Biddy - attached in quotes, is a post that I left on the Indian site the day I purchased the bike in India, it probably answers your question:
"I have just taken delivery of my new 500 RE today, and I am looking forward to the entire ownership process, starting with the running in. This is not something that one needs with other contemporary machines, either 4 wheels or 2, given the advances in machining and manufacturing technology in the last 30 years, that have passed RE/Bullets by, which, anyway is why I bought the Bullet in my return to 2 wheels for recreation - in preference to the plethora of sewing machines/food processors attached to two wheels that abound in India as well now.
Re running in, in this case I am not surprised the piston seized - as described, the engine has really not been run in at all, being used the way described. Even if this regime was followed for 3000 km, and then the engine opened up on the highway and held open as it can be for a fully run in engine, the piston would still seize. From my memories of older times - when men were men (!!!) and engines needed to be run in - here are some principles as I remember them - for the benefit of all owners of new REs
1. It is more important that the engine runs light, rather than road speeds are kept low - the worst thing you can do is to run at a speed in too high a gear - downshift earlier, rather than later. You can damage the engine permanently by running in 4th with the engine laboring when you really should have downshifted to 3rd - sooner rather than later. The engine may sound noisier in the 3rd gear, but it can take this treatment far better than laboring in 4th. I find on day 1, the 5th gear is almost a no no in any part of Pune.
2. Accelerate gently in the first 200kms, and progressively allow for more vigorous acceleration - regardless of which gear you are in.
3. Do not keep the throttle open for long bursts in the first 200kms, and start
extending the throttle open times as the kilometers mount, building up to full throttle bursts, in lower gears if that is all you have the road for.
4. If you are on a highway, keep giving the engine a break to cool down by shutting the throttle at frequent intervals, but make sure that when you open it again, the engine is not laboring - downshift to ensure this.
5. What you are trying to do is to do the final machining of the componentry inside to produce the high gloss of a well machined surface - and to do that you need to run high speeds with as light a loading as possible.
6. Finally, all the metal that you will remove from the "rough" machined parts by the RE factory in the running in process is going to fall in the oil - the engine oil, the gearbox oil, and the clutch oil bath. To get this metallic swarf out of the way is why RE recommends an oil change at the 500km interval - and doing this is vital, vital, vital. I would even recommend very strongly that the oils be changed once again at the 1500- 2000km mark, even if RE does not recommend this. And when changing the oil, stand there to make sure that this is done when the oil is hot, so that all of it flows out, fully, with all the metallic rubbish floating in it. And of course, remember to ensure that filters are changed wherever relevant.
I have missed this fun the last 20 years in the cars that I have bought, and the KB100 I used 15 years ago - and I am looking forward to the elbow grease that is so much the fun part of the Bullet!!
Resident experts - have I missed anything??!! "
On the Indian site, I did not get a single response to this post, I think that most folks there are more into how the bike looks and sounds, so that they are able to look different and cool! I am sure that this will get some interesting responses, starting with Dew probably, who is what may be called a contrarian - a lot of fun to everyone else by being that though, I must say!
There is also a lot of other material on the subject on this site too, that you will find useful.
The piston seizure referred to above was someone who had run in the bike well within the manual recommended speeds religiously, using the bike sparingly only on weekends, and once that regime was over, went on the highway, and ran the bike at close to full throttle for fifteen - twenty minutes, and had the piston seize on him.
I have done just 450 kms on my bike till now, and things are going very well so far,,,touch wood!