SuperTuning Pocket Bikes

Once you bring home a new pocket bike, there are breaking in procedures that need to be done. It is easy to get excited and want to ride around at top speed but if you do not properly break in the bike you risk cutting the engine life by almost half. That means you will be pouring money to maintain the bike much earlier than you should. There are many techniques to properly break in your new bike but two of the most popular strategies stand out.

The first method of breaking in a new pocket bike is known as heat cycling. It begins by turning on the engine to idle or just above idle for about five or ten minutes. The engine will only be slightly warmed and still cooler than normal operating conditions. Let the engine cool down after the five or ten minutes of idling. Once the engine has cooled down, bring it back up by letting it idle for an additional ten minutes and then turn it off to cool down once more. Do this for a total of four cycles.

Once that is done and the engine has cooled for the final cycle, it is time to take the bike for a cruise. It is important not to rev the engine or speed up on this run because you don’t want to put too much stress on the engine. Just take it for a ride at a very easy pace for an entire tank of gas. Once the tank of gas is used up, you can refill and the bike will be ready for riding at normal speeds.

The second method of breaking in the pocket bike is considered to be more fun because it involves some riding action. First thing is letting the engine idle for about five minutes to warm up a little. Then, slowly bring up the throttle very gently. Bring it up to where the clutch would engage to keep the bike from lurching if there was too much throttle applied during riding.

When taking the bike for the ride, do one lap around the tracks at a very slow speed. This helps to break in the tires first. Then on the following lap the focus is on trying to hit as wide a range of RPMs as possible by accelerating and decelerating.

It is important that after the first lap you check that the engine is warmed up enough before beginning. During the fifteen minutes of riding remember not to push the engine too hard or too slow. To keep the clutch from burning you have to keep it from engaging completely. You will know if the clutch is fully engaged by the bucking feel or the noise of the engine.

While there are other ways to break in a new pocket bike, these are the two most popular strategies. And being something that you only have to do once, it definitely pays off in longer engine life. Do not forget to follow safety instructions and wear proper protective gear when riding at all times.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Pocket Bikes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.