New Oil Color Question?
- Thread starter Jenson
- Start date
Could be assembly lube or material from new clutches wearing in
Back in 08 I bought a Ninja 500 brand new. I drove it 150 miles home and changed it. It looked a lot like this. Had some shimmer to it in the sunlight too. There are all kinds of things wearing in on that new bike. I'd change it soon, or now, if it was mine.
Thanks. Just curious as to why change it now vs at the 600 mark?
I'm in the "the sooner the better" camp.
It won't hurt it to wait till you get 600 on it, though.
This is normal for new bikes as there is a lot of wear in the shared sump and they use some break in oil. i believe Honda recommends like 600 miles on the factory fill. Don't know about Yamaha but it'd be safe the same they do similar. Probably a lesser grade that breaks in faster but also degrades faster. Possibly mineral and group II based. Wouldn't worry about it. I'd probably leave it in there for a bit longer. Be more conservative when you ride it until you've got at least 1k on it.
Oil color should not be used as an indicator of much. UOA always.
I changed the oil in my new Hondas at 100 miles and then again at the recommended 600 miles. At 100, the oil had a lot of glitter. At 600, not so much. My personal preference is to flush the big stuff out early.
Many, many people change oil at the 600 - 1000 mark and have no problems at all. Remember, the oil will flow through the filter before getting to the sensitive engine parts. I've read on the motorcycle forums where peoples' 600 mile oil changes were clean. I guess most of the break-in material was eventually caught by the oil filter.
The darker color of your oil may just be assembly lube getting washed out and mixed in the oil. Not a problem.
Either way, change it early or wait, you'll be fine.
Many, many people change oil at the 600 - 1000 mark and have no problems at all. Remember, the oil will flow through the filter before getting to the sensitive engine parts. I've read on the motorcycle forums where peoples' 600 mile oil changes were clean. I guess most of the break-in material was eventually caught by the oil filter.
The darker color of your oil may just be assembly lube getting washed out and mixed in the oil. Not a problem.
Either way, change it early or wait, you'll be fine.
UOA?
Used Oil Analysis.
With that said, factory fills tend to have higher amounts of moly or boron in them when I see their analysis. Those are very good antiwear additives and can protect the engine early on when the finer particles are still being worn off from engine parts and tranny as it all mates together.
And the dark coloration could most certainly be from assembly lubes such as what they use on the valve train or down in the engine cases to get things to slide into place when assembled as brand new parts.
With that said, factory fills tend to have higher amounts of moly or boron in them when I see their analysis. Those are very good antiwear additives and can protect the engine early on when the finer particles are still being worn off from engine parts and tranny as it all mates together.
And the dark coloration could most certainly be from assembly lubes such as what they use on the valve train or down in the engine cases to get things to slide into place when assembled as brand new parts.
UOA will answer your "is this normal" question... other than its all WAG... (Wild Ass Guessing)
Our 2010 Acura TL SH AWD with traditional port fuel injection has 2,000 miles on the oil change right now. Still a carmel brown color to the oil. 2012 Nissan Juke 1.6T with direct gas injection has 500 miles in the past two weeks on the oil and it's turning really dark. Both are run similarly for commuting and around town. Never done analysis on them, however performance and gas mileage figures are where they should be so I'm gonna keep saving the analysis for the motorcycle, lol. Which has never given me a reason to do analysis other than that's the hill I've chosen to die on with respect to analysis and learning more about different oils.
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