b.a.b. run in or not

just read a thread on s4r where it was said to not bother with running in having done 570 miles and just having had the first £210 service keeping below 6000 rpm , i wonder do i need 2.

I always follow the manufacturers recommendations on this subject. I ran my S2r in according to the manual. It was during the 600 mile service that the mechanic noticed that it wasn't running properly. I ended up with new barrels and pistons as the originals were down on compression. The barrels had glazed. It was intimated that I had been too gentle on the running in, which I find hard to believe. It had run that way from new. The bike was delivered to me with 12 miles on the clock which I assume were from the PDI check by the supplying dealer.
I discussed this little problem with one of the Ducati staff on the stand at the NEC last week. He suggested that this could possibly have been caused by whoever rode the bike before I had it - draw your own conclusions as to who that could have been - possibly being overly zealous with the right hand.
The bottom line is that how you treat the engine in the first few hundred miles does affect how it will run for the rest of its life. I have read a very detailed report on this which I won't go into detail on now, as this is dragging on a bit, but in short, if you cane the engine from new it will generally be more powerful but shorter lived, go too gentle and the components will not mate properly and it will forever be underpowered, or get it right and you will have a good solid engine that will last.
You will not have done any harm by running it in properly.

Running in always a hot topic at work (I work in car engine R&D).

The basic rules are;
- Follow the instructions in the hand book or it may effect the warrenttee*
- Don't rev the b#lls off it in teh first few hours
- Don't labour the engine (avoid high loads at low speeds)
- Don't run at constant speeds for long periods during running in.

Riding on A roads is good with the ocassional bit of town work using all the gears and as the miles pile on increase maximum speeds and low speed loads as you feel the engine and bike free up.


*Car ECU's can, and do, log max engine speed, number of times rev limiter hit etc, manufactures can use this to void a warenttee claim.

On our trip to the factory earlier this year we watched every single bike that came off the production line being taken into the dyno room. They were run up the rev limiter in every gear a number of times.

Just thought you might be interested!

I second what Paul says about Car ECU's having over rev storage.
Recently had two people pay for expencive engines even when there car is still in warranty!
Do Duke's have this?