Initial engine break in

[amamet]

So the lemans is done and out of the basement. The bodywork won’t be ready till the end of May, beginning of June.   Need to register it it too. Should I bother to run the heat cycles now or wait till it can be ridden
-Allen

[bigbikerrick]

I am no expert,but common sense tells me running it would be better, that way you can "load" the engine, which is important for proper break in.
Rick.

[oldbike54]

 Seems an odd question , how can you NOT ride it ?

 Dusty

[amamet]

It’s killing me to have it just sit there. I guess I can strap a can to it and sit on a pillow. And keep a lookout for 5-0

[RinkRat II]

     Patience Grasshopper, when you can ride it, it will break in.

      Paul B

[amamet]

7 years apart and my first complete rebuild. I guess I can wait a few weeks.

[John A]

I would at least build a little heat , not much but a little and when cool retorque the heads and loosen the exhaust and take out any stress points you might find. You gotta do that before you ride it anyway

[LowRyter]

If you want to ride it, ride it,  don't talk.

[amamet]

I’ll assume that’s humor? You saw the part about no bodywork right? Plus no dmv access to get the bike legal?

[oldbike54]

 I wouldn't start the motor until the bike can be ridden to load the rings . Just starting it to heat it up won't really accomplish anything , and might cause the rings to not seat properly .

 Dusty

[John A]

It’s true you can screw it up.  If you don’t start it, I’d retorque the heads anyway.  For amusement I’ll take a sharpie and mark the nuts at 12oclock .

[amamet]

im just going to wait till I can ride it legally and have the bodywork back I guess. ill use the time to make sure I have everything buttoned up by that time.

[Bulldog9]

Granted I've never rebuilt a motor in a Moto Guzzi, but when we rebuild motors for Volkswagens and Porsches, the break-in cycle has two phases if you're using a new cam with solid lifters/followers. the first initial startup is to break in the cam and lifters (with break in oil) and usually hold the RPMs around 3000 to 2500 for 30 minutes. Following that, we let the engine cool then re-torque heads, check valves, restart and set idle speed and timing.

Then driving to seat the rings.

I'd think the same would be true for an air cooled vtwin with solid lifters and you'd obviously have to have serious fan action blowing over the heads. YMMV

[John A]

Bulldog is right, depending on what was done in the rebuild makes a difference in how you run it in.  If a new cam and lifters are used then that is the priority. Start it and immediately go to around 3K rpm because the lube is from splash. You will need a good fan because you don’t want to cook your rings and hot spots can develop unless cooling air is used.  I wouldn’t hesitate to start one that I have overhauled but I keep an eye on cylinder and head temps. Thirty minutes stationary would be too long for me on a Guzzi engine unless I had a big barn fan on it .^edit :even then I wouldn’t do it on a new Guzzi engine
  Are the cylinders Nikasil?

[amamet]

88mm Giladonis, megacycle 620x9 cam, mike rich built heads. He also supplied me new lifters. All moving parts balanced by him too

[John A]

That’s a nice tuneup!

[moto-uno]

  If the mega cycle cam is similar to mine , then they have extra lube holes in them , and yes 30 minutes of running
without serious cooling air might be kinda excessive . I ran mine on the road for a few days and then went though
the head re torque and valve set . I tend to rack up around 5000 km before I get on the throttle , but I also have
over 250,000 km on my Le Mans 2 and it has the oem rod and crank bearings , etc , so maybe patience is good .
Peter

[Rough Edge racing]

 I rebuild or re ring more than a few bikes and cars. The bikes being mostly vintage Triumphs..I use a break in oil generally but not always..I always start the engine for a few minutes before riding to check for any leaks or funny noises.The throttle is constantly blipped between 2000 to 3500 rpm.....I may do this several times to check timing and basic carb adjustments. When the bike is ridden ,it's the usual on and off the throttle business and no. Idling for a few miles . My race Triumphs go from the few minutes of running to the chassis dyno to be run at maximum power for tuning and durability testing.
   I have seen many high dollar car engines run at around  2500 rpm on a dyno for 20 minutes to break in a flat tappet cam, then flogged for tuning purposes...If all is done properly, the rings will seat in minutes