Oil change?

[Balmorerider]

Hello,

Hoping for collective wisdom.... ::003::

I am just about at 7200 miles now and am due for the next service. Given my upcoming schedule and the dropping temperatures I don't expect to do much more riding before next Spring. My questions are as follows -

Is there any harm in letting the bike sit over winter with the old oil in the engine or should I do the service before winter storage?

How many miles is ok to ride above 7200 without doing damage to the engine?

Thank you, in advance, for any input!

Chris

 

[JRE]

Per the US manual, you should've changed at 4,000 miles and the next isn't due until 8,000. There are no real absolute right or wrong answers here and is highly debated. The general consensus is that you should change the oil prior to winter storage as the built up impurities in the storage can be corrosive. However, others will argue that it's not needed. When comes to oil and oil changes, you're going to get answers across the board.

 

[Brick]

IMHO... one of the main jobs of oil is to carry all the bad stuff away and suspend it until it can be drained. I say get the bad stuff out! AND you missed your 4,000 mile change. Do it! ::024:: Ok Ok... no rules but love your motor!

 

[WJBertrand]

Change the oil before storage and then use that clean oil until your next change mileage in the spring when the bike is returned to service.


-Jeff

 

[Balmorerider]

Hello again,

Just to clarify - I did do my last oil change at 3600 miles...by the book.... ;

Chris

quote author=Brick link=topic=17710.msg263510#msg263510 date=1445267162]
IMHO... one of the main jobs of oil is to carry all the bad stuff away and suspend it until it can be drained. I say get the bad stuff out! AND you missed your 4,000 mile change. Do it! ::024:: Ok Ok... no rules but love your motor!
[/quote]

 

[markjenn]

As mentioned, there is always a lot of debate about oil change intervals (OCI) as there is very little hard data and a lot of "beliefs". Mine is that changing oil prior to storing a vehicle is a very good idea. Besides making engineering sense, I've talked to several engine builders who mention that corrosion, not miles, is the biggest enemy of any engine not run regularly and letting an engine sit for months with dirty oil definitely encourages more corrosion. One said that the only time he's ever seen bottom-end damage is when a bike has sit over a winter with dirty oil. That being said, I doubt there would be any immediate damage from letting it sit over a single winter, especially if you're within the normal OCI. So I wouldn't worry if you have to skip it.

I have heard it recommended that you do an oil change before storage and then another at spring startup. I don't get this....the new oil doesn't get dirty or "age" sitting in the crankcase for a few months.

On OCI, Yamaha recommends 4K in the US which is pretty conservative these days. Most mfg's are going with 6K and a few are out to 10K if they spec synthetics. Yamaha specs 10K Km's in Europe for the exact same bike as we ride so this strongly indicates that OCI's are arbitrary judgments and that 4K is conservative. But more often might possibly pay off at 100K miles. Hard to know with lots of variables.

- Mark

 

[rider33]

it matters a great deal more that you change the oil on a regular basis than whether you do it in the fall or spring. That said, since you already do that you might as well get the benefit of an engine sitting all winter in clean stuff rather than the combustion byproducts which turns the oil dark. 'Odds are good the S10 will be fine either way but since it works pretty hard for you might want to tuck it in with care in return....

 

[Balmorerider]

Thanks for everybody's input!

Chris

 

[caillou]

My "philosophy" is to change the oil prior to Winter for several reasons, but the main one is I will be so impatient and excited in Spring that I will want to ride my bike, not wait for the next appt available at my dealer, or not spending precious time in my garage while I could ride instead ::015::