Oil change intervals

[Detroit Diesel Man]

At what intervaldo you all change your oil? I am using Rotella I get from work for the Diesels I work on...I know the owners manual says 1500Miles but being 30+ years old do you change it more frequently?


DDM

 

[Nessism]

2000 miles seems about right. You could do 1500 miles but any more frequent than that would be a waste I think.

 

[TheCafeKid]

Im freaking out if my oil gets above 2000 miles. 1700 ish is usually where i change it, or when the bike tells me its time. If the clutch starts feeling clunky, or the head starts getting a little louder, then I know ive roasted that oil and its time for new.. no longer than 2K though..

 

[kerrfunk]

I was just thinking of asking when folks change their oil.

How about this: a new filter with every oil change, or let it go longer?

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I put in a new filter every oil change. I start thinking about an oil change at 1500 miles. But the time a free afternoon weekend rolls around I might have between 1600-1800 miles on the oil. I try not to go 2000 miles, but that's the factory recommendation.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[tkent02]

Oil change, every thousand or so? Maybe a couple thou? Depends on how you ride, where you ride, what condition your engine is in, what oil you use, and how much you care about it. A bike with lots of blowby will ruin the oil sooner.
Bikes are harder on oil than cars.

Filter, cut open the old one, see how much metal in the form of tiny particles are in the folds of the paper. On a bike that's got many thousands of miles on it there isn't likely to be much. After a rebuild or on a new bike there will be a lot. So if there is little or no metal in the filter there is no need to change it. Unfortunately once you open it up it is destroyed so a new one is needed. If you have a magnetic drain plug, see if it is clean, or covered with metal particles. If it's clean the filter probably is too.

On the other hand, filters are cheap, taking the nuts off the cover every few months will keep them from seizing, piece of mind is a good thing.

Mostly I change them every time, tear it open, see nothing, and figure I just spent two bucks to find out the engine is still doing fine.

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

I change my oil and filter every 2K miles. Sometimes I will just change the oil after 1K if it has been setting for a few months

 

[hampshirehog]

I do mine, with a filter, between 1500 and 2000 miles. 500 miles after a motor rebuild. My lad's DR125 gets new oil every 1000 miles (pays as they get top end troubles if you stretch it and it's only a couple of pints anyway).

Incidentally I service a Bonnie for a guy in the village every year. He always asks for a full service as per the manual and I did this at the weekend. Last year he rode 40 miles.....my lawnmower subsequently had its first oil change in over 10 years

 

[bwringer]

Every 2,000 miles my GS850 gets fresh oil and a filter. Every other oil change, it gets a valve clearance check. I don't skip any, but I also don't get overly stressed about it if I'm on a long trip and it's a bit overdue.

I agree -- you can tell the difference in shifting and subtle engine noises when the oil starts getting a little old.

 

[Road_Clam]

I change my oil after enough leaks out to trip the low oil warning light. It's like a built in hour meter

 

[Nessism]

I change my oil after enough leaks out to trip the low oil warning light. It's like a built in hour meter

Get yourself a Suzuki and you won't have that problem.

 

[gs road racer]

Ed

he must be talking about a british bike but then if it had an oil warning light it wouldn't work anyways...lucas the prince of darkness.....

 

[COGS]

I, also, shoot for 2000 miles between oil and filter changes...I once put synthetic oil in my BMW K100RS so I could go 3000 miles...those additional 1000 miles were the longest miles I've ever ridden!

 

[DanTheMan]

I do 1500 mile or close oil changes. I only change the filter every 3000 miles though (Haynes shop manual has this method), no problems so far, and I've logged 50k miles on my bike since I bought it in '05.

 

[tkent02]

I, also, shoot for 2000 miles between oil and filter changes...I once put synthetic oil in my BMW K100RS so I could go 3000 miles...those additional 1000 miles were the longest miles I've ever ridden!

Separate oil for the gearbox, no wet clutch, well made low RPM engine.
That bike can let it's oil go a lot farther safely than a UJM.
It's basically a small car engine on it's side.
With a good synthetic oil I wouldn't even worry about going 3,000 or a lot more in that bike.
Even without synthetic I think they recommend 3,000.

On a Jap bike that's too far, if you want to keep it forever.

 

[DPage]

You guys are way too anal about oil changes.

A quote from the owner's manual of my '82 850G manual (the one with the pink cover): "Change the engine oil and oil filter at the initial 600 miles (1,000 km) and also at the initial 4,000 miles (6,000 km) check up. Thereafter, the oil and filter should be changed every 4,000 miles (6,000 km)."

A quote from the Clymer Manual: "Every 4,000 miles (6,000 km) or 12 months: Change engine oil and filter."

Is there some new information? How did we get down to 2,000 miles or less between oil changes, especially with Rotella and the better oils that are around now?

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Mr. DPage is right about one thing. We change our oil much more often than factory recommendations.

I just looked through the owner's manual for the GS850G. The oil and filter change were listed to be done at 600, 4000, 7500, 11000, and 15000 miles. Wow. I change the oil in my car every 3000 miles. But I don't mind changing my bike's oil every 2000 miles. I'm hoping to get over 100,000 miles before I have to do any motor work. We'll see.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Guest]

My Clymer manual, that covers 8 valve and 16 valve 750's, suggests every 3000kms for the 8 valve (2500km if 78 or earlier) and 5000 or 6000kms for the 16 valve (haven't got the manual handy so I'm not sure the exact amounts).

Why would there be a difference between the two?

 

[Steve]

Is there some new information? How did we get down to 2,000 miles or less between oil changes, especially with Rotella and the better oils that are around now?

Probably the same way everyone thinks you are supposed to change the oil in your car every 3,000 miles.

I don't know of any car manufacturer that recommends an interval anywhere close to that.

.

 

[tkent02]

It seems to me the manufacturer's recommendations will be good enough to make it last until the warranty is up. They recommend going 600 or 1000 miles on the first fill of oil in a brand new engine, people who build engines don't do that either. If you want the engine to last longer, change it more often.
Or not, engine rebuilds are cheaper than all those needless oil changes.