I just bought a sweet new red 2008 Vulcan Nomad. For fun I have been looking into how to break-in the engine and I came across this site http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm. The problem is that it totally contradicts everything that I know and have heard about breaking in a new vehicle. In short the site says that the bike should be ridden hard for the first bit with an oil change at 50 miles. I have come across another site that suggest a similar treatment. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?  

I would suggest breaking her in just like kawi says in the om. basicly riding her hard for the first 50 miles means you are punishing the engine with all that break in metal that is bound to come off and get in the oil,  plus the engine oil is contaminated with all the different assembly lube the techs use when putting her together.  I purchased a 2001 vt1100 sabre that was broke in hard, and even though the old girl ran great and would eat hd 1200s for breakfast she would go through a quart of oil every 1500 miles, not good!!!! Kawasaki wants your bike to run for a long time, they engineered it and they built it, listen to them, you will be glad you did!!! I have a 2005 nomad I purchased new and broke in right , waited until after the 600 mile oil change to get above 55 mph then changed the oil, put on the pipes and new map computer, have run 10-30 full sysntehtic from that point on, almost 15000 miles later, no oil use and runs like new!!!  

I broke in an 800 following Kawi's recommendations (1st bike).
My result was my mechanic told me it was one of the best running 800's that he ever ran into.

Flip side. I understand the "short sharp shock" approach too. I suspect it may help if done accurately, and not too soon.  That being said, people who crank the new bike are likely to crank early and often. That's not what the "hard ride" breakin are saying.  

This has been a talked about issue for a long time. I remember being advised back in the 60's, to break it in the way you're gonna run it. It didn't matter if you were talking about farm tractors, cars or motorcycles.

If you're gonna run it harder than it can reliably handle, then it stands a good chance of breaking down during the warranty period, no matter how you break it in. Otherwise, it'll probably hold up fine, unless there's a manufacturing defect, no matter how you break it in.

regards,
Joe