How bad would it be to purchase a bike that hasn't had its first oil change?

[cadd]

There's a bike on CL. Ninja 300 ABS with almost 3,000 miles. I've spoke to the owner and he says the bike will need its first oil change when it hits 3,000 miles!!!!

What ever happened to the 600 mile oil change????? That's probably the most important oil change for a new motor, right?. With a new motor, during the first few hundred miles, aren't metal filings created as the piston rings mate themselves to the walls of the two cylinders?

He listed the bike for $4,000.

What do you guys think?

http://jerseyshore.craigslist.org/mcy/4406476281.html

It's so hard finding an ABS version too!!!!

[Sirref]

I'd call and ask if he took it in for the first service. Shops don't refer to the 600mi service as an oil change even though that's the main part.

[cadd]

He personally told me that the bike hasn't been back to the dealership (or any shop) ever since he rode it off the lot brand new.

[Sirref]

It might be fine but I wouldn't risk it, I'd stick with the 250 until another one pops up.
July/August you'll get a lot of them for sale from people who are "moving up to a 600" mid season.

[rasta]

I didn't even know you are supposed to change oil at 600 miles

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by rasta

I didn't even know you are supposed to change oil at 600 miles

If you're really serious about it you'll change it even earlier than 600 miles

[JohnnyBravo]

I like to keep my oil change pretty regular... Will it blow up, probly not. it is abs and the price isn't crazy

[Sirref]

true, the price is pretty good with abs.

[JohnnyBravo]

I've seen worse things than that done to bikes... I'd go check it out if I had the money and wanted abs then you can try to beat him on the price a bit for neglect

[crazymadbastard]

gotta probably change the chain too, i am sure that is neglected as well.
For $3500-3750 I would buy it... ABS is hard to find.

[LittleRedNinjette]

Price wise, not sure what the ABS is worth but i picked up my non-ABS SE in North Jersey for $4,000 back in october with 1,200 miles on her...

[crazymadbastard]

ABQ is worth it for sure, I think new adds $500-600 and worth every penny if you can afford it. 300 w/o abs are going for $4000 around here asking price 1000-3000 miles.

[capt_bugaloo]

Meh... I dunno. It depends a lot on the seller. If he couldn't be bothered to change the freaking oil, what else did he neglect or simply not care about? Sounds like the sort of guy to treat his bike like a cheap kitchen appliance.

[LittleRedNinjette]

Originally Posted by crazymadbastard

ABQ is worth it for sure, I think new adds $500-600 and worth every penny if you can afford it. 300 w/o abs are going for $4000 around here asking price 1000-3000 miles.

Depends on upgrades too. Mine had a two brothers carbon pipe, sliders and some extra lighting... Stuff like that.

[greenaero]

Not good but not the end of the world either. Check it out carefully and if it's OK, offer a lowball price if you are interested

[ninjamunky85]

I'd say it's worth checking out. 3k miles without an oil change isn't the worst thing in the world.

Look at the oil level, have him start it up and ride it around. Whatever damage that's gonna happen has already been done. If it still runs and sounds fine then I'd make an offer on it.

[cuong-nutz]

How about a snapped rod? (j/k) There was more to the cause of it.

I still find it a bit pricey (for the cheap bastard I am), but then again, I would check the oil to verify.

[crazymadbastard]

Originally Posted by cuong-nutz

How about a snapped rod? (j/k) There was more to the cause of it.

I still find it a bit pricey (for the cheap bastard I am), but then again, I would check the oil to verify.

That motor was probably over revved and pulled the rod appart. Now if you had a rod knocking before you hit the NOS, then probably bad maintenance or factory defect may be the reason.

Always offer less, you can always go up in offer.

[ally99]

Originally Posted by rasta

I didn't even know you are supposed to change oil at 600 miles

You read the manual?

[EsrTek]

Don't be so worried.. the fact is hasn't had oil changed and such low miles is a non-factor (IMO). Just do that 1st thing.
Seen many bikes w much worse history of abuse and terribad maintenance after a lil TLC is done function great.

