New rider with a brand new bike... questions!

[peicynth]

Hey there,

I took the motorcycle training course back in April and loved it. I learned on small, old Yamaha, 125cc. I just got my brand spankin' new Ninja 500 and I have a few questions...

1) As a new rider, how do I break in a new bike? I'd much rather play around with it in my yard for a little while to get used to it, but I've been told that I need to keep it at a steady RPM for a certain amount of time to break it in...

2) How should I adjust my riding, going from a 125 to a 500?

3) Any tips for shifting? I heard a story from a buddy who had the bike fly out from under him because he shifted at the wrong time. My head tells me that I should shift at a certain RPM but I don't know if that's the case, or if it is, what that RPM would be. (Man this last question sounds stupid, but hey, no one knows me here, haha.)

Any other tips you have are much appreciated too. :) Thanks!

[YamahaFan]

1/ I'd go with the manual for the break-in process. I think it'd say keep it under certain RPM for how long,
2/ I wouldn't say much different, just a bit more power.
3/ Correct me if I'm wrong: As long as you know the bike it doesn't matter which RPM (but not too high). What matter is when and how you release the clutch.

[Schneiderman]

Don't ride around in your yard, street bikes don't like riding on grass (I've ridden my 500 off road but I've been riding since I was 8 years old).

Your RPMs should be varied while breaking it in, not steady. The manual says keep it under 4k for 500 miles, get the first service done, then under 6k for the next 500 miles. You don't have a lot of room to vary your rpms in, but you should try to vary your speed instead of just going 50mph everywhere.

There isn't any specific difference between riding the two bikes, they're just different styles of bike and you'll figure out how to ride the ninja through experience.

You'll develop your own riding style and figure out for yourself when you like to shift, but to since you're breaking in the bike you will be limited at shifting at or under 4k. You'll probably want to shift right at 4k most of the time. Doing this for 500 miles, it will become habit and once the bike is broken in you will probably find yourself comfortable shifting at 4k.

I shift mine at 4k most of the time.