Should we change oil early during break-in? The answer is YES!!!

[dubojr1]

Originally Posted by wvninja

The pictures don't really show anything. Oil will darken with warm up and cooling off. As long as the oil did not feel gritty I very much doubt you had anything in it. Also any metal would have (suppose to have) attached to the plug.

If oil "darkens" over time then the pics of the 2008 filter would be the darker of the two. It had the most miles/age on it...

Any metal would NOT be on our oil plugs as they are not magnetic plugs. Magnetic plugs IMO are a joke and apparently the manufacturers think so too. If a $2 oil plug would reduce engine wear... all manufactuers would use them or at least brag that their engine have them if others did not.

[Nemesis]

Unless you're pushing the bike hard (racing), I really don't think it's necessary to frequently change your oil.

Just my .02

[dubojr1]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Unless you're pushing the bike hard (racing), I really don't think it's necessary to frequently change your oil.

Just my .02

Yeah you may be right. The only intent here was that the oil needed to be changed frequently during break-in. I'll be doing 5,000 mile changes now that I've clocked 5,000 current miles. I average 1,000 a month so that should work good for me.

[backinthesaddleagain]

To throw my 2 cents in I follow the book and wait until the first one. After that I go every 3,000 - 4,000 miles. Not saying its right or wrong. To each his/her own.

[ScorpionNinja]

Originally Posted by stealth250

As for frequent oil changes, I changed mine every 200 miles until I got to 1,000, then I have done every 1,500 since then. I my opinion, you can't change it often enough. Clean oil = happy engine.

How many miles have you ridden this season?

If you rode as many , or more, than me.... you would have needed to change your oil 7.896 times!

But until a ironman test happens, where two brand new ninja 250Rs, 2008,2009,2010,2011s are ridden 100,000 miles Both.
With one of the bikes, the oil/filter was changed 6 times during break-in and changed every 1,500 miles after that.
The other bike having its oil changed just at the 600 mile mark, then again say 1,000-2,000 miles, with oil/filter changes every 3,000/5,000/7,500 miles after that...

Will we see a Clear difference!

I vote Mythbusters to take on this Ironman 250R Oil challange!!!


To all my fellow Greenpeace people, Why should we all change our Oil in our Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles so often, to the point that we are just running out of Oil Decades or Centuries early... just to have "Clean oil in our engines at all times", rather than not being so Anal about it?

[dubojr1]

+1 for Mythbusters

[ScorpionNinja]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Unless you're pushing the bike hard (racing), I really don't think it's necessary to frequently change your oil.

Just my .02

Agreed, topic here... Oil changes in any engine!

So, in reports (you can find them anywhere), its noted that driving Short distances Under 10 miles, to and from a destination, is Worse for Oil.

I would imagine that Racing your 250R on the Track days, every single Sat. and Sun. over spring/summer/fall would be Hell on Oil. Compared to commuting to work, 20-30 miles highway one way to work while keeping speed down to 65 MPH or 8,000 RPMs and under!

Or worse yet, doing those weekend Track days and riding nothing but short 4-8 miles distances during the week too!

[ScorpionNinja]

Originally Posted by dubojr1

If oil "darkens" over time then the pics of the 2008 filter would be the darker of the two. It had the most miles/age on it...
t.

To think of that... hmmm

At our shop, when we do oil changes on the equipment. We put all the old filters upside down and they sit over a drip pan, so all the excess oil flows out over a few days, before we discard them. Environment thing! The used Oil gets picked up by a oil company.

Anyhow... my idea about the color of the two filters is this.

The 2008 was changed longer ago and has been sitting around, therefore the oil has dried away somewhat and looks Lighter in color.

The 2009 was changed recently and therefore the oil is still deep within the filter paper material, giving it a Dark color???


What kind of time frame are we looking at?

When did you first buy the 2008?

When did you first buy the 2009?

If the 2008 was just bought, say 2 months ago... **** man! lol, thats been sitting in the dealerships showroom floor for Over 2 years, sitting in that factory oil before the bike was ridden?

[backinthesaddleagain]

Can't remember if they have oil in them from Kawi???
Posted via Mobile Device

[dubojr1]

Originally Posted by ScorpionNinja

To think of that... hmmm

At our shop, when we do oil changes on the equipment. We put all the old filters upside down and they sit over a drip pan, so all the excess oil flows out over a few days, before we discard them. Environment thing! The used Oil gets picked up by a oil company.

Anyhow... my idea about the color of the two filters is this.

The 2008 was changed longer ago and has been sitting around, therefore the oil has dried away somewhat and looks Lighter in color.

The 2009 was changed recently and therefore the oil is still deep within the filter paper material, giving it a Dark color???


What kind of time frame are we looking at?

When did you first buy the 2008?

When did you first buy the 2009?

If the 2008 was just bought, say 2 months ago... **** man! lol, thats been sitting in the dealerships showroom floor for Over 2 years, sitting in that factory oil before the bike was ridden?

Neither of the bikes had been sitting. The 2009 was a few weeks old when this thread posted. Best I can remember..2008 was purchased early 2009. I'll have to look for the invoice for the exact date.

Both bikes were active bikes and both filters were soaked with oil.

[Buffalony]

Im sorry. Can someone help me understand what the point of this post was?
From what I understand so far (correct me if I'm wrong) The 2008 was on it's 3rd oil change and the 2009 was on its 1st and your saying the 08's filter looks cleaner than the 09's?

[dubojr1]

Originally Posted by Buffalony

Im sorry. Can someone help me understand what the point of this post was?
From what I understand so far (correct me if I'm wrong) The 2008 was on it's 3rd oil change and the 2009 was on its 1st and your saying the 08's filter looks cleaner than the 09's?

This was the 1st change on the 2009 and 2nd change on the 2008. The point was why was the filter from the 2009 discolored? IMO it is due to the break-in materials being filtered out of the oil. The 2008 filter was clearly cleaner or at least remained the original color of the filter. The only reasonable excuse other than break-in metals changing the color was Kelly's idea about possible factory dye's being in the oil. Hope this helps.

[Buffalony]

Originally Posted by dubojr1

This was the 1st change on the 2009 and 2nd change on the 2008. The point was why was the filter from the 2009 discolored? IMO it is due to the break-in materials being filtered out of the oil. The 2008 filter was clearly cleaner or at least remained the original color of the filter. The only reasonable excuse other than break-in metals changing the color was Kelly's idea about possible factory dye's being in the oil. Hope this helps.

oh thanks I gotcha.

I'm pretty sure it's just from breakin in. I think 150miles for the first change is about right.

[dubojr1]

New opinions? No allowed.

[stealth250]

Originally Posted by dubojr1

New opinions? No allowed.