opening a can of worms...

[midnightrider1300]

I've been changing the oil in my bike like most of you here. Today I tried something different in my new bike. Rotella T6.... now for the worm part....how often do you change synthetic? 3k ? 4.5k ? 5K miles???

[Caveman]

i Let it go to 6,000 miles. I've read studies that showed it had no significant breakdown after 9 or 10,000 miles. Works for me. Gonna be alot of opinions on this one.

[midnightrider1300]

i Let it go to 6,000 miles. I've read studies that showed it had no significant breakdown after 9 or 10,000 miles. Works for me. Gonna be alot of opinions on this one.

 

why the title... i knew it would be... but I value each opinion...

[buddy]

Well I had my tested one time years back oil was tested at 4,000 don't have data sheet anymore been to long any how the test showed I was still good for another 3-4,000 miles so basically I only used half the oil life

[Carbon_One]

Myself I change oil & filter every 5k on all of my vehicles. Sometimes a couple hundred sooner , sometimes a couple hundred after the 5k mark. Changing the oil on the Miata tomorrow in preparation of going to the NY rally. Mileage is just short of 5k at 4875 since last oil change. Mobil One synethic oil.

Larry

[CMCOFFEY]

I use Mobil 1 synthetic in all 3 of my vehicles. I do my cages every year (6-8k miles) and my motorcycle 2X per year (about 6-7k miles). 2X a year will equal about 3k miles per oil change per bike when I have 2 ventures in 12 days.

[Wade 2000]

Twice a year. I usually put on about 10k per year so one change at the beginning of the season and one mid season with Amsoil. Even at that it looks like fresh oil coming out into the pan. I'm a believer in the synthetics, especially after my last truck with 472k with origanal engine and trans. I sold it in November and still see it on the road

[dacheedah]

my answer is yes, most definately

[M61A1MECH]

On my Venture with synthetic oil I change the oil every 6,000, but I change the filter every 3,000. No problems in the past 73,000 miles.

[midnightrider1300]

thanks guys, I do value your input

[SilvrT]

On my Venture with synthetic oil I change the oil every 6,000, but I change the filter every 3,000. No problems in the past 73,000 miles.

 

Years ago it was common to only change the filter on every second oil change. You're doing it every 1/2 ... a bit "over kill" if you ask me ... but, nobody asked so I didn't say that LOL

[Bubber]

Oil is so different from back in the 60's and 70's.

 

Changing oil at 3000 was what everybody did. Oil today last longer and if you change it every 3000 miles you are wasting good oil. I know it is cheap insurance, I used that excuse myself over the years.

 

Do what feels right to you but 6000 miles is no problem for either bike or car an others recommend even higher mileage. I think Amsoil says something like 12000 doesn't it.

 

Worms every where midnightrider1300.

 

Because of the mileage I have only been changing oil once a year but this year is different I have been putting 100/day for the last couple of months so I check and see where I am with mileage at this late date in the season.

 

Right after I figure out my fuel pump issue.

 

Now I will sit back and watch the fray.

Edited August 17, 2014 by Bubber
spelling what else?

[M61A1MECH]

Yeah maybe a bit, but the object is to keep the bad stuff out of the oil, so why not, only costs a few dollars for an oil filter, takes maybe 5 minutes to change and you lose a minimal amout of oil in the process.

When I was running dino oil in my 98 Tour Classic and changing it every 3k to 4k miles I changed the filter every time, so I figure I am spending about the same on filters as I always did and with the extended interval on the synthetic but at the higher cost I am spending about the same on the oil over the life of bike and I have piece of mind.

Just in case you were asking.

[KICKSHOT]

I agree with Bubber. Oil is better now. But so are oil filters, air filters, fuel filters, fuel and engines. All the things that contribute to make oil dirty and fail have gotten better. So if you believe that, than you must believe you can run your oil longer.

kickshot

[Illinois]

Fall into the 5000/6000 mi camp. Change the filter every oil change.

[RedRider]

Check the owners manual. Oil/filter change interval is 8000 miles or 12 months. And that's for dino oil.

 

I generally run mine 5-7000 miles between changes and use Rotella T dino oil and inexpensive Fram filters.

 

125,000 miles and running strong.

 

I remember a story about an auto technician. He had a customer with a new Corvette who came in and had a synthetic oil change done every 1000 miles. When the technician was asked what he ran in his own cars, he stated "Thousand mile old synthetic".

 

 

RR

[djh3]

As I found out when I got my 09 the recommendations changed over the years. My 900 Kawasaki was 7500 miles. So when I got my 09 I opened the book and it says 4500. Others have told me their say 02 says 8k. So for some reason it varies from year to year. Now that mine isn't under warranty anymore and I run the T6 and the longer purolator filter I'm going 6k give or take.

[IronMike]

Id be comfortable running that oil 8K to 10K but it IS all about how you ran it, how it looks, the feel of it between your fingers, and the filter you used. I have chickened out at 6K and ran oil 12 in my Roadstar Air cooled. I use the http://kandpengineering.com/ oil filter, You can clean it any time and it is a permanent oil filter well worth the Dough. It has a High strength magnet in it that picks up quite a but of loose metal. If you run a regular oil filter I suggest adding a Neodymium magnet to the outside at the lowest point. I have never ran T6 but everything I read about it, I would run it in a heartbeat even over Mobile One. I use Amsoil.

 

HOWEVER You really do not want used oil sitting in your engine. So at least at the end of season it should be drained and either left empty or New oil added. Then don't start it until ride time. I never sweat this because I ride all year. But I still change it every fall.

 

The oil fills up with corrosives as it is used and you dont want them sitting on the bearings and such for a long winter or storage time.

 

A lot of sport bikes are running T6 with no problems.

[Marcarl]

My mother always said the a new Sunday shirt was good for 2 weeks, so using common sense then, a new oil change should last twice as long as a used oil change.

Now on a Spyder they recommend 15,000km after the first 5000km, so I should be god for a bit yet.

You were looking for BS weren't you?

[brd7666]

When you ask a question like how often should you change your oil, you are going to get all kinds of answers. My answer is, do what works for you. When I bought my bike from the Yamaha dealer, I was told to change the oil every 3000 miles, and to use synthetic. Good luck. I will change mine every 3000 miles.

[videoarizona]

Agree with mileage.

 

I change every 3000 miles with both bikes (VStar 950T and 89 VR)...but am now back to running 20-50 Yamalube in both. They run quieter. It's a dino oil...not synthetic.

 

david

[2WHEELSFORME]

6000 on dino oil with a filter. Not that it matters but close to 90K on my 05. Motorcycles are something that people love to baby and often over care for in my opinion!

[wizard]

I have used the rotella dino since I bought the bike. At about 3000 miles I notice the shifting is a little harder, so I change it. I'm thinking I will use the syn next time.

[ragtop69gs]

I run T6 also and I let the bike tell me when it's time to change it, my shifting starts to get a little notchy, normally around 4500-5K miles.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

[Barrycuda]

I change mine every 4000 miles. Like some said, it's personal comfort. I don't mind spending the extra few dollars for piece of mind. In Florida, besides the heat we have long stretches of areas that have dirt roads. Not that I aim to ride on those roads, but with wind blowing some of the dirt and sand as well as the non stop humidity and heat and the like, I just sleep better. I also use OEM or K&N oil filter....