[fridayfury]

Getting 600 mile service today and wondered what others are doing on oil change intervals. I know the owner's manual shows 8,000 miles, but that seems like a long time for conventional oil. My Can Am Spyder has 3,000 mile intervals and that's with full syn oil. I also know almost every manual says change oil annually, but I have never found that to be a very practical guide. What are others doing on oil changes?

 

[NMUCat]

My best friend says to do it annually. But he lives in Michigan, stops riding by November, stores the bike and then gets it out in the spring. As part of his spring time prep, he changes the oil.

As you said it not very practical or cost friendly. I did my 600 mile service with Lucas oil products and living in southern Ohio I keep my running longer into the fall. I also let the bike run from time to time during the winter months and weather doesn't let me ride. I'll probably change it next spring or the mileage Honda says, whatever comes first.

 

[StPeteAPB]

You have to be careful not to change the oil too often when you use the blends (oil and synthetic) or you can glaze the rings, I'm told.

I might round down and do mine every 5,000. But, definitely not every 3,000, like my car with conventional oil.

 

[taffyspop]

Changing mine every 6000. Use Mobil One 10w40 synthetic with K&N Filter..Sure it would be fine to wait until 8000, but I'm a little OCD........

 

[2 Evil]

I just did my second oil change a few weeks ago and my odo was at 8100 miles. I will do my next one at 1300 because the oil was BLACK. I dont want to do internal damage letting it get that dark. I use regular oil and not Synthetic. Maybe I will do the synthetic next time around.

 

[460brevill]

i use honda oil and change it every 3000 due to a lot of mountain rides.

 

[BarFury]

If you're running a good synthetic, you can get by with 10K OCI's (Oil-Change-Intervals). With the advent of these modern lubricants (synthetics) 3K OCI's are a thing of the past, unless you're still tuned-into your father's admonitions. If you need reassurance, submit a sample to Blackstone Labs. My two-bits...............

Cheers

 

[460brevill]

If you're running a good synthetic, you can get by with 10K OCI's (Oil-Change-Intervals). With the advent of these modern lubricants (synthetics) 3K OCI's are a thing of the past, unless you're still tuned-into your father's admonitions. If you need reassurance, submit a sample to Blackstone Labs. My two-bits...............

Cheers

3000 may be a thing of the past but when its free you take it.lol

 

[Richard1]

My best friend says to do it annually. But he lives in Michigan, stops riding by November, stores the bike and then gets it out in the spring. As part of his spring time prep, he changes the oil.

As you said it not very practical or cost friendly. I did my 600 mile service with Lucas oil products and living in southern Ohio I keep my running longer into the fall. I also let the bike run from time to time during the winter months and weather doesn't let me ride. I'll probably change it next spring or the mileage Honda says, whatever comes first.

If you don’t have to work this weekend, let’s do both of them, I’m over due. My place or yours?

 

[2011MatteOrange]

I'm a bit maintenance obsessive as you can see below by my record keeping.
I'm going on either a 5K or 10K change interval as of my next oil change. I'm going to have the oil tested at 5K and go from there. I did the same thing with my truck oil and it tested excellent at 5K so I stick with that number.

I Bought the bike in February of this year. Week later I was @ 822 miles. For warranty purposes I let Honda of Winter Haven do the first 600 Mile service (a bit late).

at 1583 miles I checked my diff and it was black and had allot of metal in it so I changed it with Amsoil 80w gear lube.

at 3400 miles the "Honda" oil was extremely black so I changed it myself using Amsoil 10w40 Cycle oil and a K&N oil filter. (I didn't know the Amsoil O/F number at that time)

at 3988 I checked the diff again and again the oil was black but no metal in it this time. So I changed it again with Amsoil 80w

I just did the 8000 mile service a couple weeks ago and the Amsoil that came out was very clean. So she got more Amsoil oil and an Amsoil filter this time, Diff oil changed with Amsoil again and it finally came out clean this time. New NGK plugs (Original were only slightly worn)
And I replaced the OEM air filter with a K&N

Overall I've been very pleased with how it's responded to the Amsoil. It's costly but it should keep the wear substantially lower then conventional oil so the bike lasts many many years.

 

[Sludge]

At 1583 miles I checked my diff and it was black and had allot of metal in it so I changed it with Amsoil 80w gear lube.

at 3400 miles the "Honda" oil was extremely black so I changed it myself using Amsoil 10w40 Cycle oil and a K&N oil filter. (I didn't know the Amsoil O/F number at that time)

at 3988 I checked the diff again and again the oil was black but no metal in it this time. So I changed it again with Amsoil 80w

What made you look at the diff oil?

were you getting strange sounds out of it?

mine seems to have a rattle more than a grind I am just wondering if.... maybe time to do one 7000 miles

 

[2011MatteOrange]

What made you look at the diff oil?

were you getting strange sounds out of it?

mine seems to have a rattle more than a grind I am just wondering if.... maybe time to do one 7000 miles

No, there was nothing wrong with it.... I just know the first 5000 miles is when your going to see the most wear as the ring and pinion seat/wear into each other... so it's always good to get those small metal particles out of there as soon as possible. That very tiny metal flowing around in there getting between the teeth of the gears can actually create more wear and also contributes to the oil getting so dirty....

