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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 1:53 pm
by jeff_connors
Very good advice. Good filters are, believe it or not, Walmart brand. $2.00 fo r those that can use them. I have found that Suzuki takes the $6.00 STP brand from AutoZone and my Kawasaki's take the WalMarket brand. Cheap compared to dirty oil. Change it often and ALWAYS change the filter.
flynrider wrote:One thing I would recommend to those that store the bike for the winter is to change the oil right before you store it. Oil picks up moisture and acids as a byproduct of combustion. You don't want that stuff eating away at the inside of your engine and tranny while it sits for several months.
For that reason, I change every 3,000 miles or every 4 months, whichever comes first. Since I ride year-round, it's usually the mileage interval that comes up before the time interval.
Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:14 pm
by TechTMW
This is a quote from a post I made a few months ago - to make a long story short - stick to the manufacturers recommendations for oil change intervals. Oil has come a long way (Especially synthetics) and does a much better job protecting your engine now more than ever.
Skier makes a good point. If you think that you need to change your oil more often, you should run for the recommended interval (Or even longer) and then have a sample of your oil tested. The test will tell you if you are harming your engine or not.
I took my 2002 VW Beetle (Turbocharged) to the dealer the other day to buy full synth oil. I usually change my oil (always full synth, w/ factory oil filter) every 10,000 miles (about once a year for that car).
Now, petroleum products in Italy are generally overpriced, and you can usually only find full synth oil at a dealership. So, my total bill for oil and filter was just under 100 euro (about $120.) I do the actual change myself. (It's cheaper, plus I don't trust anyone to put full snth in ... I am suspicious that they will put regular in and charge me for the good stuff)
Here in southern Italy, the average salary is pretty freakin low, and the average car is pretty old/beat up. It's a wonder they ever change their oil at all (They probably don't) I mean, most of these people can't afford heating fuel for the winter months, so it's no surprise that the cars don't get their oil changed frequently.
Anyway, just for fun, I asked the certified VW tech what he thought the proper oil change interval for my car should be. He responded ...
30,000 km's or two years with that oil should be about right for your car. Which is over 18,000 miles.
I can see some of the more ana of you shaking your heads in disgust right about now, but consider, here in Southern Italy there are literally a TON of older cars on the road. Probably 60 - 70% of them are 10 years or older. And they are all running ... and have probably had their oil changed very little. Interesting. I'm going to stick to my one-year 10,000 mile oil change. But it makes you think that the fabled "3,000 mile oil change" is a little silly if you are running a synthetic oil.
Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 12:51 am
by BRUMBEAR
Well the triumph's at least can be quite expensive at near$ 60 for 4 qts of triumph mobil 1 add an oil filter and new drain plug ring and your near $70 so I will stick with the manual and recomended changes which average out to about 1 time a season
Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 3:18 am
by scan
I end up doing it at the start and the end of the riding season plus a couple times in-between. During the off-season I ride a couple thousand miles plus the bike has to sit for a couple weeks at a stretch not running. Once regular riding season is back, somewhere between 2000 and 4000 miles. I think oils are tougher and bikes are tougher than the specifications. They always lean towards being extra careful (lawyers covering copany butts) and a lot of bike user are extra careful on top of that (being ana to protect thier baby). It is cheap insurance to do it often and do it yourself. You just have to find the groove in which you feel like grooving.