how often is too often or not often enough to change the oil on a bike that sees both sides of the ball? track/street

I run Repsol 4T non synthetic. Please don't tell me "oh man wtf you can be running XYZ oil for $2.50/15 gallon jug and be just fine." :lol this is not that thread.

that is a good ? i'm sure the racers change theirs every race weekend. but the average man is not made of money.. maybe freak or ccm will have a good idea

My philosophy-
race bike-change oil every race weekend
track bike-change oil every other trackday
street bike- 2-3k miles
So if you are riding street/track, I would still change oil every other trackday as street riding isn't significant stress to the motor

I think it comes to how you ride on the street.
If you treat your local canyons as your personal track, you should be changing the oil every 2K miles.

With my SRAD, with track only trim running Mobil1 full syn, I would change the oil every 3rd track event (cant call them days since some events would be two back to back days) due to the time the oil would be in the motor. 3 months is long enough and each event was about once a month.

Some of it is a comfort thing. The oil should be able to handle more then 2 or 3 days at the track, but the cost of a motor is a LOT more then an oil change.

John

so John and I are basically saying the same thing

I think street riding may be harder on oil than track days (not racing) are.
You abuse the clutch more on the street, see higher temperatures from sitting in traffic and tend to make more sever throttle transitions in street riding.
While frequent oil changes (every 3rd track event) may make you feel good are they really that beneficial?

frequent oil changes are cheaper than a motor, especially knowing our bikes disposition towards plain bearing failure.

Most any maintenance is cheaper than a motor!
What we are talking about here is the "feel good" factor VS. the "do good" factor.

frequent oil changes are cheaper than a motor, especially knowing our bikes disposition towards plain bearing failure.

Many of the same guys who do frequent oil changes are the guys who spent too much time on 1 wheel and force their well lubed motors into oil starvation!

Many of the same guys who do frequent oil changes are the guys who spent too much time on 1 wheel and force their well lubed motors into oil starvation!

But that was not the original posters question, was it? Both Freaks and my answers were germane with regards to the question as asked. Or....maybe that is the way Lean rides, but that is not how I interpreted it,.

There really is NO answer...and that is the point.
It's all based on opinion and the opinions, in my opinion, vary!
The answer can only be accurately answered with an oil analysis.
I am both cost and maintenance conscious.
Look at some of freaks maintenance intervals on his other vehicles. (Not flaming The Freak here!)
Tell me it doesn't come down to the " feel good" factor here?

Ok, I "feel good" when my motor is still running......;-)

Haaaaaaaaaa...Don't we ALL brother, don't we ALL!:cheers

There really is NO answer...and that is the point.
It's all based on opinion and the opinions, in my opinion, vary!
The answer can only be accurately answered with an oil analysis.
I am both cost and maintenance conscious.
Look at some of freaks maintenance intervals on his other vehicles. (Not flaming The Freak here!)
Tell me it doesn't come down to the " feel good" factor here?

Trust me, I know I push it with my maintenance... Dont get me wrong here.. lol
My track bike is a bit different, I dont want a failure to cause a crash. In my car, I dont worry so much, also due to the fact that the trans is not part of the same oil as the motor.

The Hawk is a whole different story. I have been looking for a 'honest' reason to rebuild the motor. I have to get the wife to agree to spending the kind of money I want to on that bike.. lol Oh well, I just can not seem to kill it.
20K+ miles per oil change, have not had to replace the battery in over 9 years. Have not changed the coolant in more then 5 years. I replace the chain and sprockets as needed as well as tires...
Some bikes just wont give up and die.. lol We have let 3 people learn to ride on it, crash it, bend the sub frame back to as close to straight as we can get it, and just keep on riding it. lol Great street bike I tell ya.. lol

But I do agree, with common the rod bearings fail in our SRADs, I try to keep up on the oil changes more.

John

The bearing failure is attributed to extreme riding styles more than infrequent oil changes (I.M.H.O.)(No facts to back that up just years of exposure to them and their riders)

There are so many variables on oil changes we could go for days with the "I do this or I do that" there is no one straight answer.

My opinion: listen to what your oil is telling you. When you change your oil, it it still somewhat translucent or is it black? If you can still see thru it you still have life on it and you can change it a little less often. If it's pitch black, you need to change it more often. Write down your mileage and keep track of how often you change it and what the oil looked like when you changed it and adjust from there :cheers

I change mine after every weekend out, but I do get my Royal Purple for free...:biggrin

Log the number of miles you are doing at each TD and figure it out. If you're changing it on the street every 3K miles and only getting in maybe 200 at a trackday I think you can safely change your oil every 5-6 TDs and be fine.

I change mine after every weekend out, but I do get my Royal Purple for free...:biggrin

Thats because you're freakin special Mike http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr87/smilingsmurfet/smileys/pigfly_smilie.gif

There are so many variables on oil changes we could go for days with the "I do this or I do that" there is no one straight answer.

