How to Break in Your New ATV

Steps To Take Before Riding Your New ATV

Getting a new ATV can be exciting. You’ve already planned out thrilling off-road adventures and you can hear the sound of the tires hitting the gravel in your head.

Unfortunately, you can’t simply start riding your ATV off the bat. Before your new ride is ready for regular riding, you’ll need to go through an early testing process known as “breaking in.” This easy process is crucial to your ATV’s life and performance, but many riders are impatient and skip it or rush through it. To avoid expensive, hazardous problems down the line, break in your vehicle with these simple steps.

What Does It Mean to Break In a Vehicle?

When you first purchase a vehicle, its parts need a chance to warm up and get used to being used on the road together. “Breaking in” a vehicle refers to the process in which you run the vehicle on a light load or low power. The term is often used in reference to the engine, but any part of a vehicle can be broken in. Check your vehicle’s user manual for more information about how your vehicle should be tested upon purchase.

READ MORE: Tips For First Time ATV Owners

Why Is Breaking In Important?

Breaking in helps the vehicle’s engine smoothly get used to expanding and contracting, which will ensure that it is aligned properly. Otherwise, overworking an engine immediately after purchasing it can damage its cylinders, which creates many problems.

READ MORE: Common ATV Problems and How To Resolve Them

How to Break In Your New ATV

Warm It Up and Rev It Up

When you first begin breaking in your four-wheeler, you’ll want to give it a few minutes to warm up. This should take less than ten minutes, though it will ultimately depend on the engine’s size and the liquid’s ability to cool. In the future, it’s a good idea to do this whenever you ride your ATV.

Do a 20-Minute Active Engine Run
Once your quad is warmed up, let its engine run for 20 minutes. This is a crucial step, as you’ll be able to test out your vehicle’s basic ability to function. During the engine run, test out different throttle settings, going between idle and 70% throttle. Unless you notice any alarming mechanical issues, slowly increase the throttle, now testing out the 50% to 80% range. If everything is fine, continue on to running the vehicle as if it were being taken for a real ride.

Change the Oil and Filter

The work you’ve done up to this point has taken burrs and metal bits off of the piston rings, cylinder bores, and bearings they were attached too. As a result, these bits have contaminated the oil. The only way to deal with this is to change the oil.

It’s recommended that you install a new filter before filling up with new oil. Use conventional oil rather than synthetic oil. This will help continue the rest of the breaking-in process smoothly.

Don’t Go Too Hard, Too Fast

Taking it slow and steady is always a good approach to breaking in any type of vehicle. Overwhelming the engine can disrupt the process. Rather than trying to rush through the break-in period, consider running the vehicle and changing the oil over multiple trials, increasing the throttle and length each time.

Run Your Engine Normally

As you continue breaking in your four-wheeler, run the engine as you normally would on the road. This important step gives you the opportunity to test the vehicle’s proper functions in the manner that you can actually expect to ride with. Do this for at least five hours – you want to give your vehicle the chance to demonstrate any last-chance issues before you’re finished testing.

READ MORE: Features to Look For in a New ATV Purchase

Do a Second Oil and Filter Change

It’s important to change the oil multiple times to ensure that no debris is left in the fuel. Now that you’ve finished testing out your engine’s performance, it’s time to give it one last oil change.

This time, replace your oil with whatever kind of oil you plan on using permanently.

Enjoy As Normal

Now that you’ve completed breaking in your vehicle, you can ride confidently, knowing you’ve settled the engine in at an appropriate pace and cleaned out the oil filter of any debris. Now, there’s only one thing left to do: take your ATV on its first real ride.

These steps have ensured your safety and your vehicle’s functioning, and you should be ready to take on any terrain. Of course, ride safely, and regularly monitor your vehicle for any maintenance issues. Take care of your ATV, and it will take care of you.