Break in for the Himalayan

Prior to picking up my 2020 I did a little research on breaking in the motor on the Himalayan. When actually picking up the bike the dealership said ride it how your going to ride it. What if any break in rules did you follow?

That's exactly what my dealer said to me and how I've been putting on the break-in miles. They said don't baby it but also don't go taking it to redline.

While the "running in period" on page 80 of your owner manual is quite ridiculous (dont go over 49.7mph until 1243 miles) I would take care for a few hundred miles before i ride it like i stole it.
Of course the dealer would get paid for warranty work, so maybe he doesnt mind it coming back????

The first 500 km I was really gentle with it: I got the bike for the long run. Give it some time to warm up, and vary the revs: not too low in high gear, not too high in low gear. After a while you can feel it getting looser and more supple.
After those 500 km, and after the first service I still ride is easy. (If I want something speedy I take my R6 to the track and rev it till 16k...)

I was amazed at the top speed of 37 mph for the first 310 miles! Who can do this?

Maybe if you lived in NYC 3 months ago, stuck in traffic all the time???

Got my Himalayan last November and tried my best to keep to the manual limits over the first 300 miles - must have strayed over the top speed a few times but never over 50mph. At the first service the dealer said I could now do what I like as RE were just 'covering their backsides' with their recommendations. As I understand it, my next oil change/service isn't due until 3000 miles (can someone confirm that for me?) so I would imagine that means I can go for it. However, I've been pretty careful ever since, only doing 70mph on a handful of occasions and never for more than a few minutes at a time. Being a new rider I ride fairly gently most of the time in any case so it shouldn't be too difficult keeping my speed down until I reach the 1000-mile mark - only have 200 or so miles to go but in lock-down I'm not out much!

My Hima has 5500+ miles and my wife’s is due her 3000 mile service. I bought them both a two hour drive away and drive them both home because I didnt have a trailer. Made sure I didnt maintain a constant speed, otherwise just drove them. Havent had a problem with either bike outside the rattle in the headlight cured with tape on hers, and both me and the wife spend almost as much time picking the bike up as we do riding it while trying to learn to ride in deep, loose sand...because we live in “The Sandhills!” I was going to follow the guidance, but just didn't work out that way, knock on wood, so far it hasn't bit us!

cdroda396 said:

My Hima has 5500+ miles and my wife’s is due her 3000 mile service. I bought them both a two hour drive away and drive them both home because I didnt have a trailer. Made sure I didnt maintain a constant speed, otherwise just drove them. Havent had a problem with either bike outside the rattle in the headlight cured with tape on hers, and both me and the wife spend almost as much time picking the bike up as we do riding it while trying to learn to ride in deep, loose sand...because we live in “The Sandhills!” I was going to follow the guidance, but just didn't work out that way, knock on wood, so far it hasn't bit us!

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That's good to hear. I guess these bikes are pretty tough, being built originally for Indian conditions. With the treatment mine gets, riding carefully on British A- and B-roads I don't think I'll have any major issues either but best not thrash it - not that I'll probably ever do that. As a side-note, I so enjoy doing 40-60mph along quiter, more twisty roads with the occasional over-take - much nicer than bombing along a motorway!

Pirate said:

As a side-note, I so enjoy doing 40-60mph along quiter, more twisty roads with the occasional over-take - much nicer than bombing along a motorway!

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I couldn't agree more. I've been all over the state I live in at 70-75 mph getting places in a car. But, on our bikes at 50-55 mph, there is so much more to see that we didn't really realize we were missing, that riding has opened up what amounts to a whole new state. We've ridden on the Interstate just to say we did, but its the back roads, at slower speeds that the Himalayan is truly at its best!

Pirate said:

... best not thrash it ...

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Agreed, but worse than thrashing it is letting the engine 'lug' while running it in.
By lug I mean letting the engine move at too low revs.
Keep it spinning in the mid range and as cdroda396 says vary the revs and change up and down the gears regularly if on the freeway.

