Honda mostly says it so you don't stuff it in the hedge on the first ride. They redline them at the factory when testing them before shipment. I've had 5 new bikes all broken in Motoman style and not had any problems. The only bike I've ever had burn any oil for an extended period of time is the BMW R1200GS. But they're notorious for burning oil until about 12000 mi. I broke my wife's 250 in that way. No problems.
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Some manufacturers are using a special break in oil. My buddy's KTM had that and we broke it in Motoman style and just left the oil in until the 600 service. Now he just has trouble with wind buffeting and keeping gas in it. BMW and Honda don't use that so I don't worry about it. I wouldn't doubt that your break in process had mostly to do with the clutch. Triumphs tend to have good clutch feel and that's usually attributed to materials.
After watching production videos and the way they run the bikes on the dyno to test them I stopped worrying about the break in issue. I do, however, load the engine smoothly and avoid jerking the throttle around, which is a bigger issue. Today's materials are so hard and well finished that you really can't hurt the motor unless you lug it or drone it on the freeway before break in. As a typical example, my GSA didn't stop burning oil until after I ran it hard for 24 hours straight from Lincoln, NE to Sacramento, CA and at that point it had 15,000 miles on it. Air cooled motors are a bit different though. I didn't understand how hard you had to run that motor for the rings to fully seat which is partly why it took so long.
After watching production videos and the way they run the bikes on the dyno to test them I stopped worrying about the break in issue. I do, however, load the engine smoothly and avoid jerking the throttle around, which is a bigger issue. Today's materials are so hard and well finished that you really can't hurt the motor unless you lug it or drone it on the freeway before break in. As a typical example, my GSA didn't stop burning oil until after I ran it hard for 24 hours straight from Lincoln, NE to Sacramento, CA and at that point it had 15,000 miles on it. Air cooled motors are a bit different though. I didn't understand how hard you had to run that motor for the rings to fully seat which is partly why it took so long.
What's really ironic about this thread is that according to the manufacturer's "break in " guidelines the Mototune process would be okay. It just says to avoid full throttle starts and avoid rapid acceleration. That's pretty vague. Also, the dealer didn't specify how low to keep the revs. 2-3000 rpm will glaze the cylinder walls and lug the motor. And, Mongoose didn't state his qualifications for being able to make the statement "I'm putting this to rest..." You guys are also ignoring the very large body of practical experience in both the sportbike and adventure bike markets and some of these guys have much more nuts and bolts experience than the average dealer. They've also done easy vs. hard break in routines and have had better results with the hard break in. I personally have had good experiences with breaking in my motorcycles that way. I have two liter class bikes that make over 160hp. You can't do that in a 1000 or 1200cc bike if you don't have good compression and all parts working as they should. I haven't had any bearing failures, camshaft galling or, if you're a GS rider, final drive failures. The fact that the factories test them to redline through all the gears before shipment hasn't been addressed either. So keep the rubber side down and stay out of the hedges.
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