CBR 250r - the thumper....

[AngryScientist]

well, just picked up a brand new cbr 250r, single cyl, thumper engine. (super jealous of the other guys inline-4 250 by the way!)

anyway, this thing is going to serve commuter duty. about 80 miles/day, mostly highway. it's been super so far. just calculated my last tank of gas returning an average of 80 mpg! sweet!

recommendations for oil and OCI in a little commuter thumper??

 

[AngryScientist]

and here's a picture!

 

[Shannow]

Have you got oil pressure and oil temperature gauges ?

 

[AngryScientist]

neither. sadly.

and thanks

 

[Phishin]

Manual calls for 10w30.

So, anything would work.....even M1 0w40

I'd do an oil change now....I usually do one at 100 miles, 300 miles, and 700 miles on the odometer. If this bike were mine, I'd run 1000 mile oil changes.

 

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted By: Phishin
Manual calls for 10w30.

So, anything would work.....even M1 0w40

I'd do an oil change now....I usually do one at 100 miles, 300 miles, and 700 miles on the odometer. If this bike were mine, I'd run 1000 mile oil changes.


definitely not doing 1000 mile OCI's, that's ridiculous. and i'm certain i dont want to use "anything", i know "energy conserving" oils are forboden due to the wet clutch.

 

[ddtmoto]

Warranty!.. Use an approved oil in recommended weight. Car oils don't shift well and would be an issue if something internal went down. Redline is my fav. Use a Honda filter and run your OCI as recommended by Honda. No worries...

 

[Bandito440]

Do an early change for sure. Here's what I did with my last bike:

500, 2500, 5000, and every 5000 thereafter.

My bike had a dry clutch though, and was easy on oil. If you find that the shifting quality is suffering, you may want to limit OCIs to 3000.

What does the manual call for? I'd start with a motorcycle-specific 10w-40 oil and plan on OCIs of 3000-5000. Mobil 1 is easy enough to find and a solid performer.

 

[OriginalRocket]

I have this bike. Honda calls for 8000 mile OCI and 16k mile valve inspections

The internal filter is small, and the bike holds a little over 2 quarts of oil.

I changed oil at 600 miles to Amsoil 10w30. I plan on running that with the OEM filter for 5000 miles, as this is a shared oil transmission and clutch engine.

The shop manual allows for 10w40. I may use m1 10w40 motorcycle oil, depending on what I can get cheaper, and go for a 8000 OCI.

 

[Phishin]

Maybe it's just me, but I think you guys are crazying running an oil for 5k-8k miles in a bike. Holy smokes!!!

I couldn't do it. Bikes are OIL SHEARING MACHINES!! Plus, they are really tough on oils and some are known for huge fuel dilutions.

My scooters have no oil filters (only a filter screen) and they are all have carbs. So, I do 600 mile OCI's on my Ruckus, and 1000k mile OCI's on my other larger scooters (two of them have 250cc "thumpers" as well). But none have an oil filter.

I know that all my on-line friends are always adjusting their valve trains due to hard starts and lifter tick. Every year I check my tolerances, they are dead nuts on. Never an adjustment.

I guess if I had a bike with an oil filter, I'd go 2k mile OCI's....I mean, you're talking about a few quarts of oil. No big investment.

 

[OriginalRocket]

Originally Posted By: Phishin
Maybe it's just me, but I think you guys are crazying running an oil for 5k-8k miles in a bike. Holy smokes!!!

I couldn't do it. Bikes are OIL SHEARING MACHINES!! Plus, they are really tough on oils and some are known for huge fuel dilutions.

My scooters have no oil filters (only a filter screen) and they are all have carbs. So, I do 600 mile OCI's on my Ruckus, and 1000k mile OCI's on my other larger scooters (two of them have 250cc "thumpers" as well). But none have an oil filter.

I know that all my on-line friends are always adjusting their valve trains due to hard starts and lifter tick. Every year I check my tolerances, they are dead nuts on. Never an adjustment.

I guess if I had a bike with an oil filter, I'd go 2k mile OCI's....I mean, you're talking about a few quarts of oil. No big investment.


figure 1 qt=$10.

On my PCX scooter, no filter (internal removable metal screen) I'd spend 10 dollars a week, plus time doing 600 mile OCI. I run this scooter 2500 miles per OCI.
I don't want to spend $40+time a month waisting money.

Just checked the valves at 7250 miles on my PCX. They where dead on where I set them at my first valve check @ 3500 miles. If your valves are moving out of spec so fast, I'd find a different fault than oil. Perhaps, running it WOT for hours on end.

