As far as break in. I've been riding for 43 years and have owned and broken in over 70 new bikes, many of them Kawasaki. They have been recommending the same break in procedure for over 40 years! This tells me it's bullshit. It doesn't make sense, and is kind of ridiculous, to limit rpm to 4K and then all of a sudden, at a certain mileage, it's OK to go.

Not one of my bikes has ever consumed oil or didn't run strong. RPM's, up and down, are a good thing, as are moderate pulls, but don't redline the bike. You also don't want excessive heat or low rpm/higher gear loads. Moderately aggressive, but careful, break in is what I do. Every 50-100 miles, rpm's increase. Around 600 miles, I'm pretty much done. For another 100 miles or so, I'll use full throttle for short periods, but I won't bounce off the rev limiter. Then, let her rip.

Just my experience. Good luck with the bike.

Thanks guys. This bike has blown my mind with its smoothness, tightness, and ease-of-use. I finally switched to full power mode and it seems just fine. No issues or anxiety.

Even the seat is very comfortable. I can see why Kawasaki markets it as a tourer in other geos.

Mal, I always give engineers the benefit of the doubt. I too am doubtful that break-in procedures have needed to remain unchanged, but they must know what they're doing. 600 miles (plus a bit further at the higher RPM limits) isn't much anyway...if I wasn't busy with family engagements, I would've been done with it in a week max.

* Last updated by: ManiZ on 7/10/2019 @ 2:04 PM *