My opinion: listen to what your oil is telling you. When you change your oil, it it still somewhat translucent or is it black? If you can still see thru it you still have life on it and you can change it a little less often. If it's pitch black, you need to change it more often. Write down your mileage and keep track of how often you change it and what the oil looked like when you changed it and adjust from there :cheers

Pitch black with low miles usually indicates an overly rich condition or extremely dusty environment.
I agree on both accounts though! If you are changing semi clean oil you are wasting time/resources.

If I got my royal purple for free, i would still follow the oil change intervals outlined earlier. But that's just me!
Waste is waste regardless of who pays for it!

There are so many variables on oil changes we could go for days with the "I do this or I do that" there is no one straight answer.

My opinion: listen to what your oil is telling you. When you change your oil, it it still somewhat translucent or is it black? If you can still see thru it you still have life on it and you can change it a little less often. If it's pitch black, you need to change it more often. Write down your mileage and keep track of how often you change it and what the oil looked like when you changed it and adjust from there :cheers

Ps...If your oil is ''telling you something" then perhaps your motor is try to tell you something as well?

Ps...If your oil is ''telling you something" then perhaps your motor is try to tell you something as well?

This is true :cheers

having experienced bearing failure with 700cc of oil :facepalm I do not want that to happen ever again lol.

TPM (track organization) has a deal where you can get $75 track days I think Mon-Thur or Tues-Thur with slightly higher TD's on the weekend. Needless to say - it's not too far fetched to do a minimum of 3 TD's on any given week....hence my question.

I could commute to work Mon - Wed on the bike - hit the track Thurs, Sat, and Sun. :frantic In that scenerio - with an oil change that was done let's say a month ago with 2 TD's already on it and 2 weeks of commuting and let's toss in a weekend spirited ride - when would you change the oil? Does changing the oil come down to mileage used still or simply based on time used...?

^that hypothetical scenerio is not impossible for me.

It is time and miles.
I would stick to the 3 months or 2K miles rule for what your doing (yes I said 2K not 3K).
A good oil, be it on the track or the street, should not break down that fast. Your not drag racing the starts, right?

John

In that scenario Lean I would just do it when you get back from the track,,,, The 2 or 3 hundred k your putting on the bike at the track isn't going to make a difference to the oil... I'm sure your not bouncing the rev limiter and Slipping the clutch the whole time stressing the engine and oil to it's peak,,,, if you are it's amazing that your bike is still alive period no matter what oil you have used or how long it has been since it was changed,,,,, Go get your track on:punk

lol no - not on this track. But on the track next door, I think they do have you revving just before the GO flag drops because it's a SUPER long straight away.

I'll hit 2k miles long before I hit 3 months, so I'll keep that in mind. My odometer holds no regard to anything anyway LOL - so I'll just use it to clock oil changes.

Also a full synthetic oil will break down less quickly. I would say run to Wally world and pickup a couple of jugs of Shell Rotella T6 ($19). A good economical way to run full synth for cheap.

T or T5 might be a better choice if clutch slippage is a concern?

Also a full synthetic oil will break down less quickly. I would say run to Wally world and pickup a couple of jugs of Shell Rotella T6 ($19). A good economical way to run full synth for cheap.

didn't you jus say in another thread that you have seen motors blow up as soon as synthetic oil touched a motor that was running non syn?

didn't you jus say in another thread that you have seen motors blow up as soon as synthetic oil touched a motor that was running non syn?


Sarcasm never seems to come through the keyboard too well :lmao


Not very many motor vehicles (aside from a few high end ones) come from the factory with full synthetic in them from the get go. Yet very many people switch to full synthetic in their cars, trucks and bikes.

no worries

:lol i know

I may have to give that Royal Purple or Shell Rotella a try. Been running Repsol for so long - kinda scared to step away lol

:lol i know

I may have to give that Royal Purple or Shell Rotella a try. Been running Repsol for so long - kinda scared to step away lol

I've use the following full-synths on just this bike alone

Motorex - http://www.motorexusa.com/prod_detail.asp?id=5
Repsol - http://www.jdoqocy.com/image-3147433-10559669http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/9/197/12612/ITEM/Repsol-Lubricants-4T-Racing-Oil.aspx (http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-3147433-10559669?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.motorcycle-superstore.com%2F2%2F9%2F197%2F12612%2FITEM%2FReps ol-Lubricants-4T-Racing-Oil.aspx)
Mobil - http://www.mobiloil.com/usa-english/motoroil/oils/mobil1_racing_4t_10w-40.aspx
Amsoil - http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/mcf.aspx
Rotella - http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=rotella-en&FC2=/rotella-en/html/iwgen/products/zzz_lhn.html&FC3=/rotella-en/html/iwgen/products/t6_detail.html
Suzuki - http://www.oneidasuzuki.com/store/parts-accessories/suzuki-4-cycle-synthetic-racing-oil-quart.html

All have worked perfectly fine with no clutch issues or anything

yea I'ma full syn repsol 4T transplant to non syn 4T repsol. Been using Repsol since I've been riding (2007) lol