frequency of oil changes??

[El Mamito USMC]

ok guys here is MY story. this past spring brake in NM, i went to San Felipe, Baja http://sanfelipe.com.mx/ and i took the atv. i changed the oil on both sides , rigth before leaving..

we rode it hard and i mean hard all the way to 5th and close to max it out for 5 days strait. from beach riding , to dune ridding, from desert riding, nigth riding with my LED ligths(i went day dreaming and i thougt i was in the Baja 1000, LOL, it felt awesome)

but i didnt change the oil after the first 1-2 days.. and on the 5th day the engine seize.. i wanst riding it,. it was my wife cousin, so to be honest i dont know how it happened. so i said f*ck it ill just rebuild it and put the piston and go from there..

my mec almost pass out when he smelled the oil.. he told me that it was really burned. and the tranny side it smelled bad also..

I thougth that since it was syntech it should last asleast some 5-6 days of hard riding.. i was wrong...

so the recomendation from the mec was to change the oil and filter every 5 gallons of gas used.

so im here posting this so the members here can POST THEIR EXPERIENCES with oil chaging, and at what intervals you guys change it..

where making this thread so the ""new owners" can have a good idea on how often they need to change the oil to keep thier babys up to date..

i used Rotella T6 the Syntech one..

http://www.offtopic.forum/uploads/imported/2013/04/rotellaJPG-1.jpg

 

[CJM]

Generally speaking if Im casually riding about I change it ever 3-4 rides or about 20-25 hours. Riding hard all that time, but nothing insane. If I was racing Id change it ever race. In your case Id have changed it after the race and then every 2 days I guess.

 

[bvet4dog]

I use the white bottle. Usually i can get them for a good deal in bulks. I ride mainly trails, pits, dirt roads and my rpm bounces every where lol. I'm the 3rd owner of my bike and idk how many hours this motor has seen. I cannot wait to see what unfolds when my friend tear it down.

I do change my oil after 4-5 rides. If it's really long rides and constantly having it in high rev, i would change the oil at the end of 2nd day of riding. Better be safe than sorry. I haven't seen any shavings in my oil filters yet. Knock on wood.

 

[F-Red]

In my opinion, oil changes are cheap insurance. Change it after, maximum of 5 hours of riding. You desert racers are probably putting these bike engines, through the harshest conditions. I would change it as often as possible. :gr_patriot:

 

[chronicsmoke]

Great thread Mamito!

I change it every 2-3 days practice or before and after a race day.. I wish I had a practice bike to beat on and a race bike to race but c'est la vie.

 

[sandt38]

I change my oil every 2 tanks of gas, so 5 gallons sounds about right.

 

[alanbmx]

change mine after every desert trip, both sides. these bikes don't hold much so it is wise to change as often as you can afford it.

 

[ridingred]

I run amsoil synthetic in the motor side now so i've extended my oil changes by about 10 hours. When i was running rotella I would change every 10-12 hours. Now i change about every 20. Doesn't matter if i'm racing, woods riding or whatever, the oil gets changed after every 20 hours.

 

[nico]

I've ran Rotella 15W40 (white bottle) in my 450 engine side and Honda "Red" trans oil in the clutch side for several years. When I recently tore it down to upgrade the piston, head and clutch, everything looked especially clean (still had factory looking crosshatch after 6 years). I usually change it after every full day of riding or two shorter trips. On dune trips, when the weather is hot, or when I'm being especially hard on it, I change it daily.

The tip about changing it after every five gallons sounds about right with my current schedule, but I've never thought about it that way. Oil is cheap, CNC ported heads, nikasil and CP pistons aren't...

I learned in my circle track days that once oil gets past about 250 degrees once, it's no longer oil, it's liquid engine destruction waiting to happen.

 

[450R]

About every 3 tanks of gas or less.

 

[johnny]

changing oil off of fuel consumption, to me is the most logical way to go. If i recall correctly Caterpillar recommends changing at xxxxx revolutions of the engine but thet is a little tougher to measure. some tractors go off of lbs of fuel others use hrs of operation.

 

[ridingred]

Yeah, i think overall though it depends on the conditions. If you're lolly gagging around your oil is going to hold up much longer than if you're bouncing of the rev limiter racing.

 

[Gonzatrx450]

hi guy, i am from Argentina, i have trx 450 2009, standar, y change oil everey 10hs,

I'm using Motul 300v 40w 10 synthetic for motor and, transoil for transmision.

at each change, also change the oil filter

and motor oil during 10 hours of use out almost the same color as when I started.

currently has 60HS engine use, and opened it to change the piston kit and found all very new, was to walk without touching 60HS, security and curiosity but decided to do so.

 

[Vasilios]

I have a 450r that is less than a year old I change my fluids after every ride, and I still blew it up. I have been running nothing but honda factory oils. I also have seen guys rarely change their oils and never have a problem. So if it's going to go bang it's going to go bang. I will still always change mine just as I have been doing for the last 11 months, it should be cheap insurance , but this motor is going to set me back about 2000, so how cheap was it really.

ok guys here is MY story. this past spring brake in NM, i went to San Felipe, Baja http://sanfelipe.com.mx/ and i took the atv. i changed the oil on both sides , rigth before leaving..
we rode it hard and i mean hard all the way to 5th and close to max it out for 5 days strait. from beach riding , to dune ridding, from desert riding, nigth riding with my LED ligths(i went day dreaming and i thougt i was in the Baja 1000, LOL, it felt awesome)

but i didnt change the oil after the first 1-2 days.. and on the 5th day the engine seize.. i wanst riding it,. it was my wife cousin, so to be honest i dont know how it happened. so i said f*ck it ill just rebuild it and put the piston and go from there..

my mec almost pass out when he smelled the oil.. he told me that it was really burned. and the tranny side it smelled bad also..

I thougth that since it was syntech it should last asleast some 5-6 days of hard riding.. i was wrong...

so the recomendation from the mec was to change the oil and filter every 5 gallons of gas used.

so im here posting this so the members here can POST THEIR EXPERIENCES with oil chaging, and at what intervals you guys change it..

where making this thread so the ""new owners" can have a good idea on how often they need to change the oil to keep thier babys up to date..

i used Rotella T6 the Syntech one..

http://www.offtopic.forum/uploads/imported/2013/04/rotellaJPG-1.jpg

i like this post nice work teammate.

 

[blackout450r]

I change mine after a good day of trails or a 6-8 hour day on the local track. But if Im just bogging around the place or down the roads Id say between 10-15 hours. Again I don't have an hour metre, But I do try to write it down. Apart from that whenever I work on the thing I drop it. Maybe a weird habbit but last time I did my valves this oil only had like an hour on it and I dropped it and changed it. Maybe its just me for that one lol

 

[ridinredjav]

I change mine after approximately 10 hours. Its also just as important to clean and oil the air filter often. I clean and oil my UNI air filter after every ride... soap and foam filter oil is cheap. Im also a firm believer in running a foam air filter for longest engine life