How long can engine oil really last?

[SparkerS1]

change EO every 1000km or every month??

ppl nowadays too rich or easily kena tok by shopso_O

 

y so confused, actually got EO can ride already mah, must check the EO level only.

2 strokers also can use 4T, but gear oil is more ideal, but then seldom got shops selling gear oil as its not as high demand as normal 4T EO.

 

do watever u deem is right n gd for ur bike, its not my money anyway:sian:

[spirals]

normally 4T ones, change every 2000km. But of coz dun wait until the 2000th km then change

[crazydj]

Okay. Let's say that my bike got no oil filter and i ride everyday. Like that how ah?

 

Then also ah, if i use fully synthetic, 3 months the thing inside "dried up" or evaporated. When i poured the used EO into my oil EO bottle, only half the bottle filled. But when i use mineral or semi, 3 months the oil is still nearly full not even 3/4 mark.

 

Why ah?

 

PS: But the fully synthetic feeling is so damn shoik sia compared to mineral or semi.

[xXxRatedxXx]

Okay. Let's say that my bike got no oil filter and i ride everyday. Like that how ah?

 

Then also ah, if i use fully synthetic, 3 months the thing inside "dried up" or evaporated. When i poured the used EO into my oil EO bottle, only half the bottle filled. But when i use mineral or semi, 3 months the oil is still nearly full not even 3/4 mark.

 

Why ah?

 

PS: But the fully synthetic feeling is so damn shoik sia compared to mineral or semi.

 

No oil filter tak pe.... just that more dust and sand gets into the engine oil... and your EO degrades faster. Correct me if wrong (CMiW)

 

Fully synthetic oil are thinner (CMiW) for performance at high temperatures and high revs. However they degrade very quickly in high rev race conditions (CMiW) when they rev to the redline all the time in racing conditions.

 

Hence the EO is thinner and evaporates thru the exhaust quicker than thicker grades of EO.

 

CMiW

[crazydj]

But the feeling of synthetic is damn shoik. You think worth it i put into my bike from now on?

[starr]

can use car's 4t onto bike?

[ryanryanryan]

yes, as long as it is engine oil

[kinwei]

can use car's 4t onto bike?

 

Depends. Most of the 4 stroke motorcycles are using wet clutch. Meaning clutch is soaked with engine oil. If the engine oil contain friction modifiers which is normally found in car engine oil, then there is a possibility of clutch slipping. Friction modifiers is a substance which will minimised the friction between moving parts. But there is case where people use car engine oil and do not detect any clutch slipping. However if you are unsure, use back motorcycle engine oil.

 

Just to note, recently I purchase the Amsoil car engine oil which contains no friction modifiers from Uberstore. It is stated to be motorcycle wet clutch friendly.

Edited March 18, 2010 by kinwei

[starr]

Depends. Most of the 4 stroke motorcycles are using wet clutch. Meaning clutch is soaked with engine oil. If the engine oil contain friction modifiers which is normally found in car engine oil, then there is a possibility of clutch slipping. Friction modifiers is a substance which will minimised the friction between moving parts. But there is case where people use car engine oil and do not detect any clutch slipping. However if you are unsure, use back motorcycle engine oil.

 

Just to note, recently I purchase the Amsoil car engine oil which contains no friction modifiers from Uberstore. It is stated to be motorcycle wet clutch friendly.

 

Ahh.. Do give feedback with regards of ur new engine oil. =D Would like to know more.

[HaiR1]

Depends. Most of the 4 stroke motorcycles are using wet clutch. Meaning clutch is soaked with engine oil. If the engine oil contain friction modifiers which is normally found in car engine oil, then there is a possibility of clutch slipping. Friction modifiers is a substance which will minimised the friction between moving parts. But there is case where people use car engine oil and do not detect any clutch slipping. However if you are unsure, use back motorcycle engine oil.

 

Just to note, recently I purchase the Amsoil car engine oil which contains no friction modifiers from Uberstore. It is stated to be motorcycle wet clutch friendly.

 

 

 

 

anyone tried this before...? feed back...

 

 

http://www.singaporebikes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=279733

[choke]

For me, i change when i dont get the same feeling anymore.

