Service intervals - what's yours?

[outlawtorn]

Hi all,

Just wondering what your service intervals are on your bikes? Mine is every 6000km's and my last service cost me $350 from Colemans, needless to say I'm shitting bricks for my next service which is due very soon. Does anyone know why bikes, or particularly Suzuki's Boulevards need to be serviced so regularly?

Cheers
J.

[vifferman]

I believe big v-twins are harder on their oil, so it needs frequentish changes.
Once your bike's out of warranty, do your own services, and then you can pick when you do them: every 6 months or every x000 km. A guy I work with hardly ever rides his bike, yet has to get it serviced anyway, just because it's new and he's worried how the service log will look if he doesn't get its next 6-monthly service done. (I've never had that problem, as I've never owned a new vehicle....)

[Cajun]

most japa bikes service intervals are every 6,000kms
my 600 i now do oil/filter every 5000kms at max.

the aprilia is every 10,000kms

[vifferman]

most japa bikes service intervals are every 6,000kms

I was reading somewhere this week (on KB? In a thread about Ducati service??) that the 6000km Japanese service interval thing was bogus, and done for some legal reason related to warranties. It's certainly not related to the longevity of the oil or engine parts.

[outlawtorn]

Yeah, my bike is still under warranty so I can understand the validity of regular servicing, but every 6000 k's makes me feel like someone is taking the piss....

Once it is out of its warranty period I'm defintely going to do the servicing myself.

[BOGAR]

For $350 I had a full service done(all fluids + plugs + and minor adjustments + full check over on bike) but if its just oil and filter I would expect it to be allot less. The easiest way I found to cover it is to have an account just for things like that and then work out how much a week to stick into it so you (in theory) always have the money. Just don't dip into it like I do and it works great. What did you have done for $350? :scratch:

[Cajun]

I was reading somewhere this week (on KB? In a thread about Ducati service??) that the 6000km Japanese service interval thing was bogus, and done for some legal reason related to warranties. It's certainly not related to the longevity of the oil or engine parts.

yeah i can think so somewhat, but not gonna do harm by changing oil more regularly.


Yeah, my bike is still under warranty so I can understand the validity of regular servicing, but every 6000 k's makes me feel like someone is taking the piss....

Once it is out of its warranty period I'm defintely going to do the servicing myself.

well even when bike was in warrenty, i would do things to limit to the cost of servicing, remove fairings, why pay someone $60+ an hour to remove fairings, always provoided my own filter/oil, but 600 been out of warrenty for a few yeras now, i do it all myself.

[SVboy]

I do my services-oil and filter at 3-3500kms. I stick to the manufacturers guide for medium services-air cleaner-clutch adjustment etc. I do it myself and use the factory manual. Oil interval is probably overkill, but my bike, my money and my piece of mind!!

[johan]

I've seen how much dirt the dry clutch builds up when I had a closed non vented clutch cover. I guess running a dry clutch would contaminate the oil a lot less, compared to a clutch sharing the oil with the rest of the engine and transmission.

The way I understand it is that oil breaks down a lot quicker if you run it outside its operating temperature (too hot). It looses it viscosity quicker and doesn't lubricate properly.

I don't see why a twin would be harder on the oil, what's your thought on that?

[trump-lady]

When sqiggles tell me :)

[vifferman]

I don't see why a twin would be harder on the oil, what's your thought on that?
I was talking about big-bore cruisers like Harleys and whatnot - there's special v-twin oils available for them. They're popular with the VFR crowd as they score very highly in oil tests for resistance to breaking down and other qualities.

Mobil says:
"Mobil 1 V-Twin oil is designed for air-cooled, large-displacement bikes. Because of their design, these engines can generate very high localized oil temperatures and high overall bulk-oil temperatures.

