Metal Shavings.

I changed the oil today on my 04 and found a few flakes of metal when disposing of the old oil. I do expect some flakes, but I found a tiny one about half the size of a small ball bearing.
What causes that and what can I do to prevent it? Are metal flakes in the crankcase normal or expecting to see some of them is only normal in my imagination?
By the way, the bike has close to 50K miles on it.
Thanks for the comments.

 

It can happen from time to time, but it's always a worry.
Any bits that are large are a concern.
What oil do you use and how often do you change it?

 

I use honda, synthetic oil and change it every 3k miles give or take.

 

The only filings I have ever found in mine are almost the consistency of fine powder, if in fact I was looking at metal filings. I would be a bit concerned and would want to know what it was. But I have no idea where to steer you to look. Other than possibly something from your last filter.

I used to change my oil as often as you (5k km) but that stopped a few years ago and now I change it pretty close to recommendations which is every 8K miles or 12,800 km. I do mine every 10,000 km just because, on the 10K mark. That is easy to remember. No recording of numbers needed. So really, you are right up there with ample oil changes. Changing that often, I don't think it really matters what oil you are using provided there are none of the friction inhibitators in the oil.

Let us know what you find out for sure. Mileage wise, yours is still very young.

 

I still have the oil filter, will open it up next week to look at it.