Topic: I'm afraid to post this one...

[heffay]

If you only run the bike 500 miles per year or less... how often wouldacouldashoulda you change the oil?
I've blown motors and I've seen 'em go forever.  I'm on the fence.

What does time have to do w/ it?

[jaknight]

Well,

On my bike I would change every 3 months.  Oxidation, chemical degeneration and break down.

Smog in LA eats the rubber valve stems of wheels, rots them right off.  Cigarette smoke oil gets to the inside of a book and ruins it, even if the book is in a plastic bag in the bottom of a box inside a closet.

My bike's innards are too valuable to me to risk it for my convenience (read laziness).  I have too much of my blood (yes), sweat, and money into that sweetheart of mine.

~ ~ ~ jaknight ~ ~ ~

[ev0lution7]

if you only put that much on i usually change 2 times a year... once b4 the season and 1 time after the season whenyou park it for the winter...

[myhondas]

Let me take it one step farther....what is the best oil to use in a 69-75 750k? Synthetic or regular, vtwin or something else?

[heffay]

son of a bithcut... turn it into an oil thread why don't ya!

[cb750fbomb]

Let me take it one step farther....what is the best oil to use in a 69-75 750k? Synthetic or regular, vtwin or something else?

Oh no. Not that.

[ev0lution7]

look leave it at this...

just run 20-50 valveoline motorcycle oil... change it at the begging of the season and at the end NUF SAID dont turn this into a debate dino oil is fine for a 500 mile a year bike

[heffay]

ok... i'll bite... why not 3 years?  how bout 5?

[seaweb11]

Because that would be bad

[Hush]

500 miles? (I hope not kilometres!) whose riding it, your Mother?

[cb350twin]

just run 20-50 Valveoline motorcycle oil

 Not a fan of Valvoline motorcycle oil, gave me clutch slippage. I use Castrol GTX or Castrol motorcycle oil 10W-40

[scondon]

ok... i'll bite... why not 3 years?  how bout 5?

Your engine is not a sealed container, think of it as a bucket of oil.

[jaknight]

Just A Thought,

What does time have to do w/ it?

No one seems to be giving heffay reasons?

~ ~ ~ jaknight ~ ~ ~

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

One question from me - Does it look dirty or clean?

[hymodyne]

As it is a "bucket of oil," as was stated, doesn't the changing frequency have to do with the materials that are added or taken away from the oil during its time in the "bucket"? Moisture from condensation in particular seems to be something to account for in the infrequently run motor.

hym

[Toxic]

Change it at the end of the season.  I don't see a point to changing it in the spring when the bike has not been used.  The oil is not going to significantly change sitting in the crank for 3 or 4 months.   I would be more concerned where you store it, you want to avoid condensation build up in the engine.

Buy the cheapest M/C oil you can find.  With 500 miles per year there is no point buying the good stuff.

[Markcb750]

Assuming you start the bike weekly and alow the motor to reach operating temperature for a 20 minute period, and you are not storing the bike next to a stream,  once a year should be fine. 

Reposted for my amusment:

I use a different type of oil every time I change, always 10w 40, except in summer when I run 15 w 40, unless I cannot find it, then I run 20w 50,unless I have some 10w 40 around, I just use it, even if it is not a "different" type of oil. So, I guess my original statement was more of a general concept, not a personal commitment.



 

BTW:

I re-polish my oil filter housing every time I change the oil.


I add a little Sea-Foam to the oil about 100 miles before I change it, unless I forget, or the mood to wrench & polish hits me and I just change the oil.

[lordmoonpie]

Hmm, not true actually - the life of the oil depends not on mileage but on heating/cooling cycles and mechanical trauma to the molecules. Heating oil changes its molecular structure so one hot ride for a few miles and you could literally cook your oil and ruin its lubricating properties. Add in high revs for long periods to batter the molecules to break their structures and you're making it worse. I guess you guys over the pond are less familiar than us Brits with our good old chip-pans. Fill a chip pan with fresh oil, crank it up to cook your chips and when it's cooled it's already thicker, darker, gloopier.

That's why modern oils have been engineered with things like "bucky balls" to try and retain lubrication for longer periods of time and you know it works - that's why old hondas on modern oil get clutch slip. Buy cheap mineral oil and go for hot runs and you could lose 80% of its best lubrication properties well within 500 miles., but hey - it's your bike and not mine!

Oil, particulary castor based oils in older machines is also hygroscopic and will scavenge the moisture in your cases to further ruin its lubrication and heat resistant properties. Don't ever leave castor based oils in your acses for any length of time or you'll get more corrosion than you bargained for.

