Breaking in a new engine

[the Ferret]

Breaking it in right does matter. Case in point. My (ex) wife bought a new CBR1000RR and rode it like an old lady. I'm pretty sure she didn't go over 6k rpm for 5 thousand miles. Then, she lets a friend of ours, a high output kinda guy, use it for the weekend in Eureka Springs. By the time we got back to the house, the bike was smoking a bit and used oil forever after because she never red lined it or rode it as it was intended. You need to rev these inline fours their entire life. I'm not saying blast it every time you ride it, but they need to stay cleaned out...because...Detonation is the devil.

She rides it 5000 miles with no issues. He rides it one weekend and brings it back smoking and using oil. I think I'd never lend a bike to that guy again.

I haven't redlined or come close to redlining a bike in 20 years. None of my bikes have ever smoked or used oil.