New owner with a silly question

[japes1275]

Welcome.

Like you say, lots of wisdom about running in. The most important thing most will agree on is not to let the engine labour ie. pulling hard up hill in a high gear. Better to over rev (your running in revs that is!) than let it work hard.

John

[ABC]

...how did you guys run your new transalp in???

By the manual, and all it says on the matter is the following very brief comment:

"Help assure your motorcycle's future reliability and performance by paying extra attention to how you ride during the first 500km (300m). During this period avoid full throttle starts and rapid acceleration."

I bought my Alp new about six months ago and followed the advice. Not difficult in my case because I never do full throttle starts (does anyone?, it sounds crazy) and very rarely push acceleration to the limit. So for me, running in was my normal riding style anyway and I never ride dirt.

That's unlike running in my last bike, a BMW 1200RT, where there was a rev limit advised meaning that top speed was limited.

[deskjetian]

on the other hand who was it once said that you should "ride it like you stole it" when running in.

[Windmill John]

Sold my BMW 850GS last year. Had a problem, couldn't rectify, threw money at it. Sold it dejected. Found out it would have cost me just £120 to sort it
Anyway, that bike was superb. Covered 30K miles, commuting, holidays etc..
Just bought a 56 plate Transalp - excellent
I think I can be a good judge of the differences.
I found myself putting a bit too much control into corners with the Transalp, it is lighter and doesn't require as much input.
Great bike, although the BM did keep my tootsies warm on commutes.
Can open worms everywhere now... I think a lot of people buy the BM because it's the bike to be seen with. However, it is a great bike and if most of my riding was two up, it probably would be at my house now. But, as two up is usually limited to two weeks a year plus the occassional Sunday, the Transalp is more than man enough.

Really pleased with the comfort, it does feel like I'm on the BM again, but at least with the Transalp, it wont cost me over 400 Euros to replace the rear wheel bearing in the middle of northern Spain.

Another reason for chooisng the Transalp over another BM, is I could only afford an older BM and get the feeling that I am a pauper when I go to my nearest BM dealer.

I think the Transalp is brilliant, they cover the world, seen as ultra cool in Italy and I now have a smile stuck on my face.

It's like having a more comfortable Dommie with Touring cred

Enjoy yours, it's about the riding

[ABC]

on the other hand who was it once said that you should "ride it like you stole it" when running in.

I've heard that too but I feel that the makers know best about their own bikes so I am prepared to take their word over the pub talk.

[dubhe]

on the other hand who was it once said that you should "ride it like you stole it" when running in.

Isn't this from the 'old days' when everything needed seating correctly? These days the parts are much more precisely machined so running in is just the final tweak for all moving parts.

[StumpyFingers]

Isn't this from the 'old days' when everything needed seating correctly? These days the parts are much more precisely machined so running in is just the final tweak for all moving parts.

This might be why they now quote a 300 mile bedding in instead of the original 600 miles.
I would still prefer to run it in the old fashioned way of letting the bikes gearbox do the work so the engine is not laboured then increase the loading up to the maximum revs.
Just because the tolerances are more precise now does not mean it is fool proof.