I only race my old hondas - nothing on the road, but I change my oil every 2 meetings if they are far apart, every three meetings if close together. Oil is still way cheaper in time money and effort than a rebuild! But of course, what's fine for one person ain't for the next - start the bike once a week for 20  mins and then stop is perfect for NOT burning off all the moisture in the airt in the system and is great for collecting it inside your engine. Just because you don't see the droplets, it doesn't mean its dry. A regular 20 minute start up and put away without the ride is bad for your engine...

[Markcb750]

OK make sure your twenty minute warm up is going up and down your street...

[Gordon]

Heffay!  Just change the damn oil already!!!!!!



Absolutely NOBODY here will be able to tell you with 100% certainty that not changing it will be bad for your bike, but I CAN tell you with 100% certainty that changing it will NOT be bad for it. 

[heffay]

just to bump the thread and give a little tidbit... all my bikes get way more than 500 miles.
its just a topic about time vs. changing frequency.

i can tell you right now that someone that only puts 500 miles on a bike... probably isn't going to change the oil 4 times a year.

Just A Thought,

What does time have to do w/ it?

No one seems to be giving heffay reasons?

~ ~ ~ jaknight ~ ~ ~

yep... they're just more interested in why i'm not riding and changing my oil every time i go to the garage.   

[Duke McDukiedook]

ok... i'll bite... why not 3 years?  how bout 5?

Change it the same, at least two times a year like they said.

Regular engine oil degrades just like any other organic material. The properties that help protect and lubricate the engine and crankcase break down also with time.

[736cc]

  The problem is you're not riding it enough. Bikes ridden regular (and their owners) are happier for a variety of reasons. I restore and mantain exquisitte vintage/classic cars and bikes and the ones that don't get ridden or driven on a regular basis have more stupid problems than ones that get played with. Oil changing frequency isn't their problem, that gets done minimum once a year, twice is better. You should be aware of other problems from lack of use.
  Motor oil was designed to be changed.
  In the grand scheme of things, a motor won't explode or have serious issues if you extend an oil change. Your motor probably gets changed more often than neded, which ain't bad for it. Its only bad when it doesn't get changed when it really needs it. Marginally extended oil-change times won't cause harm. Over-heating and dirty road conditions using a poor air filter are reasons to change oil more often. Gasoline and combustion contaminents are present in your oil, those are not good for oil and bearings, and get worse thru festering.  A pampered garaged bike w/ clean oil won't be an issue w/ oil changes unless you skip it for more than 1 year. An oil change costs what, $15?
  Changing your bike's or cars oil is a ritual that feels good, anyway.

[ofreen]

At 500 miles a year, the owner would probably never know the difference in a typical lifetime if if the oil was only changed every ten years.  He/she isn't going to put enough use on it to wear it out.  I am assuming the bike is stored indoors, and not outside under a drainspout.  (Such as an ex-neighbor did with his /7 BMW.) I've seen 20+ yer old lawnmower engines there were run extensively then stored over the winter with oil that had never been changed in its life.  No corrosion or damage. I've seen the inside of any number of engines, car and bike, that sat for years without running with no detectable damage from having the same old oil in the crankcase.  A good example is the '42 GPW I am finishing up.  It sat in a field in Lehi, Utah for over 25 years without running.  When it was shut off way back when, two of the pistons were at BDC.  The cylinders with the pistons at BDC had some very light rust on the cylinder walls, the ones at TDC were in perfect condition.  The condition of the rest of the engine interior was consistant with one of those old flathead fours with 48,000 miles on it.

A bike that sits a lot is going to suffer more from fuel and electrical system (and possibly pest infestation) issues more than from problems with oil.

[MCRider]

In my mind, the issue of time being temperature change which comes mostly with the seasons. Temperature change = condensation.

One suggestion was to avoid condensation, but that is really out of our hands to a large extent. Not all of us have climate controlled garages or storage sheds.  Condensation occurs anywhere there is air and temperature change. Inside crankcases, inside fork tubes, inside gas tanks, etc.

So you ride in the summer, generate acids in the oil, so you change it when you put it away so the bearings won't be sitting in acid. Then in the spring, you change it to get the water from the condensation out.  Two times a year is good enough for low mileage motors. May be more than necessary, but not too expensive either.

That's me FWIW.

Oh and PS: I agree with Ofreen. You'll likely die before you know the difference.  (Whats a GPW?)