oil changing

[mes_423]

does anyone know when to change the oil. i got the manuals and all but its not to specific, i live in a dusty, dusty area. any reccomendations? some people say 4x a year, some say every 1000 miles.

[newbieone]

Dude/Gal,

Check the site more. There is a scheduled maintanice list available.

[newbieone]

sorry if i sounded rude.  

[Bob Broussard]

I would check the oil level before every ride. Or at least once a week if you ride alot.

Then change the oil every 2000 miles. Every 1000 miles is a little too often.
The air filter is the thing to check often in dusty conditions. The oil is not effected by this. Just keep the oil level topped off as needed between changes.

[MarkusN]

Bob, that sounds very much like a racing schedule to me. Suzuki specs call for an oil change every 6000 km (roughly 4000 miles), and if you don't ride her hard that's sufficient.

[Bob Broussard]

I was going to say around 3000 at first. But since it's only 3 qts and a filter and it's an air cooled motor, I figured the lower milage instead.
But 4000 is fine.

On a race bike, it's more like every race weekend or 2. I mainly do it to check for signs of bearing damage. Cheap insurance.

On my truck I have about 7000 miles so far. They suggest every 3000.
I'll get it changed this month.

[newbieone]

I see Bob's point, but it doens't help unless you are useing a screen or splitting the filter looking for metal.

As far as your truck, 7500 is the max for regular oil. I would say 10k for syntheic.  But that is opinion, then again I drive Hondas.

[Jace009]

4x a year is about 2,500 miles when you boil it down...That's sufficent but more won't hurt :mrgreen:  just remember that the oil in the bike is also the trans fluid and lubes all the "critical parts" so don't skimp on the oil use the good qulality stuff.

[GregoryTheriault]

Changing you oil early just wastes oil.

There is no benefit to overdoing oil changes. Oil is filtered and that's there to take care of particulate issues. The oil has to be changed because it breaks down over time, looses it's viscocity. this doesn't happen quickly though. As to yearly changes, oil becomes acidic over time due to combustion byproducts. You should put fresh oil in your case just before winter ( static ) storage to preveng acidic oil from eating bearings and other surfaces. 2000 to 5000K, or 2500miles is usually more than adaquate,....More than adequate, so more than that is just money down the drain.

Cheers.