8,000 Mile Oil Change?

Hello, Gang.

I was looking through the Honda service manual (6th gen), and thought I would refresh what's left of my memory with the suggested maintenance items and service intervals. Other than the initial break-in oil/filter changes, the suggested oil changes are 8,000 miles or every twelve months. I got out the owners manual and it says the same thing.

I'm curious; do any of you follow that schedule, and if so, have you at least had a peek at your valvetrain to see how things look?

I generally run a synthetic blend, and change the oil/filter at about 5000 miles. Being that decent oils are about $9 a quart now, I'm tempted to go a bit longer between changes.

FWIW, I'm not really looking for opinions here; I am more interested in hearing from some folks who have actually put a lot of miles on between changes and have seen the insides of their motor (and not from an engine disassembling itself :biggrin.

 

Be tempted, but careful. Penske trucks tried that, but forgot about contaminants. You can go longer, but the engine still makes junk that mhas to be filtered out and it the filter is full, it just bypasses those back into the oil.

And with bikes there is another issue, gas in oil. All that unburnt gas from short trips does not have time to evaporate away if the motor does not come up to operating temps long enough, and it thins the oil, providing less protection.

Larry

 

I've done 7K oil change intervals and seen the internals of the engine via valve adjustments. All are ok and right now I'm at 43K miles total on my bike.

Another note, I've used AMSOIL and works great. When I first got my bike it had honda oil in it and after 5K miles the shifting would get stiff. With amsoil however, even after 7K the shifting is still smooth!

 

With cars they recommend at least two oil changes a year, does that apply with synthetic oil?
Would that apply to motorcycles as well since they tend to run harder than cars?

 

Damn, I thought it every 4k, Thanks LGN001
The last time I have my bike service the mechanic try to schedule me at every 3K............WTH

 

The biggest factor is that motorcycle engines have a much higher shear factor than automobile engines do. Since motorcycle engines run their oil thru the transmission and clutch the oil gets "chopped up" and (if multi-grade viscosity conventional oil) loses it's viscosity at a much higher rate than what an car does because of the VII's (viscosity index improvers). Some of the viffers have gear-driven cams, so that is more shear factor as well. That and the fact that sportbike engines are higher revving than cars can really beat up oil at a much faster rate.

I have no hard data from my own bike, but based on data that I have viewed, I reports I have read, I would not go 8k on conventional or semi-synthetic oil. Only the highest quality synthetics will foot the bill for that. As was mentioned, once you get into that, then you have to be concerned not about oil, but the filter becoming clogged from contaminants during extended oil change intervals.

 

Honda is the worlds largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines and the largest manufacturer of motorcycles. There's no need to question their recommendations. I don't know why anyone would put more merit in what someone on an internet forum says. If it makes you feel better to change oil at 3k then do it, but it's a waste of time, money, and oil. That's not my opinion, it's Honda Motor Company's opinion, and they have more experience than all of us combined.

 

I've been a full time Honda tech for almost twenty five years and I question MANY of their recommendations. For example, a GL1800 maintainance chart recommends replacing spark plugs and air filter at 12K...that's totally ridiculous....30K would be more like it. 8K is plenty for oil changes even under ideal conditions. I would say stick with your 5K interval. Believe me...when you start tearing engines down you can really tell who's been good and who's been bad on oil changes. Piston/rings are primarily lubed by splashing from the crankcase...old oil has a lot more particulate matter and contaminates (like gasoline). I prefer nice fresh oil lubing the insides of my rides.

 

Here's one I just rebuilt a GS500F Twin, cheap oil, 3/4 quart low, hot AZ day going uphill. About 2k+ to fix at the dealer, crank, rod, bearings, rings, gaskets, rotor, a cam, misc and a bunch of work. I don't roll the dice oil is cheap.

 

My two cents:

Oil is relatively cheap insurance for any vehicle. I personally "halve" the recommended interval and always change the filter. The other thing one can do is to install an oil filter magnet to catch and hold any ferrous (iron) particles that might make their way through the filter. I plan on keeping my '05 VFR a long time, esp. given the step backwards that the new 1200 VFR represents! My only complaint about the '05 is the weight (plus the recall). I wanted a lighter new model, not a heavier one!

 

Thanks for the inputs, all.

 

Tires last 3 to 4 thousand, so does the oil.
New tires = New oil
Every other year, for clutch & brake fluid.

Mac