Forum

[Dennis C]

I expect we will get many different opinions regarding running in, it will be interesting to find what the current thought is from people who currently know and tune these bikes, what do Bullet Whisperer and Tim NZ think?.

[PeteF]

Well Dennis, it all depends on what your "normal" is.
I never follow the manufacturers instructions about running in engines but neither do I thrash them.
I'm also a great believer in changing the oil sooner than recommended as it gives you a good indication about what's going on inside.
Perhaps the point about race engines is that they are prepared better?

[TheShaggyDA]

Race engines tend to have a service interval measured in hours, as opposed to thousands of miles, too

One thing that has arisen from this is that I'll be putting off any "performance" mods until it's got a few more miles on it, as the standard setup is self restricting anyway

[sofiaspin]

A liquidation does not mean by any stretch 'dodgy director dealings'. The company could have been a victim of a large creditor going bust, or who just was not paying the suppliers. Most businesses fail because they are unable to meet cash flow obligations - which is a result of a wide variety of causes. The directors may well have taken the view, responsibly, to put it into liquidation, and start up again with a slightly different name, and in so doing, look to pay off anyone they owed money to previously. It is a dangerous precedent to assume inappropriate behaviour. I would assume the work done is of the required standard and the winding up of the company is simply the end of yet another business.

[Bullet Whisperer]

Running in ... well, after a rebuild, our racing Enfields get a couple of miles without exceeding 6000 rpm, to get them warmed up and check for any leaks or other possible problems, but, if all is well after that, they are run up to flat out under varying loads. If they show signs of tightening up [rare], the top ends are stripped to see why and rectify, but usually they just get checked over before being deemed 'race ready'. For road going engines I have rebuilt and assuming I have the whole bike here, I like to put the first 100 - 200 miles on if they have had a full rebuild, rebore, regrind etc, as I don't want any faults going home to the owners if any arise. By 200 miles, I will give bursts of full throttle and there is a long climb up the Black Mountain, which I like to use to load them up and check for any tightening up. In most cases, all is usually well, the worst cases for any tightening up are the 350 Indian Bullets with the cast iron barrels still fitted and on standard bore and one pre War AJS 250, with cast iron barrel and dodgy pre War high compression piston, which needed so much piston to bore clearance that it sounded like a bag of hammers when cold, but it was fine when warmed up and could reach a dizzy 73 mph flat out! Once this machine could climb the Black Mountain with no problems, I deemed it good enough to go home to the owner.