If you really want to verify BEFORE you buy it dump the oil in it!!!
Check for an over abundance of metal shavings, if not bad; change the filter, add new oil and ride it off!!

[Dredgshadow]

This is way out there on a limb, so don't beat me up if it sounds stupid. Is there any way that you could have him do the oil change with you so you could inspect it? You could maybe see if there are bits of metal in the oil...I know that's a lot to ask of a perfect stranger but who knows?
As far as others say about neglect to the rest of the bike, that may not be true. Maybe he thought he was doing the right thing by waiting for 3000 miles out of innocent ignorance. Although I do agree that if he didn't change the oil, he probably didn't do much with the chain either. Either way always remember that it isn't the only 300 with ABS that will come up, even though it really seems that way now.
Good Luck!

[misfitsailor]

When I bought my Ninjette new, I changed the oil first at 100 miles, plus the filter and cleaned the oil screen. You would be amazed at the fine metallic particles that were on the screen and in the filter. These were, apparently, left over from the machining and assembly of the engine at the factory. Perhaps the Thailand factories may not be as anal retentive about cleanliness as the Japanese facilities.

[ninjamunky85]

I bought my 300 new and saw nothing out of the ordinary for the first oil change. I think there was some metal in the oil but it was so fine that it just added an extra shimmer to the oil.

Definitely not anything that would make me question the manufacturing quality, I've certainly seen much worse.

[SON1C]

Link to original page on YouTube.



Here is the oil on this 300 after 1.6k which pails in comparison to 3k. I'd offer him 3k for that bike

(you can see close up video of the dirty oil in the video 3/4 through)

[LNasty]

The oil the bike comes with is important to keep in for the full first 600 miles. It has special additives that help with the polishing of the rods, pistons, etc. Doing an oil change after just 100 miles could potentionally hurt the bike in the long run as well

Plus I would stay away from that CL bike, might run fine now, but not changing the oil for the first time may have messed things up that will not show up until thousands of miles down the road. If you do buy it, post pics of the oil you drain out, would like to see just how bad it looks

[capt_bugaloo]

Originally Posted by LNasty

The oil the bike comes with is important to keep in for the full first 600 miles. It has special additives that help with the polishing of the rods, pistons, etc.

News to me. I've been riding for a long time, and I've never before read or heard anywhere that the initial oil from the factory is special in any way.

[LNasty]

I was told this by both the kawasaki dealer and from my MSF class

[LNasty]

Originally Posted by capt_bugaloo

News to me. I've been riding for a long time, and I've never before read or heard anywhere that the initial oil from the factory is special in any way.

Here is an example.....

http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produc...-oil-(sae-30)/

This is what my dealership uses for their new bikes, ther are some others out there like, Maxima and Lucas oil makes an additive for breaking in a new engine. Other dealership might not be putting any of this in, but if I were to buy another brand new factory bike I would ask if they had put in this kind of oil

[cadd]

Seller stopped answering my e-mails

[Whiskey]

Originally Posted by LNasty

Here is an example.....

http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produc...-oil-(sae-30)/

This is what my dealership uses for their new bikes, ther are some others out there like, Maxima and Lucas oil makes an additive for breaking in a new engine. Other dealership might not be putting any of this in, but if I were to buy another brand new factory bike I would ask if they had put in this kind of oil

That's mineral oil based (or synthethic designed to be less slippy than normal semi/fully synth), you do the first oil & filter change early (50-100 miles) and use mineral oil.

You want any minor imperfections to rub off, and everything to seat properly, but the vast majority of that will happen in the first couple of miles & it tapers off the longer it's running in. The first oil change flushes the metal filings out & keeps them from being deposited elsewhere.

Oil & filter are cheap and easy to do yourself, then pop it back in to the shop for the 600 mile service where they check to see if anything has worked it's way loose, give it another flush that should remove the last few bits & stamp the book.