Thinking of buying a used 1199, need some input

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jjsC6 said:

I"m curious as to what the legal issues might be that you are talking about in regards to break in procedures. I'm not talking about the last part, I'm asking about your first comment that break in procedures are not to break the bike in better, it's for legal reasons.

I also am not sure I believe that valves need to be seated. Does that imply that they are not machined correctly from the factory? My mind is pretty simple (and I understand engines pretty well). All vehicles made have valves. Very few vehicles have engine problems related to valves not being seated properly. In fact, I can't remember reading of any engine problems related to it unless an engine has been seriously abused.

I also would not go by what racing teams do. Racing is a whole different situation. They run engines full bore with virtually no miles on them but then they also tear down engines and rebuilt them between every race. They don't have to worry about how an engine holds up for more than a few hundred miles. But they do have to find out very quickly in practice if everything is working properly at WOT before starting a race.

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In the Ducati line. I talk about the legal issues that Ducati must abide by and is a legal aspect, not an engineering aspect. Just like they must abide by the emission laws and install a catalytic converter, baffles for DB limit, exhaust flapper valve... etc. Remember these bikes are built to be distributed around the WORLD, not just the U.S. alone. The odds that you will survive if your engine were to malfunction at 6,000 rpm is drastically greater than if it were to come apart at 11,000 rpm, make sense? because of this, they put restrictions as a legal cover to keep you from basically killing yourself. The downside is, your engine will not make as much power as one that has had a rough break-in.

On ANY engine your valves must be seated to ensure total sealing of your cylinder and to ensure best compression. This harder break-in applies more vacuum pressure against your valves to seat them. No mechanical issue from the factory, that's just the physical laws of metal. Your valves are like a suction cup... imagine sticking a suction to a window just normally, it'll stick but maybe not be as strong. Now imagine slamming it against the window, now it sticks and is strong. Same thing with your valves, your causing them to "suction" to the metal casing around it.

i think it's rather about the setting of the piston rings...

I reall think it is somewhere in the middle of following instructions, riding it hard from the begininng. Here is a quote I found of why:

"Maybe bike manufacturers are being super cautious at the expense of your motor's performance? I think that they take the cautious route that works over time (1000 miles, or about 20 hours of break in) versus a faster route that can be more easily screwed up."

Phil said:

i think it's rather about the setting of the piston rings...

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Agreed. I was going beyond that though. I have done a lot of research on this topic, because a lot of riders have a false view of what break-in is about. I just base on facts and multiple sources. But like Phil said valves and rings need to have a better seal either way. If you talk to a few techs (remember I said FEW, not just ONE) you will see what I mean.