XSR 900 first oil change

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In addition to the debut thread of my XSR900 I wanted to get opinions on the first oil change. I've been breaking it in like I will normally ride it. Some full throttle runs shifting short of the redline, and no sustained highway speeds.

The manual says 600mi for the first oil change, should I do that or swap out the oil sooner? I'm at 48miles of spirited break in right now.

The bike is currently filled with dealer bulk Yamalube 10w40 according to the guy who prepped it.
 
Originally Posted By: userfriendly
I like to get the factory fills out asap.
What oil do you have in mind?


Valvoline 10w40 motorcycle for the first change and after that likely valvoline synthetic 10w40 4T. I can get either at any parts house or Walmart.

I'm debating on how long I should run the current fill. Bike has 48 miles on it so far. I haven't babied it, but I haven't tortured it either. I guess I've been just riding it how I normally would, "spirited"
 
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I'm a hard break in guy, I'd do some hard acceleration and hard engine breaking right now for about 20 miles then dump the oil. In fact I'd have done that right from the dealer parking lot, but you're still early on. Get those rings into the cylinder wall.
 
Right on CowBelle;
I'm convinced the better educated motorcycle BITOG'ers know their engines and engine oil.
I have zero trust in Nippon petroleum products. With dirt bikes, day one the engine oil, day two the fork oil.
I wouldn't use non-synthetic 10w40 other than in my ride on John Deere 22 HP Kawasaki.
In Canada, my pick would be Duron Synthetic 10W40 CI-4 "full saps".
In the USA, maybe full saps Delo 400 SAE40.
It will be interesting to see what Lubrizol comes up with as the ultimate additive package for motorcycles.
Yeah I'm jealous, that XSR 900 looks awesome.

Happy 4th of July to all my American peeps. Enjoy your freedom, you earned it.
 
Originally Posted By: MoreCowbellAz
I'm a hard break in guy, I'd do some hard acceleration and hard engine breaking right now for about 20 miles then dump the oil. In fact I'd have done that right from the dealer parking lot, but you're still early on. Get those rings into the cylinder wall.


I took it to 8k RPM with 0.9 miles on the clock, after a long warmup. 0-5 miles was on a hilly road going 5-6k RPM up hill and decelerating on the back sides of the hills. It has 48 miles now and has seen 9-10k RPM about 6-8 times. Is that not hard enough?
 
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Originally Posted By: donnyj08
In addition to the debut thread of my XSR900 I wanted to get opinions on the first oil change. I've been breaking it in like I will normally ride it. Some full throttle runs shifting short of the redline, and no sustained highway speeds.

The manual says 600mi for the first oil change, should I do that or swap out the oil sooner? I'm at 48miles of spirited break in right now.

The bike is currently filled with dealer bulk Yamalube 10w40 according to the guy who prepped it.


Donny, Yes that sounds hard enough and do you first oil change soon!

I bought a brand new Yamaha Super Tenere last year and I broke it in following the older methods. Google Moto man method or Dan's MC Course on new engine break in for more on that. Basically, you ride hard but not to red line and avoid the constant rpm highway for a while in addition to several early oil changes to "flush" the engine of particles and give it the best possible environment to break in with. I changed the oil at 50, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 miles. After those oil changes, you follow the interval listed in the owners manual. I can tell you I am glad I did my break in that way. The first 3 oil changes were filled with metallic shavings, especially the first one at 50 miles. The oil was already pitch black and loaded with silver shavings. At 1,000 miles, the oil starts to look normal but still has some shavings in it.

I am happy to report that my engine and transmission are doing great! I have used this method on several other machines and it has always worked great. I can't say changing the oil that frequently makes a huge difference but I know riding hard to break it in does. Doing very gentle, easy break ins almost always results in a bike that seems hesitant to accelerate and burns some oil between oil changes. The bikes that are broken in gently also seem to take much longer to smooth out with shifting and clutch feel.

Heck, even on modern passenger cars I like to drive fairly hard and do at least 1 early oil change, usually around 1,000 miles, call me crazy....
 
The way you're breaking the bike in is fine, follow the recommendation in your owners manual and there shouldn't be any issues. I'd go ahead and wait until 600 miles, at that point the bulk of the break in procedure will be completed and performing the oil change at that point will keep wear metals and silicon at more typical universal averages there after.
 
