fuel savings AND KEEP THAT PISTON MOVING AT ITS MINIMUM  making sure you are still rolling by the time that light finally changes which may involve braking early and drifting in. go ahead and shift down, reach those high rpm’s when necessary such as freeway hills or carrying weight, just do so gently since if your tires last 3k vs 6k when being gentle, that translates to the engine and drivetrain also I estimate my piston is working 40 revolutions to the average persons 60 while doing so much much much more gently. an engines lifetime is a product of how many times it spins

  8. I’m glad you used good common sense to break in your engine. Proper break-in is the single most important initial thing that you can do to ensure that your brand new engine will have a long service life and will also ensure that it will achieve peak power and maintain it much longer as you rack up gazillions of fun miles in the future.

    The 2nd most important thing is to change your oil and filter at the recommended intervals. Personally, I’ve always typically changed mine at 3000 mile intervals as it’s cheap ‘insurance’, especially if you plan to keep your vehicle for a long time, like I do.

    Back to engine break-in… The moronic idiots who believe that a “hard engine break-in” is the best way are just fooling themselves and causing premature wear and/or damage to all mating surfaces. While today’s engines are manufactured with much closer tolerances and better surface finishes than those of 20 or 30 years ago, or older, they are still not perfect and need some time/miles to polish/seat themselves together with their mating parts. This is the reason for the break in period.

    Another thing to consider is that proper break-in is more critical for motorcycles because, unlike cars and trucks, the transmission is an integral part of the engine and shares the same engine oil. It follows that all of the gears/components in the transmission also have to be allowed to seat with their mating parts/gears otherwise premature wear and damage may also occur. Evidence of a hard engine break-in is metal filings in the oil at the first oil change. You’ll notice that many champions of a hard break-in complain of metal in the oil. Well DUH!!!

    Regarding Kawasaki’s recommended Ninja 300 break in, yep, it’s indeed ridiculous. My 2014 owner’s manual specifies:

    0-500 miles: 4,000 rpm max
    500-1000 miles: 6,000 rpm max

    I doubt anyone will follow this recommendation as the engine should be completely broken in by 500 miles. Not only that, 4000 rpm means you can’t even cruise the boulevards at 45mph!

    Now then, breaking in an engine should be a progressive approach. I always baby a new engine for the first 200 miles then slowly begin intervals of briefly loading/unloading the engine with the throttle to polish the mating parts together then allowing them to cool. Here’s how I broke in my nearly new 2014 Ninja 300SE last month that had a whopping 360 miles on the odometer, which I believe wasn’t tampered with.

    Luckily, the engine was tight as a tick so I believe whoever had it hadn’t abused it, but decided to be extra careful. At first I kept the revs at 6,000 max while lightly loading/unloading it, again using throttle. I then eased it up to 7,000 rpm max. By about 450 miles I could tell the engine was loosening up as it began to feel much more snappy. Right at 500 miles I briefly hit 8,000 rpm. I then changed the oil and filter like I always do at 500 miles. I used a new light-colored drain pan so I could look for metal in the oil. I also swished a strong magnet around the old oil repeatedly and… amazingly… there was no evidence of metal in the oil whatsoever, as it should be of course. Now a hipster I’ve followed this technique for many engine break-ins during my long life and it has always worked perfectly for me and will work perfectly for everyone too.

    BTW, there shouldn’t be any aluminum in the oil from the pistons. If there is then there is definitely a problem! The piston rings are designed to contact the cylinder, not the piston itself.

    Ride safe and enjoy!

  9. What about for breaking in the bike after the new period? I’ve been taking it easy on mine and now I have a little over 1000 miles on it. I’ve taken it out to some open roads and had her going about 65-70 the past few times I’ve taken her out.. but she revs high still.. I got her to do 90 once, I think she rev’ed at 9000RPMs. I rode her today at about 75 for about 10 minutes and shes reving around 7-8000 RPMs. How long until she is used to it?

  10. wouldn’t it be very hard not to keep the bike at a certain rpm for an extended period of time like driving on the interstate where you have to go say 70 ???

  11. I haven’t ridden much since I donæt have the license yet (I have around 100km on the bike)

    Most of the riding is just done around the house with warying speed and keeping it under 4.000 rpm’s with the occational aceleration over it. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve passed 4.000 and and at most I’ve been at 6.000. This should be safe as Kawasaki say that you should try to stay under 4.000 rpm’s, but that if the traffic requires it you can go over it for a wuick period of time as long as you don’t stay there.

    I have howered used my bike for some time to practice maneuvring it and turning it at slow speeds (as slow as I can go) and that was perhaps bad, but prior to doing it I had ridden it around my house and it was fine. Idk.. I’m very nervous for messing up the break-in and being stuck with a bike that doesnæt run the way it’s supposed to. Nothing would sadden me more than to hurt my little Ninja )’:.

    But..The manufacturer are probably playing it a little safe, but why would you not trust the mechanics who built the bike? They have decades of experience and knowledge and if they say it’s supposed to be done a certain way that way is definately not bad for your bike.. I’d never ever dare to ride my bike that hard when breaking in, even though my dealership also told me I should just ride it normally.

  12. no, Kawasaki Manual I have says no more than 4000rpm for 500 mi
    the 6000 is beyond the 500 mi up to 1000 mi

  13. so can you rev 6000 rpm in first gear? with out damaging? I’m new just got my first bike second day riding

  14. kawa and any other maufacturer say this because its like you said “a super safe way for break in”

    but when you ride it a way too carefully you wont break in the engine as well as someone who put a good mixture of load and release on it then you take it to the dealer and make the oilchange, they put out the mild mineral oil with less aditives wich is perfect for breaking in and give it a good semi or full synthetic oil with alot of additives wich protects for wear… so now your engine isnt fulle breaked in and u got great oil in it and it cant break in any further…..

    a good break in is like you did

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