Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Mid-Period Oil Change

Greetings, All,

I had the 500-mile touch-and-tickle on my new '06 America completed. The owner's manual says the next maintaince/oil and filter change is at 6,000 miles.

While I appreciate the extended time, has anyone had their oil/filter changed earlier? Like at about 3,000 miles?

Seems to me that such an earlier change would increase costs but would/should also enhance long-term reliability.

Comments/Suggestions please.

Not necessary. The new synthetic oils and the quality of the motor do not warrant this at all.

This can of worms has been released before....

Do whatever makes you and your wallet happy.

Good question...I was thinking the same thing. Anyone recommend or discourage a 3000 mile change?

I do oil/filter at 3k. Full or blend synthetic and any filter that fits (which will get me an express ticket to hell) since it gets changed at 3k it doesn't matter. Probably a waste, but I don't mind.

If I'm going on a trip I don't change in the middle, it waits until I get home. Which means there was one oil change that went for 5k miles (but it was only a week so I figured the oil was OK).

Of course this will bring on the 'which oil is best'. If you use a particular brand/weight/color/smell you can go 10k between changes, and if you use the special filter that some guys swear by it allows an additional 5k and make sure you don't use the brand X filter because it'll rot your bike out from under you and send you to hell.

i do 3000, i am not worried about the oil breaking down, i am more worried that the oil is shared with the tranny and we only have that one little filter

Frank

I change the oil half way through but not the filter. I figure that by nearly 40000km the engine's lost all the big chunks o' metal it's likely to so the filter'll be more than able to stand up to the service interval, but if I get an extra 10% of life out of the engine for the oil changes it's cheap.

Matt

Oil breaking down isn't my main concern. As Dinqua said todays oil can go a long ways, especially mobil one. My concern is the contaminents. Filters aren't perfect either, and fuel and other crape that gets past the rings just mucks the oil up further. I've changed mine more than necassary so far i'm sure. But i do get peace of mind knowing i have fresh clean oil. Just makes you feel good. And the fact is, no one, not anyone here or anywhere really knows exactly what these engines require to keep them at and given degree of newness or reliability. Lets face it, you'd have to run extensive tests by running the same bikes with various oils and changing at various milage for the life of the bikes and do all this just to find out what this perticular engine truly requires. I mean, we're all really guessing anyways ! So as someone else said, do whatever makes you and your wallet happy ! Your chances of being on the money are as good as anyones.

I do it 'cause I'm anal. I don't recommend it for all the same reasons mentioned. But, I just can't stop myself.

My '05 Speedmaster has around 3,400 miles on it. I've been toying with the idea of an oil change, and will very likely go ahead with one next week as I'm not exactly clear on what the previous owner did or didn't do, but I do have a 600 mile Triumph dealer service receipt from the previous owner. I imagine a bike this young will be floating some metals, especially if the previous owner lugged the engine at all. To my ear, it seems these 865 cc engines want to turn at least 2,500 or better yet a minimum of 3,000 RPM when pulling a grade in high gear, although that may have something to do with the 240 lb Baby Beluga on the throne. I have some prepaid Mobil oil analysis kits in the garage, so I'll post my results when I get to it in a week or two, just for entertainment's sake, as my results would have little relevance to other's machines.


Just my own opinion, your "mileage" may vary - if Triumph is calling for 6,000 mile intervals, I don't believe a 5,000 mile change interval is too far out of whack, provided one isn't riding in extreme dust conditions, which isn't likely with a street bike. 3,000 could be a bit excessive, but it certainly isn't going to hurt anything*. Most auto manufacturers call for 7500 mile change intervals. I don't think 5,000 miles is too far off for that situation either. One method to know for sure is to sample and have analyzed the drained product, but that gets expensive after a while. I can say with no reservation that gross underspeeding (lugging) an engine will tear the bottoms (mains) right out of them, but that's not a startling new revelation. That's old news. Like the saying goes, "keep your revs up." The higher revs (when not extreme) also push more air through the engine, keeping it a bit cooler under many conditions.


I wonder if a key factor in selecting the correct oil for wet clutches may be the JASO MA spec. I'm keeping an eye open for a name brand synthetic with the right viscosity and the JASO MA spec, so maybe I can lop 6 or 8 bucks off the price per quart for oil. It could be that finding a JASO MA spec synthetic with a 4 or 5 dollar per quart price tag is like trying to find a Unicorn. I don't know.

More oil trivia -- (Damn - but this coffee is good ) I don't doubt the many and varied benefits of synthetics, and I would not use a conventional stock in my motorcycle, but, I've never found conclusive and unbiased proof that synthetics will extend engine life when used in automotive applications. I find that interesting as synthetics have been readily available for nearly 30 years.

*I read of a TSB that claims a 3,000 mile automotive change cycle is a problem somehow, but I've never been able to find this fabled TSB. Maybe it falls under urban legend status.

Valvoline makes a 10w40 4 stroke motorcycle oil with the JASO MA spec. I've been using it for the last couple of oil changes and it runs about $3.50/qt at AutoZone.

I change my oil every 4,000 miles. No real sane reason for doing that, just a habit I guess, because when my bike was new service intervals were every 4,000 miles. I justify it by reasoning that since I live in the desert with extreme heat, it can't hurt to change it more often.

i pay 5.90 a quart for 10w40 or 20w50 amsoil that's jaso ma.

My owners manual says 4k intervals, so that's what I'm doing.

I have had an analysis done on the last 3, and have not yet been able to get the reports posted here. Though nothing is out of line, on this last analysis, was suggested to run the bike down the highway for 15 minutes to lower the fuel% (1%)(I had warmed the engine with a short ride, but maybe not 15 minutes on the highway before dropping the oil), and my lead content is still higher than expected at 28ppm (was at 45ppm at 12k miles, then at 30ppm at 16k), so they suggested maybe a 3k oil change interval to see what effect they may have on that element.

I don't intend to analyze every oil change, but the lead content has intrigued me as the lab suggests that it is a sign of early engine wear-in, and at 20k+ miles now, I'm not sure what to make of it. The fuel% of course is a non-issue as it should totally disappear if I sample a really hot change.

Here is a link to the lab: BLACKSTONE LABS

I'm using the SHELL ROTELLA-T SYNTHETIC 5w-40, and though it may not be JASO-MA, I think it's more than sufficient for my purposes, anyway. For what I'm saving over the cost of the Triumph oil, I can pay for the analysis, know what I've got, and still keep some change in my pocket.