hANNAbONE said:
Every one of these new bikes are dyno'd - revved slowly and then hard up to red-line before they roll off the assembly line.
I don't know if this is universally true. I've seen programs showing vehicle assembly in which the engines are driven to high RPM without fuel to check for proper compression and mechanical assembly (basically checking to see if the engine is a good air pump), but not fueled as this would require de-fueling before shipment. It probably varies by the mfg.
And if bike does have a real dyno run, it is done under perfect cooling conditions and briefly. Just because an engine is briefly run to verify proper operation does not necessarily mean that this engine is ready to make continuous full power for an extended period under normal/varying operating conditions which might include very hot weather and heavy loads. I don't think any mass-market motorcyde built today receives a routine dyno break-in.
Again, as I said before, I don't think the RPM limits are there because high RPM is bad - they're there to avoid prolonged, high-power operation of the motor. Mfgs would much prefer to say in their owner's manual, "Avoid continuous operation of the motor at more than 50% power for the first 100 miles, 60% during the next 100...." but motorcycles don't have percent power meters and "continuous" is ambigious. So they revert to putting hard-coded RPM limits in which are unambigious but a poor tool for the job.
BTW, on my S1000RR, BMW decided at the last minute to put a 600-mile, 9K redline, break-in rev limiter (62% of actual redline) on the bike that had to be retrofitted at the dealerships before delivery. This was not a cheap thing to do, so I think they had a reason and confirms to me that this break-in thing is not entirely groundless and that at least one mfg feels it fairly important that you not "ride it like you stole it" for the first 600 miles.
- Mark