Total Motorcycle Community Forums

do you guys change the oil in your bikes? Do you change it every year in the spring or do you change it before you winterize it and then again in the spring? Also do you guys all use synthetic and what kind should I use on a 96 honda shadow deluxe vlx? Bike didnt come with an owners manual. maybe I should look online for one lol.

I plan on following the manufacturer's recommendation and changing it every 4400 miles.

That actually seems a bit long to me, so I'll probably change it every 3 months/3000 miles.

I use synthetic and change the oil and filter every 5,000 miles.

so you dont change it every 3 months or 5k miles whichever comes first?

*edit meaning you dont change it every spring after you winterized it and first started it back up.

I'd change every 3 months period. If the bike has been sitting for 5 months over the winter, I'd definitely change it before firing it up again even if there were 2 miles since the last change.

ofblong wrote:so you dont change it every 3 months or 5k miles whichever comes first?

5000 miles pretty much always comes first! But, no, to answer your question, I don't throw away $40.00 worth of oil just because it's 3-months old.

ofblong wrote: *edit meaning you dont change it every spring after you winterized it and first started it back up.

I ride late enough into the year and get the bike out early enough in the season to avoid fully winterizing it. I'll also ride in the odd instance that temps get above freezing and the roads are clean.

If I only rode 5000 miles per year then, yeah, I'd change it at the end of the season for storage then again in Spring during the season's prep. If that were the case, though, I'd also throw cheap dino-based motorcycle oil in it for cold storage purposes and switch to synthetic for the riding season.

ZooTech wrote:

ofblong wrote:so you dont change it every 3 months or 5k miles whichever comes first?

5000 miles pretty much always comes first! But, no, to answer your question, I don't throw away $40.00 worth of oil just because it's 3-months old.

ofblong wrote: *edit meaning you dont change it every spring after you winterized it and first started it back up.

I ride late enough into the year and get the bike out early enough in the season to avoid fully winterizing it. I'll also ride in the odd instance that temps get above freezing and the roads are clean.

If I only rode 5000 miles per year then, yeah, I'd change it at the end of the season for storage then again in Spring during the season's prep. If that were the case, though, I'd also throw cheap dino-based motorcycle oil in it for cold storage purposes and switch to synthetic for the riding season.

hehe thanks thats the info I was looking for . I plan on riding until about mid october (usually about when it starts snowing) and then maybe mid march get it back out again .

I don't go by time.

I have oil thats been sitting in my garage unopened for almost a year. Should I throw it out? No!

CNF2002 wrote:I don't go by time.

I have oil thats been sitting in my garage unopened for almost a year. Should I throw it out? No!

there is a difference between oil sitting in a sealed plastic bottle and oil sitting in a not so sealed pan. but good analogy .

I change oil every 1,200 miles, the filter gets changed every other oil change, it's cheap insurance. Also I don't allow oil that has been contaminated by combustion to sit in a bike all winter, it's hard on the bearings and seals. XS