symptoms for an oil change?

[soon2briding]

i was wondering are there any sypmtoms for your bike so that you might know when to have an oil change?... the reason im asking this is because.. i started up my bike today.. and it was spewing out a lil bit of black smoke from the exhaust... just for a lil bit... i dont know whats wrong with my bike.. if anything... but i dont know when the previous owner had the oil changed.. and i just bought it... the previous owner told me that he had put 500 miles on after buying it from the dealer... and they had it serviced before he bought it... is there anything else i should check on my bike... it has trouble staying on when i start it.. but after i ride for a while it runs fine... but what do i know... lil help please..

[Stime187]

I don't think an oil change could cause that, nor do I know of any "symptoms" that would come from the oil not being changed besides a locked motor  :lol: but I would change the oil regardless, it's a good idea to always change oil whenever you get a new vehicle. You just never know when it was changed last and it's just too important to not spend a few bucks and a half hour to be safe.

Just my two cents, hopefully someone can hop in and help with your black smoke issue. As for not staying on, do you have the choke on ALL the way? My bike needs it on fully sometimes to keep it goin then I just back it off as necessary.

Scott

[vtlion]

As for the oil-change.. its PREVENTIVE maintenance.  Do it every 1000-2000 miles or every few months.  Don't wait for anything to go wrong... just do it.

As for being tough to keep it running shortly after startup.... your bike is stock I presume, and therefore jetted very lean in order to pass emissions standards.  It will take an agonizingly long time to warm up.. .something like 20 to 30 minutes depending on conditions.  Rejet, or be patient

As for the black smoke...  :dunno:

What year is your bike?  Mileage?

[yamahonkawazuki]

black smoke=running rich?, check air filter, mine runs rich, and i will see a lil black smoke if i open 'er up :dunno:

[CasiUSA]

i was wondering are there any sypmtoms for your bike so that you might know when to have an oil change?...

When the numbers on your odometer are about 2000 more than the last time you changed the oil, that's a symptom that you should change your oil soon. :lol:

As for the black smoke, is that the only problem? Did you notice a loss of power? Check your plugs and post pics if you can. Maybe check the oil level for over-filling?

[Frost]

what happens if the engine oil is over filled?

[Lars]

i was wondering are there any sypmtoms for your bike so that you might know when to have an oil change?...

When the numbers on your odometer are about 2000 more than the last time you changed the oil, that's a symptom that you should change your oil soon. :lol:

As for the black smoke, is that the only problem? Did you notice a loss of power? Check your plugs and post pics if you can. Maybe check the oil level for over-filling?

2000? I always do it at 4000 mi. or 6000 km. Otherwise it's a waste of money.

Black smoke means it's running really rich. But if it dissapears after a few seconds it's probably nothing.

By looking at the oil you can tell if it has been changed a short while ago. If it's very clear looking, it was changed less than 1000 mi. ago. If it looks brownish, it's longer ago.

I don't think that brownish oil is causing extra wear. Last week I saw the oil-change of the Skoda Octavia Turbodiesel of my collegue. The oil was totally black because of the diesel-soot. He says it's that black again after 100 km's. Still, the engine has run for 290.000 km now, it runs exactly the same as new and the turbo is still the original one. And the turbo uses the normal (totally black ) engine-oil. Oil has to be changed every 10.000 km.

[vtlion]

I don't think that brownish oil is causing extra wear. Last week I saw the oil-change of the Skoda Octavia Turbodiesel of my collegue. The oil was totally black because of the diesel-soot. He says it's that black again after 100 km's. Still, the engine has run for 290.000 km now, it runs exactly the same as new and the turbo is still the original one. And the turbo uses the normal (totally black ) engine-oil. Oil has to be changed every 10.000 km.

Yeah, but that's a diesel engine you are talking about.  Those things are designed to run forever under massive abuse.  This is a little 4-stroke motorcycle engine.  You've got to treat it with kid gloves if you want it to last like that!

Every 1500 miles I change mine out and do the filter every 3000.

[Lars]

I don't think the GS-engine will last 290.000 km  :mrgreen:  But a turbo is also a very sensitive device that needs good oil. BTW, it's not a truck-engine or something. Just 1.9 Litre 4 cylinder / 125 HP. in a passenger car.

That's why I think it's a waste to change before the recommended interval.
There's also a big price difference. I don't think you pay almost 40 dollars for 3L of semi-synthetic oil + filter in the U.S.  It's much more expensive here.