Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Only 1,000 mi. / change oil or not before storing?

Got my dream bike (Rocket III) and my loyal Bonnie took second booking this summer. With only a thousand miles on her total for this season and running a full synthetic oil....should I change it out before putting it up for the winter (Oct - May in Alaska) - or is it okay to leave sit. The oil is dark so I'm leaning toward changing it - but man - at $53.00/gal. for Mobil 1 I'm thinking not. No detergents to break down right - or will the carbon in the oil eat away at seals, etc. To change or not to change? What would you do?

Get something less than $53 a gallon no matter what !
Leave the oil and filter, especially at $53 a gallon since you're going to change it in the spring. The rest of the 'getting ready for winter' you should know already.

I would change it out. Condensation and ash in the dirty oil could cause corrosion. I'd rather have clean oil sitting in the bike over the long Alaska winter.

Savage,
Change it. Use Amsoil at $30/gallon or the Rotella T Synthetic at $20/gallon. The ash content in Rotella is a bit high, but not enough to worry.

I don't think either way will cause any harm

At $53 I would leave it in, but with cheaper oil I would change it before the layup for the same reasons Fishercat mentions.
Get some Shell Rotlla T 5w40w synthetic (blue jugs, just fine for the colder northern climates - and you seem pretty north to me ) at WalMart for $12. Be sure to run it a bit too before the layup, Stabil in the gas yada yada yada. You probably know that though.

My other bikes I left the oil in for the 6 months of winter, changed it in the spring. The advice of the dealer was to put cheap oil (not theirs) in for the winter and dump it in the spring. This way you dont have the contaminated oil sitting in the bike all winter, which is hard on seals, gaskets and aluminum. The bonus is you are flushing your crankcase also. I do not use synthetic for the winter storage, as per the mechanic.

I like Pat and Jake's logic. Cheap clean oil is going to do a nice job of preserving the guts of the motor, then do another flush come spring. Everyone's happy. Seems like cheap insurance for $13 a gallon.

If you used Mobil 1 Motorcycle oil you should be ok. If it is Mobil 1 for cars then change it. Many syn oils being sold today are nothing more than falsely advertised petroleum oils. Castro, Valvoline, Mobil 1 & Shell Rotella to name a few.

Basically if you paid less than $6.50 a quart for your oil it is not a true synthetic oil. What you bought was a Group 3 petroleum oil being marketed as a synthetic oil.

The difference is that a petroleum oil requires what is called Viscosity Index (VI) improvers (a type of additive), that helps maintain the oils viscosity over its useful life. A true synthetic oil (POA or Ester base) does not require VI improvers, because the synthetic oil naturally maintains its viscosity. The only problem is that due to heat and time the VI improvers break down and turn into acid. In a stored engine where moisture might be present this will result in premature wear/rust in the engine.

Tom