Another oil change by time or mileage question

[kmrinpa]

in heavier riding seasons I used to change 2x a year regardless of mileage; as my riding has slowed & mileage has gone down it seems to be once a year & time of change depends on mileage, weather, and mood

 

[webfors]

Your bike won't know the difference IMO. That's low miles on good oil, and if the bike is stored in reasonable conditions between rides the oil could go years.

I'm on the other end of the spectrum... pushing oil past the 6k kms Suzuki recommends, usually because I don't want to change my oil more than twice a year on the bike. So it gets 2 dump and fills and 1 filter per year without paying too much attention to the odometer.

But then again, there's that sneaky bitoger in the back of my head whispering "it's cheap insurance"...

I stored my last Suzuki outside against the house, under a mountain of snow and ice, same oil from the prior season (RT6 5w40 from what I recall), dug her out in the spring, fired her up and went for a ride. If she was a GDI forced induction motor, I might take a more agressive approach to maintenance.

 

[BigCahuna]

Here's a few things I got from the FAQ's on Blackstone's site. As far as type of oil used by Blackstone employee's. They say the mostly use mineral oil because it does what they need it to do. When it comes to when to change oil, as far as age or mileage goes, they feel just having old oil in a vehicle doesn't harm anything. Oil usage gives the best indication of the condition of a motor. I liked their analogy of, using Synthetic oil will not guarantee longer engine life, like eating a vegetarian diet will not guarantee you longer life.,,,

 

[wpod]

Change the oil .

 

[Degreaser]

take big semi-tractor trucks the 18 wheelers, they have larger volume capacity oil sumps, more so than cars, it means those big trucks can go more km's on an oil changes than a car can, and car capacity of oil is more so than a motorcycle, this all means that since a motorcycle sump has less oil capacity, it gets changed out sooner than cars or trucks do

 

[BigCahuna]

Not really. My motorcycle's motor hold 4 qts, and the mfr recommends 5k oci's. Honda Goldwing's used to have a factory oci of 8k miles, and they run there oil thru the transmission. Cars oci's are about the same as motorcycles as far as that goes, and some have 8 qt capacity's. . The only thing in your post that sounds right is about large semi truck having larger sumps, and have longer oci's.

 

[philipp10]

If you change that oil (and I wouldn't)......I'll send you my address. I would go 2 years without a doubt. I have a jetski that unfortunately, use infrequently. Will finally change it this year after 4 years. The oil still looks perfect. The manufacturers are just being overly cautious and had to put some type of duration in the manual. Now if you had hit, say 2000 or 2500 miles, I might say change it but even then, probably a waste of money.

 

[bonjo]

technically, you need to stick to the official recommendation specially during the warranty period. It is benefits all the way except for your bank balance!
ONce past this, a good FS oil should last 2 years (or many more!). There are few points I consider:
what are the climatic conditions- humidity & internal condensation
how well is the bike running- fuel dilution
how good or bad has the gearchange become
how easy is it to do the oil change