Breakin in new bikes

I do whatever the owners manual recommends.  I figure they know as much as anybody else.

Ride it like ya stole it.

The assemblers at the factory aren’t breaking it in before they crate it up. Ride it how you would if it had 40 hours on it. 

I usually cartwheel them into the woods first ride then there good to go

Then they ride it again at the dealer before they deliver it to the customer, it's certainly broke in. 

I'd recommend going over every single bolt though. Buddy just picked up a '24 350sxf and he had a pinched o-ring on the slave and about 8 bolts that were backed out or finger tight all around the case. 

Before it even hit’s the dirt i:

Re-grease all bearings on the bike.

Take off the tyres and lube the spoke niples.

Change the tubes.

Grease triple clamp bolts.
Change handlebar/grips.

Change seatfoam to a firmer.

Grease chain tensioner bolts.

Then that i start it up, let it idle until warm and turn it off.

After it has cool down i start it up again and this time i rev it little until warm and then give it a couple of minutes of calm riding.

With the bearings properly greased and same with spoke nipples i don’t have to touch the wheels in the next 20-30h normaly.

It’s better to do it the proper way on a new bike instead of 1000 little things during the first rides that come loose etc.

Years ago folks would ship the suspension for custom set-up before turning a lap.  Today’s forks & shocks are so good that sometimes only a fluid change is required.

Also, after the first hour or so, loosen the contact points (bars, clamps, etc.) for that satisfying groan/creak and retighten. Don’t forget that second part. Ask me how I know…

Install spoke skins is about all I do. 

Let the big girl eat, change the oil after the first ride, and let her eat some more.

First time out I’ll usually take it easy for a few laps just to learn the bike a bit, but after that it’s normal operation. My grandpa always told my dad when he got new bikes, “if I won’t hold together now, it won’t hold together later.” After the first ride day the oil gets changed, go over nuts and bolts, check spokes and grease everything. 

Not sure if they still do or not but Yamaha engines use to have a quick run on the dyno to make sure it was assembled correctly before it gets put in the chassis to ship. Like said above. I do one heat cycle and then go twist the grip off of it. If you break it in like a turd it will be a turd. You start right off with carbon build up doing all that crap the manual says. The manual is there to cover the oem's ass if it does blow early. I had an R6 drop valves at 115 miles. I had a new engine in 4 days.

I would do 2 30 minute light riding session's not revving it out then WFO

My "break in" is pretty much just verifying nothing leaks. Run it for a minute or two on a stand and if everything looks good take it around the track two or three times real easy and if everything looks good at that point the break in period is done. On a new bike (or rebuilt engine) I do oil changes at one hour, three hours, and six hours just to verify everything looks good.

Spray paint all the plastic black, then install Metal Mulisha stickers.

That's about all I do. As a matter of fact, if you saw me out on the track you would think I'm doing my break in ride. 

Ride it like you stole it to seat the valves properly. Stay away from deep loam for a couple hours just so it doesn’t too heavy a load on the trans. Change the oil filter and oil and let her sing 

In the last 20 years I've had about 20 bikes. I rebuild suspension in the winter months. Grease linkage and steering stem. Ive always found the bikes greased well from the factory. I will never "frame" a new bike until im retired and have nothing better to do

Ride around at a normal pace for 1 session. No rev limiter. Change the oil. Good to go.

Obviously, I think the OP was looking for the technical type stuff

Do whatever you want. I have a hard time believing the manufacturers would ship out bikes that rely on new owners to “properly” break-in considering most people don’t seem to read manuals and just want to get out and ride. 

Mine says to change the oil @ 15hrs AND to do the piston while you are at it. I always laugh at the manual says guys.

I guess that the guys in Belgium and Holland can’t take their new bikes to the track then. 
 

Who cares on the first day? Run it in a field and have some fun. Hit a turn track and get used to how it feels. No big deal 

What color !!

Does it matter?

I will say though, that I ride faster with pink. 

Full chassis grease and torque.  I ride around the neighborhood for a few min after doing a couple heat cycles and change the oil. I take it somewhat easy on the first ride, mainly just try to not rag the absolute crap out of it for the first 30 min or so, then ride as normal.  Change the oil again after the first ride.  

30-60 seconds on stand, ride in middle of RPM range for 5-10 minutes then pull in to check for leaks. Then let it rip.

There's no science to it these days, manufacturing process and materials are so good you're not really seating anything.

Let it get up to operating temp before you go out and don’t whack the throttle. Take it for a 20 min ride somewhere you can go up and down all the gears but not WFO. Let it cool all the way down. Repeat same thing. Dump the oil and clean the oil screens out. Fill er up and let er rip.