 

Gearshift not smooth, sound of the engine at various temperatures, how easy to start in the morning, etc etc. I dunnno how i know when to change, just "feel" what my bike is telling me. When you ride your bike everyday, you will know what is best for your bike.

 

I second that.

[kinwei]

Ahh.. Do give feedback with regards of ur new engine oil. =D Would like to know more.

 

I have not yet use it yet. I still got a few more thousands km till 8k km before I changed it. Based on my previous experience with Amsoil motorcycle specific engine oil, I would say it is not bad.

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

y so confused, actually got EO can ride already mah, must check the EO level only.

EO can degrade over time. Depending on riding conditions it can be prudent to ensure the oil is fresh. A 20 year old CB250 used for granddaddy's occasional outings needs far less attention than, heck, no need to talk about race bikes, my Phantom which is run at highway speeds (with occasional participation in traffic light grand prix) for 2-6 hours daily.

 

Since this is a relatively high-vibration and noisy type of engine you can hear whether the oil needs to be changed or not.

 

As for synthetics or not - NEVER use a syn or semi syn oil when running in your engine as it will prevent the wear necessary to seat the new engine parts properly.

 

If the bike comes with synthetic oil from the factory then it's a high end machine with superior engineering tolerances (and designed for that type of oil). I know BMWs and other high end vehicles come standard with synthetic.

 

For old bikes like mine it pays to stick to thicker oils of the mineral type.

 

Btw, this has been discussed before with mixed results - some people put 2T in 4 stroke engines and claim it lubricates better and gives various performance benefits. However they fail to realise that this method was actually developed for and by owners of Mazda sports cars with rotary engines that are DESIGNED to burn EO in order to lubricate the rotary chamber, and motorcycle 2T which is thinner, does a better job coating the entire chamber with an oil film than normal car EO which leaves unlubricated spots.

[duracell]

the proper way to determine the lifespan of an oil is to do an oil analysis on the used oil...

its is a cumbersome process as it involve the oil company and engine manufacturer...

mostly only fleet owner do this as the cost saving for extended oil change is huge...

 

eg of a fleet owner: 1 that has 200 engines, each engine uses 250 liters of oil, recommended oil change interval is 250 hrs, these engines works 24 hrs a day...

[SlowButSteady Bro]

Engine oil change and lasting all depend on the cylinder and the usage of the bike itself..

 

In laymen terms,,1 cylinder bike its better to change between 1000-2000km

2 & 3 cylinders from 2500-3500km for 4 cylinders above from 4000km

[gohjohan]

How about if I don't ride my bike often and I don't get even 3,000 km in 6 months 'cos I'm away and my sub-rider doesn't have time to ride it as often as I hoped. Does it mean that I have to wait until 3,000km and change or do I change it after a few months even if less than 3,000km is reached? The EO is semi-syn

[duracell]

How about if I don't ride my bike often and I don't get even 3,000 km in 6 months 'cos I'm away and my sub-rider doesn't have time to ride it as often as I hoped. Does it mean that I have to wait until 3,000km and change or do I change it after a few months even if less than 3,000km is reached? The EO is semi-syn

 

the owners' manual should have stated 2 criteria to replace oil, reaching a certain mileage or reaching a certain period/ time frame... do it whichever comes first...

 

for sgp context, where high humidity and many move off/ stop and on/off of engine are involved.. it is better to do oil change at half the recommended interval...

[gohjohan]

the owners' manual should have stated 2 criteria to replace oil, reaching a certain mileage or reaching a certain period/ time frame... do it whichever comes first...

 

for sgp context, where high humidity and many move off/ stop and on/off of engine are involved.. it is better to do oil change at half the recommended interval...

 

looks like I got to change it ASAP. I'll try to go back to SG to change the oil.

[The_Sheriff]

My Twister I changing semi around 1.5-2k km, fully around 2-2.5k. Very hot bike; can smell engine oil burnt smell when checking dip stick.

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

Hot? Is your CBX a fuel injected or carburetted bike?

 

If carb, try running a richer fuel/air mixture to reduce operating temperatures.

 

Now running 1500km intervals on my Phantom due to hot and high RPM usage, wide open throttle and DIY tuning/mods.

