It's amazing what an oil change can do

[Cayman911]

my bike dont even have an oil filter lmao. hardcore aye, thanks honda.

[Conquiztador]

There are a few car engines out there that it is stated that when doing a oil change once filled and upon starting the motor let the engine build oil pressure under low pressure with the motor running at idle without any load otherwise damage may occur same can be applied to motorcycle engines as well due to the smaller size of the oil pumps & finer oil galleries that circulate oil around the engine

And here I was thinking we all did that, as it just makes sense.

[Logpot]

I've heard from people who own CBR250s that semi synthetic is best in these engines, so I'll probably stick with the Castrol semi synthetic bike oil and change it often.

Spectro in mine - similar engine to the CBR and I can't fault the stuff

[SMOKEU]

Spectro in mine - similar engine to the CBR and I can't fault the stuff

The Castrol always seems to stay quite a fairly pale colour as well, even after 5,000km.

[AllanB]

The Castrol always seems to stay quite a fairly pale colour as well, even after 5,000km.

Seriously for the same $, I recommend you trying one of the other Semi's on the market next time. After many, many years using Castrol I'm well off it.

[SMOKEU]

Seriously for the same $, I recommend you trying one of the other Semi's on the market next time. After many, many years using Castrol I'm well off it.

I'll give that a go next time round.

[MarkH]

My scoot's manual says to change the oil every 6,000kms and filter every 18,000kms. But the filter only costs about $8.50 for the genuine Suzuki one, so I just say "bugger it" and change it with every oil change.

[pritch]

There are a lot of threads about oil on most bike groups. Many generate more heat than light.

What follows is my favourite. YMMV, and others will have their favourites. I offer this for your information and edification, not to start an argument.

It's a long read, but if you persist you will know why motorcycles are hard on oils.

You will know which type of oils offer better protection and why. You will know how to identify them by the information on the label.

You will know that some oils are not quite what they claim, you will know which, and you will know why. This latter is important because some of you are using those oils.

Following on from that you may realise that it is just possible that some riders may know more about oil than the guys who designed their bike. If it's a Ducati anyway.

The posts you are looking for are those by Georgecis, he was an industrial oil professional.
Don't try and contact him, he died. I'm not sure if the two things are connected, but he suffered a head injury in a track accident and some time not *that* much later he died suddenly. If you read the posts you will realise that we all lost a valuable asset when George passed on.


http://www.ducatimonster.org/forums/...motor-oil.html

Maybe i should have used the word "should" where I used the word "will", but I have faith in you guys. I think.

[scracha]

My scoot's manual says to change the oil every 6,000kms and filter every 18,000kms. But the filter only costs about $8.50 for the genuine Suzuki one, so I just say "bugger it" and change it with every oil change.

You guys must have waaaay too much money or listen too much to the bike shop mechanic inspired propoganda. Modern engines are bulletproof. After the initial running in period the main problem they have to cope with is moisture. Put in a good quality oil and change it once a year. Warm it up properly and ride gently for first 10 kays. Done this for past 17 years on all my road bikes*, had NO problems** and many of the bikes I did pretty high kays (6 years of regular commute to Edinburgh*** and back did 23,000K a year, never mind the other riding) and usually owned for 3 or 4 years. Engine strip down on 1 of them revealed no damage and mates who bought the bikes from me had no problems.

If for some reason I did blow up an engine then I've more than paid for it with the saved time and money (plus think of all the wasted oil I've NOT polluted).

Black engine oil does not mean it needs changed. It's an old wives tale...again I reckon inspired by grease monkeys. Correspondingly, non-black engine oil does not mean it doesn't need changed.

Changing your engine oil every 1000 kays is a crock of shite and causes MORE engine damage.

*bar the three Suzuki 2 strokes I owned cos they seize/hole pistons every 3000Km or 2 months
**ok...and bar GPX750 POS that was owned for 3 weeks (and oil changed) when previous spanner monkey overtightening cylander head bolts causing them to crack caused engine to implode.
**bearing in mind regular well below freezing conditions compared to godzone that the engine had to start in

[MarkH]

You guys must have waaaay too much money or listen too much to the bike shop mechanic inspired propoganda.

Actually I go by the manufacturers recommendations, not the bike shop mechanics and Oil changes are pretty cheap for me. I do the change myself so I pay nothing for labour and the change only requires 1.3L of oil + $8.50 for a filter. I get 3 oil changes out of 4L of oil.

[MarkH]

You will know which type of oils offer better protection and why. You will know how to identify them by the information on the label.

http://www.ducatimonster.org/forums/...motor-oil.html

Thanks for the link - lots of good info (I'm only about 20 pages in).

On a related note:
Does anyone know where I can find Mobil 10W-40 4T oil? I tried to find it when I got the scooter because I had been using Mobil 1 in the car and the manual recommended 10W-40 oil, but I've yet to see the stuff anywhere.

[SMOKEU]

Actually I go by the manufacturers recommendations, not the bike shop mechanics and Oil changes are pretty cheap for me. I do the change myself so I pay nothing for labour and the change only requires 1.3L of oil + $8.50 for a filter. I get 3 oil changes out of 4L of oil.

Phuck that's a small sump!

[scracha]

Actually I go by the manufacturers recommendations, not the bike shop mechanics and Oil changes are pretty cheap for me.

Manufacturers cover their arse and will err well on the side of caution with regards to oil change frequency.

Bike shops make fark all selling bikes so it stands to reason the manufacturers will underestimate the oil change frequency in order that the bike shops can make some pesos.

Just think about it for a minute.

[SMOKEU]

Manufacturers cover their arse and will err well on the side of caution with regards to oil change frequency.

From what I've seen, they tend to do the opposite.

[scumdog]

From what I've seen, they tend to do the opposite.

Yeah, I DO wonder at these: "By our (insert favourite brand of bike here) and you will only need to change oil every 50,000km or every 5 years" kind of manufacturers advertising blurb.

And it seems from comments here that despite the improvements YOU noticed in your bikes gear-shifting etc that you were in fact wasting your time and money....

Or have I read the comments wrong??/ (again!)