As you know, a typical air-cooled V-twin's rear cylinder gets a lot hotter than the front cylinder – it's a matter of airflow. When it's hot out and you're stuck in traffic, the oil temperature in your bike climbs rapidly. Above about 250°F, conventional motor oil is going to break down. Mobil 1 V-Twin synthetic oil is good to above 300°F."

But do a Googling on "v twin oils" - there's some interesting stuff turns up.

[johan]

That makes sense, thanks for that explanation!

[lankyman]

Hi all,

Just wondering what your service intervals are on your bikes? Mine is every 6000km's and my last service cost me $350 from Colemans, needless to say I'm shitting bricks for my next service which is due very soon. Does anyone know why bikes, or particularly Suzuki's Boulevards need to be serviced so regularly?

Cheers
J.

I do oil and filter on the viffer every 5 thou. Anything else just as is needed.

[xwhatsit]

1600kms! :mellow:

[Magua]

1600kms! :mellow:

I thought mine were frequent at 3000km. :wacko:

[Karl@Alpha]

Use a good oil, 10,000ks should be more than enough unless your racing.
At $140 for 4l of oil I'm gunna milk every last bit out of it!
And the book says 10,000k too...
I thought all bikes where 10,000+ now?
Have heard of 15 on some and some cars are doing huge distances between services.

[Magua]

Use a good oil, 10,000ks should be more than enough unless your racing.
At $140 for 4l of oil I'm gunna milk every last bit out of it!
And the book says 10,000k too...
I thought all bikes where 10,000+ now?
Have heard of 15 on some and some cars are doing huge distances between services.

$140 for 4L :0
Even with my oil changes being three times as frequent, I spend less on oil than you (good ol' mineral oil)

[Karl@Alpha]

$140 for 4L :0
Even with my oil changes being three times as frequent, I spend less on oil than you (good ol' mineral oil)

Yea but I like full synthetic oil, and its good oil!

[Owl]

Yea but I like full synthetic oil, and its good oil!

May I ask what oil?:blink:

[johan]

Yea but I like full synthetic oil, and its good oil!

How do you tell a good oil from a bad oil?

[AllanB]

I was reading somewhere this week (on KB? In a thread about Ducati service??) that the 6000km Japanese service interval thing was bogus, and done for some legal reason related to warranties. It's certainly not related to the longevity of the oil or engine parts.


Probably me!

My Hornet 900 owners books states 12,000 km intervals for oil/filter - the dealer says bring it in every 6,000. I checked around the world and 12k appears standard Honda oil changes on this model. I asked the dealer and he said to meet your warranty requirements, yes 12k as stated in the book is correct. But 6k changes are better.......

I personally would, and do change at least the oil at 6k, regardless as fresh blood is relatively cheap.

[P38]

$350 is steep for a Boulevard.

My last warrenty service for my Boulevard cost $219 but the bastards did loose my valve caps and for some unkown reason thought I wouldn't spot the black plastic replacements they chucked on. :Oi:

Now it,s out of warrenty the last service cost me a little over $100 for the Oil and a filter, $20 for a few beers and a very enjoyable afternoon fucking around in the garage sucking on some cold ones tinkering with my bike with no loss of any valve caps.

I used a Suzuki filter and 3.5 liters of Fuchs Silkolene Comp4 15w/50 oil.

After 3000kms it seems to be performing pretty good for me too.

Planning on buying more Beers, Oil and a Filter at 5000kms for another change.

A regular supply of good oil wil repay itself in engine longivity for sure

[Karl@Alpha]

May I ask what oil?:blink:

Amsoil, 10w40 Advanced motorcycle oil.
I've been useing it in the Triumph since new and Jax's M900 Ducati has had it for the last 60,000+ ks.
My father-in-law is a huge fan of it, run it in everything he has had for the last 20 years or so.
Got lots and lots of info on it if your realy bored and want to know more...
Other than those two everything else we have (8 bikes and a car) has Motul.

[Karl@Alpha]

How do you tell a good oil from a bad oil?

Has a halo...