Once I flushed it a couple times a few thousand miles apart it drained clean this last time.... So that simply means the break-in wear has subsided and the gears are fairly worn in now.

I can get 4 diff changes out of one quart of oil so I'll change it again every 5 or 10K depending on how dirty it looks... I'm hoping to see clean oil again on the next inspection.

 

[taffyspop]

No, there was nothing wrong with it.... I just know the first 5000 miles is when your going to see the most wear as the ring and pinion seat/wear into each other... so it's always good to get those small metal particles out of there as soon as possible. That very tiny metal flowing around in there getting between the teeth of the gears can actually create more wear and also contributes to the oil getting so dirty....

Once I flushed it a couple times a few thousand miles apart it drained clean this last time.... So that simply means the break-in wear has subsided and the gears are fairly worn in now.

I can get 4 diff changes out of one quart of oil so I'll change it again every 5 or 10K depending on how dirty it looks... I'm hoping to see clean oil again on the next inspection.

Matte, you say you get 4 diff changes out of one quart. I can't get mine to hold more than 4 oz of diff oil, so that should make at least 8 changes per quart. Think the manual says it just holds about 4 oz also. How are you able to get more than 4 oz in the diff when you change it. Just wondering.. Thanks......

 

[JimmyFarris]

What made you look at the diff oil?

were you getting strange sounds out of it?

mine seems to have a rattle more than a grind I am just wondering if.... maybe time to do one 7000 miles

I've changed my diff oil probably 5 times and I have around 13,000 miles on her. Each time the fluid comes out kinda' dark. I use Mobil One Synthetic 80W. It changes very very easily (less than 15 minutes from start to finish), so I figure why not? I like knowing the oil is clean. Call me anal, but when the engine oil gets dark, I change it too. Probably under 2500 miles each time. I realize this is overkill, but it doesn't cost much money and takes very little time. I use the Honda 10W40 factory oil and the Honda oil filter. Just my $0.02 worth of bs'ing.

 

[2011MatteOrange]

Matte, you say you get 4 diff changes out of one quart. I can't get mine to hold more than 4 oz of diff oil, so that should make at least 8 changes per quart. Think the manual says it just holds about 4 oz also. How are you able to get more than 4 oz in the diff when you change it. Just wondering.. Thanks......

That was just a guesstiment I still have half qt left and already changed it 3 times. LOL

 

[Ricco73]

Using the Gn4 honda oil the manual suggests every 8000 miles or 12300 kms or 1 year for oil change. I looked for an answer here and got bombarded with opinions and suggestions. All I wanted was a straight answer to what manufacturer recommended so for those looking for that my answer is from the manual itself if your using honda Gn4 oil.

 

[Ricco73]

Getting 600 mile service today and wondered what others are doing on oil change intervals. I know the owner's manual shows 8,000 miles, but that seems like a long time for conventional oil. My Can Am Spyder has 3,000 mile intervals and that's with full syn oil. I also know almost every manual says change oil annually, but I have never found that to be a very practical guide. What are others doing on oil changes?

I change mine every 5000 kms or 3100 miles

 

[FG Steve]

Getting 600 mile service today and wondered what others are doing on oil change intervals. I know the owner's manual shows 8,000 miles, but that seems like a long time for conventional oil. My Can Am Spyder has 3,000 mile intervals and that's with full syn oil. I also know almost every manual says change oil annually, but I have never found that to be a very practical guide. What are others doing on oil changes?

Because I drive less than 8000 mi/year, mine gets changed annually, per the manual.

But I'm one of those wackos that tend to follow manufacturer recommendations.

Regarding the practicality of annual changes, this article describes some of the reasons that manufacturers prescribe them:

Does My Bike Really Need an Oil Change Every Year?

A reader asks if an annual oil change is still necessary for a bike that's being ridden well below the manufacturer's recommended interval between changes.

www.motorcycle.com

 

[macxpert]

Using the Gn4 honda oil the manual suggests every 8000 miles or 12300 kms or 1 year for oil change. I looked for an answer here and got bombarded with opinions and suggestions. All I wanted was a straight answer to what manufacturer recommended so for those looking for that my answer is from the manual itself if your using honda Gn4 oil.

I also use the Honda oil. In Sydney "genuine" Honda oil from the parts counter of my local Honda dealer is cheaper than any other oil from any of the discount auto parts stores and it's always in stock. I never expected the OEM oil from a dealer to be cheaper, let alone a lot cheaper than other oils but I'm not complaining. Since COVID hit and I've been working from home my bike is lucky to get to 3000 KLM in a year so I just change it as per the manual every 12 months.

 

[Furi15]

My best friend says to do it annually. But he lives in Michigan, stops riding by November, stores the bike and then gets it out in the spring. As part of his spring time prep, he changes the oil.

As you said it not very practical or cost friendly. I did my 600 mile service with Lucas oil products and living in southern Ohio I keep my running longer into the fall. I also let the bike run from time to time during the winter months and weather doesn't let me ride. I'll probably change it next spring or the mileage Honda says, whatever comes first.

What part of southern Ohio? I live in Rome, across the river from Huntington WV.