Quote:
Originally Posted by adouglas
In a typical season I'll ride about 4000 miles, just commuting and riding for fun. Since I always store the bike for the winter with fresh oil in it, I pretty much just change once a year.
If I take a trip or it looks like I'm on track to ride 6k or more for the year, I'll change more often. This year I'm hitting the track and I'll change it before that. But every 1k? Heck no.
You'll hear passionate arguments on all sides of this. You can find support for every possible position.
Just ask yourself this:
Have you ever, even once, heard of mechanical failure due to oil? (Except for failure from having none, that is.)
The reality of motorcycles is that very few get ridden until the engine actually wears out. So while it's not good to never EVER change the oil, being anal about it doesn't do you any good IMHO.
Aircraft owners routinely send oil samples off for analysis to check for wear and to maximize the life of their engines. But consider the context... airplanes last for decades and overhauling engines is common because they're so flippin' expensive.
Do the math. How much are you spending in oil and filters changing every 1k? You'll pay for a new engine PDQ at that rate.
I used to change my car's oil every 3k. But I now have a maintenance minder light... the car keeps track of how I drive and illuminates it when the oil is reaching end of life, independent of mileage. It doesn't actually know if the oil is still good, of course, but it does know how much load I've been putting on the engine and can figure it out from there. I'm at 120k and the engine runs like new, even though my oil changes are far less frequent. And I'm saving a lot of money along the way.
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I rode about 3 days a week to work as the one day I have off I ride all day.
I'm hoping soon that I will be able to ride everyday.
Once a year seems like a long time to keep oil in a motor lol