And your scooters are most likely dry clutch, and CVT transmission. So the oil is only lubricating the engine, just as in a car. No extreme sheering forces here (transmission)

How often do you change your final drive oil? I make this a yearly change for me. It is only 250ml for my PCX.

 

[quarterliter]

Doing many oil changes is essential for break in. All the fine metal shavings floating around clogging up filters....etc. BTW Honda dealers have been putting 10w40 in these bikes, b/c they don't stock a 30wt cycle oil. My vote would be shell rotella t5 it comes in 30wt and change it often. Its cheap! If you want to go more spendy red line motorcycle is excellent stuff again in 30wt(after break in). From what I've gathered wix makes good cycle filters. Anyone else have a a suggestion on filters?

 

[quarterliter]

Oh and break the bike in hard. Top gear roll ones at WOT. So like 30-55 roll ons. The high cylinder pressures are needed to seat the rings. High revs are not required though just high load.

 

[Phishin]

Originally Posted By: OriginalRocket


figure 1 qt=$10.

On my PCX scooter, no filter (internal removable metal screen) I'd spend 10 dollars a week, plus time doing 600 mile OCI. I run this scooter 2500 miles per OCI.
I don't want to spend $40+time a month waisting money.

Just checked the valves at 7250 miles on my PCX. They where dead on where I set them at my first valve check @ 3500 miles. If your valves are moving out of spec so fast, I'd find a different fault than oil. Perhaps, running it WOT for hours on end.

And your scooters are most likely dry clutch, and CVT transmission. So the oil is only lubricating the engine, just as in a car. No extreme sheering forces here (transmission)

How often do you change your final drive oil? I make this a yearly change for me. It is only 250ml for my PCX.


I'm sure you're fine with your OCI's. My Ruckus only holds 600mls of oil (0.6L). So I change it often. It also run at 9k+ RPM's over 90% of the time (that's the nature of most scooters). And I've ridden it WOT for 6 straight hours in the July heat....riding to Chicago, Indianapolis, and Detroit from Angola (near Fort Wayne, IN). I just change mine often because I like it doing it and it's so quick to do.....like 5-10 minutes total time, including clean up.

The final drive gets changed out once a year.

I'm at 19k miles on my Ruck. I got about $9k invested in it. So, I'm trying to get my $$ worth out of her. And I think 19k miles without a valve adjustment running at 9k-11k RPM's nearly it's whole life, is pretty darn good.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: quarterliter
Oh and break the bike in hard. Top gear roll ones at WOT. So like 30-55 roll ons. The high cylinder pressures are needed to seat the rings. High revs are not required though just high load.
Maybe too late. He had to do that the first 25-50 miles. Maybe the tech cranked on it for him.

 

[sunruh]

if this is the bike that is based off of the crf250r motor, then i know this motor pretty well.

my buddy (a bike mechanic) has a vanity plate based off of all his work on them "Got Ti"

you have a tranny sump and a motor sump.
you can run different oils in each...well until the seal fails and it mixes.

if i remember right, neither side holds even 1L.

be ultra careful about that air filter. any dust gets through and its bye bye valves (hence the vanity plate).

since the mx version can barely make 65mph in showroom gearing, what does the street bike rpm show at that speed?

p.s. if you ever see copper in the oil filter, the big end of the rod has failed and your motor is about to go boom. its not pretty. usually the rolling frame is forsale the next day.

 

[AngryScientist]

dont think these motors are the same, i definitely only have one sump.

 

[sunruh]

i had to go look at the fische.

yep, totally different motors. yours is a twin cam and not the uni-cam of the mx bike.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: Phishin
Maybe it's just me, but I think you guys are crazying running an oil for 5k-8k miles in a bike. Holy smokes!!!

I couldn't do it. Bikes are OIL SHEARING MACHINES!!


Agreed.

I'm 49, I've been riding (and racing too) since I was 7 years old. There has been one constant. Improperly cared for engines don't last nearly as long. The guys who regularly get long lifespans from motorcycle engines use quality oils, change regularly and maintain bikes properly.

My used Honda 500 single lost a camshaft at about 7000 miles. The only way that happens is through neglect. Good thing I paid too much...

My current bike an SV1000s starts to have shifting issues at 3000 miles with M1, 10W-40 motorcycle oil. Guess I know what the OCI should be! I have not owned the bike long enough to know if other oils would work better. But my experience says that M1 will work as well as anything.

My KTM 380EXC 2 stroke changes it's own oil...

 

[Phishin]

Thanks Cujet.

Anyone can run 8k mile OCI's on a bike, but nobody that I want to buy a bike from!!

You'll figure it out.