New to Polaris this year and picked up a very gently used VR1 850. Under 200 miles. Any break in suggestion from anyone? Our ski doos would go sometimes several hundred miles under breakin. But from what I’ve read, Polaris seems to be a tank of gas. Also, anyone had bad luck with Mystik oil? It’s about $40 a gallon cheaper.
Break in and oil question.
sg35
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With a new engine, its short wide open bursts for the 1st tankful, along with varying the throttle during the first ride. I've already posted above we've used polaris blue, or spectro dino oils for initial breakin, later switching to spectro syn-sno snowmobile oil. Guys I know here are using it in their axys 800 sleds for years with zero issues, but run whatever you want.....there isn't any oil police that are going to write you up.
I'm usually pretty easy on the flipper for the first 15 miles or so. After that some WOT pulls to 60 or 70 fairly often. After the first tank I ran them as hard as I want.
2023 XCR 850 128", 2020 Indy XCR 800 128", 2011 IQ Turbo 121"
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I do similar to some of the other comments. I'll take it easy for the first half hour or so, maybe limiting to a max of half throttle. i want to keep an eye on things - make sure it is smoking like it should be when in break-in mode and making sure it is taking oil from the reservoir and that all the oil lines are filled as they should be. If everything looks good, then start running a little faster with short bursts of WOT and time between to settle everything down. By the time I have a couple hours on the engine, i'm doing WOT runs to 60-80mph, whatever the terrain comfortably allows. You will notice the engine picking up more WOT RPM as it breaks in. Once the first tank of fuel is through the sled, pretty much just ride it.
Would it be a bad idea to before the first trip, use a track stand and break it in while on the stand for let's say 5 minutes. Giving the throttle several quick burst of full throttle followed by idle, alternating the two. What do you guys say? Where I ride I have at least 15 minutes drive to get to areas where I can hold it to the bar.
If the first hour or so of riding is in a limited speed area, the operator can give full throttle bursts along with the brake, to limit actual acceleration.
Owners manual advice is on page 137 of the MY26 flatland 2 stroke owners manual.
Automatic engine break-in timers are based on
engine run time above 3,500 rpm.
Fuel injectors 2% additional fuel for 2 hours.
Engine oil pump enrichment 15% additional oil for 10 hours.
Owners manual advice is on page 137 of the MY26 flatland 2 stroke owners manual.
| Excessive heat build-up during the first three hours of operation will damage close-fitted engine parts. Do not operate at full throttle or high speeds for extended periods during the first three hours of use. Vary the throttle openings and vehicle speeds to reduce friction on all close-fitting machined parts, allowing them to break in slowly without damage. |
Automatic engine break-in timers are based on
engine run time above 3,500 rpm.
Fuel injectors 2% additional fuel for 2 hours.
Engine oil pump enrichment 15% additional oil for 10 hours.
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LOL. It uses HCS as a source...
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I was told that the most important thing during break in is no constant speed. The rest doesn't matter as much.
Exactly this. Not the same speed for extended periods and vary it.
A groomers nightmare!
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We run new engines, or freshly rebuilt ones for short bursts on a dyno, or out in the field always under load. You need to build cylinder pressure for good ring seating. Not a great idea to do this on a track stand when at wide open throttle...at the least for safety reasons.
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Rings will eventually seat using a 100% synthetic, but usually long term performance isn't quite as good. Semi synthetic is ok imo. We have a rule here....baby the flipper, and you'll end up with a turd.
I see, but if safety was not a concern are you saying that the motor does not get loaded enough on a stand? I thought it was more of a get the motor to rev thing.
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The newer Polaris engines all use Nicasil cylinder coating designed to last a long time. And use single rings on the pistons.
As I stated earlier, I ran my new 2015 Polaris 800 from day 1 on VES synthetic. It did NOT use one drop of DINO oil. I performed periodic compression and leakdown tests. The engine did take a few hundred miles of trail riding using numerous short bursts of WOT to break the rings in and make decent power. During that time, I raced my sled against many others with great results. I also used a Gtech accelerometer to log performance. I documented all of this in a special thread I started on HCS to help refute some of the false predictions spouted on here like this one.
Additionally, DTR mentioned how to break these newer Polaris engines in in their testing of these engines and showed the gradual increase in power as a result. In my experience, synthetic oil was at least as good as any other oil and in some cases, much better. One of my riding buddies on our first ride had the dealer drain all synthetic oil and replace it with Legend semi-synthetic Oil in his new Pro-S 800. We raced many times and it showed no advantage whatsoever. In fact, my sled was slightly faster. But, he later experienced a severe drop in performance due to other causes and finally sold it. What may have worked in older Polaris engines with cast iron bores and double ring pistons isn't necessarily the answer today.
As I stated earlier, I ran my new 2015 Polaris 800 from day 1 on VES synthetic. It did NOT use one drop of DINO oil. I performed periodic compression and leakdown tests. The engine did take a few hundred miles of trail riding using numerous short bursts of WOT to break the rings in and make decent power. During that time, I raced my sled against many others with great results. I also used a Gtech accelerometer to log performance. I documented all of this in a special thread I started on HCS to help refute some of the false predictions spouted on here like this one.
Additionally, DTR mentioned how to break these newer Polaris engines in in their testing of these engines and showed the gradual increase in power as a result. In my experience, synthetic oil was at least as good as any other oil and in some cases, much better. One of my riding buddies on our first ride had the dealer drain all synthetic oil and replace it with Legend semi-synthetic Oil in his new Pro-S 800. We raced many times and it showed no advantage whatsoever. In fact, my sled was slightly faster. But, he later experienced a severe drop in performance due to other causes and finally sold it. What may have worked in older Polaris engines with cast iron bores and double ring pistons isn't necessarily the answer today.
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Well If I learned anything here...nothing beats your sleds, their always faster broken in with synthetic oil .
I always thought he who does their homework tuning a sled is usually faster.
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We always showed the best breakin results when the engine is loaded. Don't like to just free rev them to the moon.
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legend is mineral based not semi synthetic oil.
Doesn't provide enough load on the stand.
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If it has around 200 miles then it should already be broken in. If was gently used then I would run the snot out of it immediately hope the rings seal up. Gently used is not what you want for the first couple hundred miles.
When I rebuilt my 23 Assault that had the aftermarket turbo on it, I warmed it up on the track stand then took it to the lake. There was zero snow on the ice, I ran it easy down a 1/4 mile, came back, let it cool. I did that a couple few times and then got on it hard a couple passes, 200 plus hp. After that I took it on a trip, drove it hard again. 100 miles later leak down was 2 percent. It was run on Polaris oil. They need to be broke in hard.
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Your link literally proves his point as it's a reference to a post here on HCS.
"While some products like the Legend ZX-2R and ZX-2SR are confirmed to be 100% mineral-based oils with no synthetics, Legend oils also combine features of mineral oil with synthetic properties."
Also, from the Legend site:
ZX-2SR - Legend ZX-2SR is a mineral based, 2-stroke, racing oil engineered for maximum power, minimal exhaust residue, and superior engine protection regardless of temperature or RPM.
ZX-2R - Legend ZX-2R is a mineral based, 2-stroke, non racing oil engineered to outperform the most expensive synthetics.
What other Legend oils were you using in your buddy's sled that were "semi-synthetic"? This I gotta hear...
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