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New ST Owner wondering about break in.

W

WashingtonApple

New member
I just got a new 2013 ST SM5 last week. I absolutely love it. I have read the manual and a lot of posts on the forum about the break in procedure. From what I've read it seems pretty simple, ride 600 miles and no hot rodding or lugging the engine, try to keep it between 4000 and 6500 RPM and don't go on any long freeway rides. The dealer I bought the bike told me to come back after 100 miles for a break in service. He said don't worry because there won't be any valve adjustment this time (he says that comes 3000 miles later) and it won't be "that" expensive. That doesn't match what the manual says and from my experience with buying the bike from him I don't have a lot of faith in anything he says so I thought I'd ask here and see what some of you experienced owners thought.

Also I work about 25 miles away from home and about 11 of that is on a 60mph freeway, is that too much freeway use in the first 600 miles? I have put 55 miles on it so far just buzzing around town and want to get some more miles racked up. Thanks for any advice!
 
1 Go by your Owners Manual
a. 600 Mile check up and have dealer sign Booklet!!!
b. Then 4,600 miles till next service!!
Check out the Do It Yourself section and video,s here and pretty soon you will do your own basic maintenance, oil changes and save a lot of $$$.

You should really have them sign off on the 600 mile check, But that being said I Never brought my RT in for any service 600 mile check because I do my own and recently picked it up after they replaced the Gear Angle sensor and put a New airbag kit at 9,000 miles and lent me a Loaner for the week they had it. I have known this dealer for 25 Years?
 
:agree: Go by your manual.....and worry about the dealer. If it was the salesman who told you that, write it off, they are often poorly informed. If it was the service department, I'd be searching for another dealer.
 
:agree: also...
And as far as your highway miles on the commute; vary your speeds up and down a bit, to give the bike the different rpm levels that it wants during the break-in. :thumbup:
There's got to be some time along that commute, when you can drop back for a few miles, and then bring it back to to it's normal commuting speeds...
 
600 mile service

Like they said, go by your manual. The first service is at 600 miles. Valve check for adjustment isn't until 14,000 miles. But many riders have reported that their valves needed no adjustment at 14,000 miles and the service is very expensive. Most have reported in the $600 to $800 range. If your ST seems to be running fine at 14,000 miles, tell the dealer to skip the valve adjustment check.
 
It was the salesman that told me 100 miles, and the finance manager that told me about the valve adjustment at 3000 miles as we was trying to sell me a maintenance plan for $1800 to cover the first 15000 miles, which I didn't get. The service manager just told me he needed to wrap the brake master cylinder and re-route some hose as per a service bulletin before I could have the bike, which took 4 days because he said he had to order the parts to do it. Not sure what that was all about, but the whole experience left me feeling I need to find a different dealer.
I will be doing the oil changes and basic maintenance myself, this is my first spyder but not my first bike. So I have done quite a bit of work on bikes before. I just installed a sport rack on my spyder yesterday so I can put a back rest on for my wife, who is afraid she is going to slide off the back.

On the way to work its not hard to vary my speed because traffic isn't very heavy, but on the way back it gets thick and 45mph is about as fast as it gets with a lot of stop and go in between. I figure I'll try to stay off the freeway and go on the back roads home as time is not that big of an issue then. All I know is buzzing around town is going to take a long time to rack up 600 miles, and I would like to get my bike ready for a few hundred mile road trip soon.

I'll call around to the local dealers (I think there are 4 of them) and see who has the best price and time for the break in service at 600 miles when I get near it. I also need to look into that gas boiling issue I have read about here on the forum too. I haven't experienced that yet and I don't want to! Thanks again for the help.
 
Ride it

Vary your RPM's with gear usage instead of concentrating on MPH. If you plan on running it for several hours, stop every hour or so and alow it to cool down. You'll be fine. Enjoy your new ride :thumbup: :doorag:
 
WashingtonApple said:
It was the salesman that told me 100 miles, and the finance manager that told me about the valve adjustment at 3000 miles as we was trying to sell me a maintenance plan for $1800 to cover the first 15000 miles, which I didn't get. The service manager just told me he needed to wrap the brake master cylinder and re-route some hose as per a service bulletin before I could have the bike, which took 4 days because he said he had to order the parts to do it. Not sure what that was all about, but the whole experience left me feeling I need to find a different dealer.
I will be doing the oil changes and basic maintenance myself, this is my first spyder but not my first bike. So I have done quite a bit of work on bikes before. I just installed a sport rack on my spyder yesterday so I can put a back rest on for my wife, who is afraid she is going to slide off the back.

On the way to work its not hard to vary my speed because traffic isn't very heavy, but on the way back it gets thick and 45mph is about as fast as it gets with a lot of stop and go in between. I figure I'll try to stay off the freeway and go on the back roads home as time is not that big of an issue then. All I know is buzzing around town is going to take a long time to rack up 600 miles, and I would like to get my bike ready for a few hundred mile road trip soon.

I'll call around to the local dealers (I think there are 4 of them) and see who has the best price and time for the break in service at 600 miles when I get near it. I also need to look into that gas boiling issue I have read about here on the forum too. I haven't experienced that yet and I don't want to! Thanks again for the help.
Click to expand...
Don't worry about some stupid salesman or a finance manager that is trying to get into your pocket. They may have just been misinformed or they may have been lying through their teeth to try to sell you something, but they don't count. Only the service manager, service writer, and tech count when it comes to service. Yours sounds reasonably well informed. He knew that he had to address the 2013 recall before the Spyder left the building. It would have been nice if they had the parts on hand, but I wouldn't count that against them just yet. If there are that many dealers nearby, look and ask around, and search SpyderLovers for anything about them. Don't count yours out just yet, however.
 
:congrats: on your new :spyder2:. I will spare you my usual break-in and valve adjustment post. Previous posters have you well covered.

I did 28,000 mile valve check last season and they did not need any adjustment. $800 out the door.

It is amazing some of the BS that comes from salespeople and finance people. One of the salespeople that I know, did not even know the current colors offered. :gaah:
 
The salesman that sold me the bike had to go ask somebody how to put it in reverse lol. I didn't know either though, I had ridden one for 2 days when I took the motorcycle class for getting my 3 wheel and sidecar endorsement on my license, which is why I decided to get one instead of a sidecar, but they never once had us put it in reverse during the class.
I put some more miles on it today, about 45, despite the rain and gloomy weather it was still a lot of fun. The rain has always given me serious anxiety on my Harley but no problems with the Spyder!
 
Forget the valve adjustment until at least 50,000 - 60,000 miles or more. Even then it is likely no adjustment will be needed.
 
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