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What's The Best Way To Break-In A New Engine ??
The Short Answer: Run it Hard !
Why ??
Nowadays, the piston ring seal is really what the break in process is all about. Contrary to popular belief, piston rings don't seal the combustion pressure by spring tension. Ring tension is necessary only to "scrape" the oil to prevent it from entering the combustion chamber.
If you think about it, the ring exerts maybe 5-10 lbs of spring tension against the cylinder wall ...
How can such a small amount of spring tension seal against thousands of
PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) of combustion pressure ??
Of course it can't.
How Do Rings Seal Against Tremendous Combustion Pressure ??
From the actual gas pressure itself !! It passes over the top of the ring, and gets behind it to force it outward against the cylinder wall. The problem is that new rings are far from perfect and they must be worn in quite a bit in order to completely seal all the way around the bore. If the gas pressure is strong enough during the engine's first miles of operation (open that throttle !!!), then the entire ring will wear into the cylinder surface, to seal the combustion pressure as well as possible.
The Problem With "Easy Break-In" ...
The honed crosshatch pattern in the cylinder bore acts like a file to allow the rings to wear. The rings quickly wear down the "peaks" of this roughness, regardless of how hard the engine is run.
There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !!
If the rings aren't forced against the walls soon enough, they'll use up the roughness before they fully seat. Once that happens there is no solution but to re hone the cylinders, install new rings and start over again.
Fortunately, most new sportbike owners can't resist the urge to "open it up" once or twice, which is why more engines don't have this problem !!
An additional factor that you may not have realized, is that the person at the dealership who set up your bike probably blasted your brand new bike pretty hard on the "test run". So, without realizing it, that adrenaline crazed set - up mechanic actually did you a huge favor !!"
(excerpt from the MotoTuneUSA web site).
www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
When we bought our 2009 Honda ST1300A as a new leftover in 2012, I was confronted with the same question: how to best break it in. The question was complicated by the fact that we bought it from an out-of-town dealer in Murfreesboro, AR - almost 700 miles from home. Our plan was to 2-up from home to Murfreesboro on Z1BEBE's '93 CB750 Nighthawk (HerHawk), then we would make a Ridin' vacation from there back home, her on HerHawk and me on the ST.
I found the technique described in the link above above and decided to try it.
To make a long story short, I took delivery from the dealer, rode it for 50 miles, periodically accelerating WFO and decelerating on closed throttle as described in the link above, always staying 3K or so below the 9K redline. I did that pretty frequently for the first 25 mi. or so, somewhat less frequently for the remainder of the ride.
After running a fairly aggressive break-in like that for just over 50 mi., I returned to the dealer & had them change the oil and filter.
The next morning we left Murfreesboro and proceeded to have a great three day ride through the outstanding AR backroads of the Ouichita Mts., the Ozark Mts., and into southern MO before crossing into IL then IN and, finally home to KY.
First thing I did after saying HI to the dogs was drain the oil. I let it sit draining overnight, then changed the filter the next day.
I've run either Rotella dino or syn oil in it for the last 25,000+ mi. No oil consumption is noticeable and the bike seems to run just fine. When I checked the valves at 20,000 mi. I saw no apparent wear or debris of any sort. Plugs replaced at 20,000 mi. looked perfect.
This break-in technique is not unlike the aggressive style mentioned in the video. From my sample size of one I must say it's a successful technique.
I also used the same technique on the fresh motor of our of our once-basket-case '73 Z1, the one we lovingly refer to as "The Seven Year _itch". It too, runs just fine.
Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE
ride. 
