How far have some of you gone.

[lund]

So the question being asked is how far have you gone over the recommended oil change interval. Yamaha recommends every 6,000kms to change the oil, I have gone over several times but not by much.
I'm feeling guilty because I'm now prepping the bike for a northern journey along the Arctic that will take me nearly 10,000kms round trip.
Doing an oil change is not possible or even reasonable, there will be zero kilometers on the clock the day of departure though.
I personally do not think it is an issue and it will not have any ill effect on the big thumper but just curious what other have to say.

 

[Sierra1]

So the question being asked is how far have you gone over the recommended oil change interval. Yamaha recommends every 6,000kms to change the oil, I have gone over several times but not by . . .

Here's a thread right out of our forum: Service intervals and the differences between manuals | Yamaha Super Tenere Forum

I wouldn't worry at all.

 

[bimota]

i would change before do the 10000 kms and change when home like Sierra1 wouldn,t worry its not as if your doing it at every service interval

rob

 

[SkunkWorks]

I try to change at 4,000 miles.................sometimes it goes to 5,000-miles before I get to it.
If I was on a trip of around 6,000 miles or so I would not worry about it. I would just change when I got home.
You'll be just fine.

 

[Boris]

Here in the UK it’s recommended every 10000kms, with the filter every other change. Agree with above, I wouldn’t give it a second thought, if it’s fine here, must be there.

 

[Eville Rich]

So the question being asked is how far have you gone over the recommended oil change interval. Yamaha recommends every 6,000kms to change the oil, I have gone over several times but not by much.
I'm feeling guilty because I'm now prepping the bike for a northern journey along the Arctic that will take me nearly 10,000kms round trip.
Doing an oil change is not possible or even reasonable, there will be zero kilometers on the clock the day of departure though.
I personally do not think it is an issue and it will not have any ill effect on the big thumper but just curious what other have to say.

I don't have a strong sense of what the margin is. But I experienced a bit of oil consumption on my 2016 S10 during a 2500 mile trip last fall. I hit 4000 or 4500 miles on the oil, so was ready for an oil change by the end. But I was pushing pretty hard against the wind for a chunk of those 2500 miles and going steady highway speeds (60 to 80 mph). I'm assuming that contributed to the consumption. First time I'd seen that on my bike. It was't drastic consumption, but definitely got a little low.

Point being - you may experience some oil consumption. Bring a quart with you and plan to add some later in the trip. If you don't get any consumption, that's great and don't worry about it. If you do, then you'll be topping off with fresh oil and help the overall oil condition in your sump. Might help you sleep better.

Eville Rich
2016 S10

 

[~TABASCO~]

IMOP - Synthetic oils are so good that I rarely keep a close eye on miles and oil changes. Because of riding and trips, sometimes this falls into the range of 6000 miles (9656 Kms) and then some times because of a long trip it might get up to 9000-10000 miles (14484 Kms).... I DON'T even worry about it....

I will add, when Im doing a specific BDR trip there are at least 1000 miles (1609 Kms) of off road. This is A LOT more clutch action and use of the clutch. On a BDR trip I will typically change it right before I go, and right when I get back no matter how many miles the trip was. The clutch is just used SO MUCH more in that type of environment.

Ive posted this in the past but this got me to relax years ago. I have a friend that is a big manager at a Heavy Equipment rental place. They must have insurance policies on the 'whole' unit and a separate policy on the engine. To keep this engine policy up to spec, they must do oil analysis each month on every engine. One time I stopped in and the oil guy was there. He told (us) to bring in a sample and he would check our oil on what we wanted......... My buddy brought oil in from his Diesel truck, I brought oil in from my Tenere.
When we got the results back the guy kind of chuckled at both of us because we changed the oil to often. I think I told him I was changing at 6-7K miles. He said I could go 10-12 ++ K miles easy.... or more.... After that conversation I just keep the oil change window inside 10K miles... Most of the time it works out to be 6-7-8K or so miles.......... Ive been using Rotella for many years, Ive recently switched over to the Mobil 1 motorcycle oil.

With the modern engines, and modern synthetic oils, no need to stress out......... Sounds like you're well within the "window", no doubt.....

Have a great trip !

 

[gv550]

I change my oil at 10,000 kms, currently 226k and running fine. On my trip to tuktoyuktuk from Ontario I logged 16,000 kms but still changed oil (not filter) at 10k. Yukon Yamaha in Whitehorse has a customer DIY oil change area, they even loan you drain pan and shop towels. They stock Yamaha oil.

 

[scott123007]

Although there are more microscopic particulates of clutch plates from heavy usage, it is actually the transmission gears (shear) that lead to a slightly earlier demise of motorcycle oil vs auto oil, but that is still not a long enough interval to worry about.

 

[lund]

Kinda what I was thinking but it is nice to hear peoples input on it. Other then the initial break in this bike has been on Synthetic Yamaha oil its whole life.
I been pretty religious on doing an oil change when due but in this case it won't happen.
Last time I was north we trailered the bikes to Watson but not this time.

 

[Sierra1]

Mobil 1, a few years back, was marketing their oil needed changing every 20k miles or once a year. They then went to once a year. Period. No mileage restriction. Yes, I know it's apple and oranges, cars and bikes. But even if the bike version of their oil can only go half of what the car version can . . . . 10k is more than reasonable to expect.

I, on average, put 2k miles on my Jeep per year, 6k per year on the bike. So, I use good oil, and change them both once a year.

 

[TenereGUY]

I use AmsOil and they state you can double what your owner manual service interval is. I always do that now and never a problem on any bike. Like Tabasco said... Synthetic oils are very good these days.

 

[wera688]

I change my full synthetic oil every 8,000 miles. I have had it sampled by Blackstone Lab to check the viscosity and for any particles in the oil, no issues! I have had the oil in for over 10,000 miles, no issues.

 

[Madhatter]

after 3000 miles I changed my oil this past weekend . the oil I drained looked almost new . probably could go 5000 easy.

 

[Sierra1]

I think a lot of that is that the motors run much cleaner with tighter tolerances.

 

[Wallkeeper]

Synthetics? Good filter?

Ride on!

 

[Sierra1]

And no carburetors.

 

[Cycledude]

Have done 3 Alaska trips on Tenere’s, never even considered changing oil while on a trip, for me Alaska trip is 8-10,000 miles, my opinion oil changes are way over rated . As far as I can tell my Tenere’s have never consumed any oil.
Goldwing recommends changing oil every 8,000 miles, I very rarely have changed early, I have gone 12,000 miles without changing, it still runs like new with 598,000 miles showing on odometer.

 

[whisperquiet]

I have gone 6000 miles several times while on a trip. I have a 6000 mile trip coming up in late June that will start with a fresh oil and filter change. I worry more about tire life than any oil change interval.

 

[AlanSmith7]

It is not too far for some people but for me it's way beyond. So I just complete a destination from one city to another. In two days I visited three cities and this was the end for me. Lol.