Oil change

[bradrcfii]

I changed my oil at 2,200 miles using synthetic and now I am having second thoughts. Did the final drive as well.

Tempted to dump the oil for non synthectic till 4,000 but it seems hard to beleive the engine is not broke in at 2200 miles much of which was aggresive riding.  The oil was darker than I expected.

Your thoughts?

Brad

[rogueleader_92]

I doubt putting non synthetic in would do any good, if they do use a break in oil for the first fill I don't think it's just a normal non synthetic. At this point I'd just keep the synthetic.

Ps I'm 1700+ and will do my change either at 4k or when I pull it out of the shed after winter break.

[Robert]

If you are not reassured then do a search any wing site and don't worry. I changed mine 3 times already always synthetic and no problems. I did my 1500 at 2000 and now I have 2500 on it also no problems. I actually changed my first oil change at around 500 miles.

[AdrianR]

If you are not reassured then do a search any wing site and don't worry. I changed mine 3 times already always synthetic and no problems. I did my 1500 at 2000 and now I have 60 on it also no problems. I actually changed my first oil change at around 500 miles.

I did what you did within an approximation....Changed over to Honda full synthetic 10/30w at around 2500mi.  So far I *think* I liked the 10/40w oil better... The overall drive train felt smoother as well as shifting..I did though notice a slight increase in HP/torque..engine just seemed to rev up a bit quicker...

I will probably swap out the 10/30w Honda oil with Castrol's racing 10/40 4T oil next spring...  That's awesome oil..loved it in my last bike....super smooth and nearly transparent in appearance...

[havoc]

T-man and I did the first change on my Valkyrie that i bought at the beginning of May 2015. Dealer told me that i could wait until 6400km but i decided to do it now. I was at 5750km. The oil was pretty darn clean when we were draining it...impressed

trying the Motul 300V full synthetic 10W-40. The stuff looks like antifreeze. We'll see if it's any good for her...

[havoc]

this article that shows the test results of most of the major motorcycle oils out there is very interesting. the test was done back in 2006

http://americasoil.biz/files/g2156_A_study_of_Motorcycle_Oils.pdf

[mrtappan]

Ha.  Oil anxiety.

[dinosnake]

Ha.  Oil anxiety.

Ha ha, yeah...me too!     I want to give her the first oil change, early at 1000 miles, but (believe it or not) I'm still waiting for my Owner's Manual from the dealer (a month later).

What grades are recommended?

[rogueleader_92]

Still wating for the manual? Is it not inside the lock compartment under the seat?

[dinosnake]

Still wating for the manual? Is it not inside the lock compartment under the seat?

Nope    When I called the dealer, "Hey, my manual wasn't in my paperwork!" they said, "It's underneath the seat".  So I went under the seat...vast emptiness    They promised to order me a new one and I'm still waiting.

[rogueleader_92]

Time to raise hell. It's a book, shouldn't take a week for them to order one in. If they hesitate at all explane to them you will order it off the net if you have to but they will never see you again. Works 99% of the time for me.

[dinosnake]

Just did my first change, at 1000 miles, using Honda HP 10W-30.  I think she's the easiest bike to change oil on that I've ever owned.  Smiles all around for that one!

In all my years I've never started the bike up before draining the oil, doesn't make any sense to me.  I'll just sit a little bit longer waiting for the drain, versus keeping some oil stuck up there in the heads.  It took 4.5 quarts with a new filter.

[Bighead]

Still wating for the manual? Is it not inside the lock compartment under the seat?

Nope    When I called the dealer, "Hey, my manual wasn't in my paperwork!" they said, "It's underneath the seat".  So I went under the seat...vast emptiness    They promised to order me a new one and I'm still waiting.

I would go to the stealer and take one from another bike they have and let them wait on the manual they haven't ordered yet

[wiggydotcom]

Keep in mind, brand new Subaru Foresters(bought my wife a 2015) come with 0-20 synthetic right from the factory and that's what is used for the life of the vehicle---today's modern engines require very little special breakin. IMO, the main thing is to vary the speeds and even get the rpms up(not near redline though) quite a few times in the first 50 miles. This is important to seat the rings to the piston walls.

Btw, the reason I brought up the Surbarus is because they are also boxer engines.

[mrtappan]

The reality is its just simply not that serious.  Change it at 300, change it at 1000, change it anytime before 3000 miles and realistically it makes no difference. 

Maybe you guys can tell but I've owned almost every make of bike over the years and I've never noticed any difference in "feel" using regular or synthetic.  By all test data I've ever seen, synthetic is superior to conventional oil but I've never noticed any difference in the clutch or anything using it. 

I just run cheap regular motorcycle oil in every bike I've ever owned, even the BMW.  It never made one tiny bit of difference.  Granted I don't pick a bike and swear "it's the best be ever" and keep it the rest of my life like some people so I don't actually have any long term experience to say if it made made a difference. 

[Robert]

If you go to the 1500 board and research you will find one common thought about these bikes and oil. No matter what oil you put in them they do well and go the distance. Its pretty amazing we worry so much and look to find the exact best oil when in reality it does not really matter. There are some high mileage bike like 400k and 300k and ask RJ because his bike has some miles and does very well. 100k miles is pretty common and they have run them on every kind of oil.