What CowBelle implied, is develop enough cylinder pressure to "get those rings into the cylinder wall".
That would mean WOT from 6,000 rpm to red-line, drive it like you stole it.
You WANT to see break-in glitter when you look at your oil in the sun.
Many of those flakes and chunks are too big for UOAs to read properly.
 
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I always run hard when new engines. They Never complained. Change the oil at factory interval, because when I did before, the oil was still new, w/o any shavings ir specs. The engine has a filter for that 15 plus microns you could see in a microscope. That's blatant bovine.
 
Send your used oil to Pontual. Being just like new, he can use it in his own bike.
The big chunks and flakes will be stuck in the filter and screen, or settled at the bottom of the sump.
We are talking 4 quarts of oil that you can use in something else, like a lawn mower. It's your baby.
 
Originally Posted By: donnyj08
Originally Posted By: MoreCowbellAz
I'm a hard break in guy, I'd do some hard acceleration and hard engine breaking right now for about 20 miles then dump the oil. In fact I'd have done that right from the dealer parking lot, but you're still early on. Get those rings into the cylinder wall.


I took it to 8k RPM with 0.9 miles on the clock, after a long warmup. 0-5 miles was on a hilly road going 5-6k RPM up hill and decelerating on the back sides of the hills. It has 48 miles now and has seen 9-10k RPM about 6-8 times. Is that not hard enough?


You're fine. Here's an example of a hard break-in. The yellow 'Busa has 351 miles on it. Yes, I agree they would be smart to wear some good riding gear..
 
Originally Posted By: userfriendly
Send your used oil to Pontual. Being just like new, he can use it in his own bike.
The big chunks and flakes will be stuck in the filter and screen, or settled at the bottom of the sump.
We are talking 4 quarts of oil that you can use in something else, like a lawn mower. It's your baby.


Please send in!
grin.gif
 
Thanks for the tips! I plan to run it in a little longer on the current fill and then swap it out at like 150-200miles. Should I leave the factory filter on until 600mi or change it as well?
 
On my XSR I did the first oil & filter change around 100 miles doing the 'hard break in' routine. A noticeable glittery sheen was in the drained oil. I did the next oil change around 600 miles, didn't notice any glittery bits. I think I did ok getting that factory fill outta there when I did. The factory filter was on kinda tight - get the proper cup wrench for it and you'll be fine.
 
Originally Posted By: DukeOfFrontenac
On my XSR I did the first oil & filter change around 100 miles doing the 'hard break in' routine. A noticeable glittery sheen was in the drained oil. I did the next oil change around 600 miles, didn't notice any glittery bits. I think I did ok getting that factory fill outta there when I did. The factory filter was on kinda tight - get the proper cup wrench for it and you'll be fine.



Thanks! I picked up a Yamaha oil filter and 3 quarts of valvoline 10w40 motorcycle oil today. I'm out of town all week on business, but when I return home this weekend I plan to get a little more aggressive on the throttle and deacceleration for another 50-100 miles and then dump the dealer fill.

The plan is to try to do one around 100-150mi as you did and then again at 600mi.

What color is your XSR?? I love mine!
 
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Originally Posted By: donnyj08
Originally Posted By: DukeOfFrontenac
On my XSR I did the first oil & filter change around 100 miles doing the 'hard break in' routine. A noticeable glittery sheen was in the drained oil. I did the next oil change around 600 miles, didn't notice any glittery bits. I think I did ok getting that factory fill outta there when I did. The factory filter was on kinda tight - get the proper cup wrench for it and you'll be fine.



Thanks! I picked up a Yamaha oil filter and 3 quarts of valvoline 10w40 motorcycle oil today. I'm out of town all week on business, but when I return home this weekend I plan to get a little more aggressive on the throttle and deacceleration for another 50-100 miles and then dump the dealer fill.

The plan is to try to do one around 100-150mi as you did and then again at 600mi.

What color is your XSR?? I love mine!


Mine is the yellow (60th anniv). I've got history with the yammy speed block yellow on my bikes so the decision was easy for me. The brushed aluminum is very nice but I NEEDED the yellow ;-)
 
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