RE leave the initial fill oil in the motor , and let the owner remove it at the 500 km service.
Which is why their running in procedure is the way it is, initial fill oil is extremely detergent , has little to no anti wear additives and will contain milling swarf, assembly dirt as well as whatever is worn off during the initial break in.
Most every other manufacturer run their motors on a test rig for around 20 minutes for initial break in, then remove the initial fill oil and replaces it with a running in oil which is replaced by Synth at the first service .
Some run them for much longer then go straight to a full synth, with little to no running in necessary, just a gentle treatment for a couple of thousand km.
No one recommends you run it like you stole it before 500 km are up, no matter what is in the sump.

Fair points Burnie and Roy - thanks. Perhaps I should try to be a touch more aggressive while I'm running in as I am prone to using the torque and making the engine lug.

I am trying to stay under 4000 RPM which is about 50 MPH and vary the RPMs for the first 310 miles. It's hard to ride that slow, I am always looking in my rear view mirrors!

Realise that this is an old post, but I have just got my bike and will be running it in.

I was told that in addition to speed limits, one needs to keep the revs low, and change down so that the engine is kept in a happy rev range + vary speeds gears etc.
Personally this has worked well for air cooled engines in the past for me, and so hopefully will work for the Himalayan too : )

petespace1 said:

Realise that this is an old post, but I have just got my bike and will be running it in.

I was told that in addition to speed limits, one needs to keep the revs low, and change down so that the engine is kept in a happy rev range + vary speeds gears etc.
Personally this has worked well for air cooled engines in the past for me, and so hopefully will work for the Himalayan too : )

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Vary the revs.
Don't work it hard ie, lug in a high gear, rev hard in a low one.

In other words, just go for lots of rides in the hills. Its fun. You're constantly changing gear and the revs are constantly varying. All you have to worry about is working the motor too hard, and that's no worry really. The beauty of this is that you will enjoy yourself so you'll ride more and longer with the result that it gets run in quicker.

By the way, mine was still getting stronger and smoother at 1,500 kms. It's nearly at 10k kms now, and probably still finding ways to settle in, though I'm long past treating it gently.

Now up to 3200 miles on mine having run in seneibly (see previous post). Can report that my bike has settled in nicely, gear changing is smoother (the gearbox, not just me!) and the engine doesn't complain at anmything I throw at it - not that I ride very hard. My top speed has been about 80mph on the flat or slight downhill and again, not a murmer of complaint from the engine. I'm one happy biker considering I'm a worried newbie (my riding's OK, I just worry about damaging my bike/engine!).

Agree with you 'oldphart' on the bike getting better over time ; seem to remember reading in an old Australian bike magazine where the author (called the Bear) was saying that on a longish trip on a Suzuki GS500 or similar with another bloke who was on a similar vintage (around 2000 to 2003) Kawasaki; and the bikes actually felt much better after approx 6000ks.
I have had similar experiences with bikes of that era too.

I understand the concept of not lugging, varying the rpms in the midrange and rarely taking it higher during the break in, but I had a friend suggest to me that part of breaking in is dealing with heat, and to avoid putting grooves into cylinder walls I should take a break every 20 or 30 mins for the first 300 miles.

This will be my first bike (supposed to pick it up friday) and I’d like to make sure I’m setting myself up for success.

Happy to hear the peanut gallery thoughts on the breaking in. I hadn’t heard the need to stop and let the engine cool a little bit before.

Justinitforthesnacks said:

I understand the concept of not lugging, varying the rpms in the midrange and rarely taking it higher during the break in, but I had a friend suggest to me that part of breaking in is dealing with heat, and to avoid putting grooves into cylinder walls I should take a break every 20 or 30 mins for the first 300 miles.

This will be my first bike (supposed to pick it up friday) and I’d like to make sure I’m setting myself up for success.

Happy to hear the peanut gallery thoughts on the breaking in. I hadn’t heard the need to stop and let the engine cool a little bit before.

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You do want the bike to get up to full operating temperatures during the break-in period, which can take a bit longer when we run them gently for the first 300 - there are actually factors that can negatively impact systems that rarely or never get to full op temps (even well after break-in periods).