 

Motul 5100 worked well for the past 2 oil changes but will be switching to Amsoil 10W40 full synthetic once I the order arrives. Reason being low cost, superior protection (especially in cold starts) and shear resistance from synthetic oil.

 

However, as aforesaid months ago, synthetic may have a propensity to evaporate through the airbox and using it on an old generation 200cc may be just overkill....

 

But its appropriate when 2B bikes are pushed to the limit every time you want to go at proper highway speeds in today's perspective.

[frogman]

my take on this is : just follow e intervals as stated in ur manual. those numbers are by the ppl who design/make ur engine and usually they are already on e safer side..but if u got more money,then its entirely up to u

[Gresini]

Personal tot: I nvr read manuals, but comparing $10/ltr changing every mth den $30/ltr every 3mth i choose 1st opt, with the naive thinkin oil breakdown from fresh ONCE you start the engine. For quantity, I always go 50ml below specified due to spore's weather and oil temp is always on the higher side.

[Pandoras Kitten 3]

Ang moh moto liao jiaos like to recommend changing EO every 1000 miles / 1600km as bike engines work harder than those on cars, and also if the bike has no oil filter, using shared/wet sump, wet clutch (ie, most 2B bikes), then the oil will collect debris from everywhere real fast.

 

All of the waste will be floating around the sump and flying all over causing wear/abrasion if the oil isn't changed. The oil in this case will also have to do all sorts of things like lubricating the gears, clutch and the piston as well as serving as a heatsink. Of course the EO would degrade relatively fast, but it doesn't cost a lot to change it often as changing oil is better than changing parts every 10,000km.

 

Hence, I love $10-16 Motul engine oil

 

If I ever upgraded to a bigger street or touring machine that has dry sump, oil filter and a much lower-revving engine, I might be persuaded that expensive synthetics and long drain intervals are the way to go.

[faun]

three bottles of engine oil change in 3000km

four bottles of engine oil change in 5000km

0ne bottle of engine oil change in 1000km

[Raptor]

Ang moh moto liao jiaos like to recommend changing EO every 1000 miles / 1600km as bike engines work harder than those on cars, and also if the bike has no oil filter, using shared/wet sump, wet clutch (ie, most 2B bikes), then the oil will collect debris from everywhere real fast.

 

All of the waste will be floating around the sump and flying all over causing wear/abrasion if the oil isn't changed. The oil in this case will also have to do all sorts of things like lubricating the gears, clutch and the piston as well as serving as a heatsink. Of course the EO would degrade relatively fast, but it doesn't cost a lot to change it often as changing oil is better than changing parts every 10,000km.

 

Hence, I love $10-16 Motul engine oil

 

If I ever upgraded to a bigger street or touring machine that has dry sump, oil filter and a much lower-revving engine, I might be persuaded that expensive synthetics and long drain intervals are the way to go.

 

Do you realise that you contradicted yourself? First part of your post is correct... thats what the oil does and that changing the oil out frequently is good for the engine as it does not allow time for sludge build up and also the lubricity quality of the oil goes down with heat and time.

 

The second part of your post does not really make sense. A lower revving engine and you want to put synthetic oil??

 

Synthetic oils are meant for racing engines... high rev and high heat. If you do not play on the track or redline your bike from traffic light to traffic light.. IMHO its a waste of good oil to put synthetic... you will never utilise the full properties of the oil... its like using a sledgehammer to kill a housefly.

 

Its better to put semi synthetics or even mineral oils and change more often like what you mentioned in the first part. All the dirt will and carbon by products will be thrown out.

 

As long as the engine is started... carbon by products are being produced and picked up by the oil. The longer you keep the oil... the more dirt is picked up and circulated round the engine.

 

But then again... everyone is entitled to their own opinions, choice of oils to use coz its their own money and their own bikes.

 

I race and track my bikes alot. When I decided to overhaul the engines and crankcases to change the bearings to race bearings... it could be seen that there was very minimal wear on the pistons, cylinder walls or the gears. Then engine oil pan looked like brand new no carbon stains.

 

The engine oil never had enough time to lay down a layer of carbon sludge.

Edited June 12, 2010 by Raptor