I'll add that I usually lube my chain on the motorcycle lift. Start the bike click it into gear and let the idle spin the wheel while you spray on some lube.

No Toil filter are great. Here's a bit of a money saver for the notoil users. You can clean the notoil oil from the filters using Oxyclean. It does a great job, and is not as expensive as the notoil cleaner.
Dan

 

Had a decent ride today. Still reluctant, however, to open the throttle because the owner's manual recommends that a new bike be limited to 4,000 RPM for the first 800 kilometres, and then 6,000 RPM for the first 1,600. (Stupidly, I opened it up far beyond that during the first 40 kilometres, so now I'm treating the bike like a trailer princess until I rack up more mileage.) Anyways, after inspecting oil level, brake fluid and chain, I took it easy down a trail. Clumps of muck were getting flung everywhere. Pretty soon I could see and hear a clump of mud rubbing against the drive chain, so I pulled over, removed the housing (not sure what this part is called) for the drive chain using my tool kit and cleaned out the muck. After riding, I sprayed the bike down, gave the chain a rinse with water and lubed the chain with Castrol fully synthetic chain lubricant. Don't have a kickstand yet, so I applied the chain lube, wheeled the bike forward and repeated until the entire chain was lubed up. I’ll let the lube settle until tomorrow before riding again. Next time I'll try the WD-40 method: apply, clean using toothbrush, then rinse the chain with a garden hose. Finally I'll apply chain lube. After that I'll try cleaning the air filter, even though my KLX will probably have registered less than 150 kilometres. Awesome advice guys. Any suggestions about proper ways to go about breaking in new bikes would also be greatly appreciated.

 

I would not worry too much about the factory break in......I have just put 1300 miles on my SF,up to about 7000rpm in each gear then around 800 miles wandered into the red the odd time.

Seems to be ok.

 

No need to be too paranoid about your break in. Just change the oil a few times during the break in period, and avoid long periods of steady rpms.

Another idea for your air filter that I can swear by is Filter Skins. This is a stretchy sock which is oiled and then fits over your air filter. They say it catches 90% of the dirt before it gets to your filter. I can't prove that, but I've been using these for about a year now, I've come back from rides where the filter skin was filthy brown from thick dust or even coated with sand from the dunes. I pulled the filter skin off and the filter itself looked like new. There's three in a pack, so you can pull a dirty one off, and put on a new one within minutes. I pre-oiled mine and put each one in a zip-loc bag.

Filterskins PC1386 PCRacing USA

 

You can always use a 5 gallon bucket for a temporary bike stand. I've been doing this a long time and have never owned a real bike stand. Just a few buckets.

My bark buster wood splitter is much safer than the car ones, it is a tractor PTO mounted one. So the 30HP diesel engines loafs along at a medium rpm and I set behind it splitting rounds and chucking them.

 

I checked the youtube for a splitter like yours. They hooked a 'safety rope' to the tractor's coil wire for emergency stop. And in one set the log whipped around and I could see a broken wrist in someone's future if they weren't careful. Scarey contraption. I'd probably use it .

My current bike stand is a cinder block. The plastic 5-gallon bucket cracked, and the cinder block is easier to roll the bike up on to.

 

Not as wconcerned about the break-in period anymore, after research and words of advice, but am still taking it a little easy because the manual says so. Had some good revs today, kept them below 6,000 RPM. It's bloody muddy in these parts, so today I cleaned the chain with WD-40, scrubbed lightly with a toothbrush, rinsed with low pressure water, then applied lube. Forgot to try leaning the bike over on the sidestand, shifting it into neutral (while engine is off, obviously) and rotating the wheel. Rather I applied lube, wheeled bike forward, and repeated until chain looked fully lubed, then wheeled it around in neutral for a little while. Looks good, I must say. By the way, when you're riding, is it normal to hear the chain rotating? It's a little louder at higher speeds, but I'm not really worried about it because it sounds like its circulating smoothly. It's probably normal. Also, why is it bad to ride at continuous RPM's? How are you supposed to ride if, say, you're doing 80 to 100 kilometres per hour (about 50 to 60 miles per hour) on the highway for 25 minutes? Would appreciate suggestions. Right now I have about 120 kilometres on my 2011 KLX250S. Oil level is topped up, but looking forward to my first oil change at around 200 clicks or so, as suggested during break-in period. Going to pick up solution for air cleaner this week, just to try cleaning it for the first time. By the way, when you're resaturating the air cleaner, do use engine oil? I have so many questions. Thanks again, everybody. This forum is totally awesome.

 

I use MFR chain lube and really like it. It's thin and watery and dries quick, dirt doesn't stick that much. Supposedly it bonds with the metal to reduce friction (MFR=metal friction reducer). Whatever the hype it seems to work. My KLR chain has 15K miles on it and still going strong.

BTW, I use the tip-it-over-on-the-kickstand-and-knock-it-into-gear method of lubing the chain too.

 

hear the chain? yes, but pay attention to changes over time. It's usually quieter after a clean/lube. If it's a lot quieter after a lube, clean and lube more often. Listen for 'funny' sounds there and keep an eye on it. Roll your wheel around while the bike is on a stand and inspect it now and then.

constant rpms are not good for break-in, car or motorcycle. Find somewhere other than the highway to ride for initial break-in where you can vary the revs. Or at least slow down, speed up, repeat.

engine oil on the filter? I use a filter-specific oil, but assume that just about any oil is better than a dry filter.

use the forum's search function and you'll find lots of good recommendations on your questions.

 

Good advice here Brittlebrain!