06-03-2014, 04:26 PM
Not long after I took delivery of my CB1100, I stopped by my favorite local independent bike shop to show it off. The shop owner previously worked for Honda Racing Corporation and was Miguel Duhamel's lead technician. He has one other person on staff, who was a mechanic at a local Honda dealership for 25 years until they had to close their doors. I feel very confident in their combined knowledge and tend to pick their brains whenever I get the chance. By the the time I stopped by the shop, I probably already had a little over a hundred miles or so on the bike. When the subject of break-in came up, they said to make sure that I had it fully warmed up before doing anything too crazy and to avoid constant RPMs for long stretches. Other than that, just ride it like I normally would, and then some, even taking it up around the redline if I felt like it. Then they reiterated that I should take it easy until I was sure the engine was warmed up. Honestly, I've never tended to baby new engines all that much, although I've always tried to avoid long stretches at constant RPMs early on. Still, I was caught a little off guard by the fact that they didn't frown on visiting the upper end of the RPM range so early on. Regardless, I didn't go there right away as I rarely wind it out that much anyway. Every once in a while though it's fun to experience.