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when do you change your oil and oil filter

Not that it would matter much, but what model and year is the bike?

That said, on my car I've changed oil and filter religiously every 5K miles. When I rode that many miles in a year, I did the same thing. But I don't ride my bikes that far in a year now, so at this point I'm changing oil every 12-18 months. Only one bike has a filter, but I change the /7 filter at the same time as I change the oil. I'm probably wasting money, but with the lower amount of riding, there's a greater chance of condensation build up, etc., so I just do it for peace of mind.
 
I'm only a 2K miles/yr. guy. The engine oil gets changed each Fall as part of my winter lay-up drill; gets the combustion by-products and acids out for the long sit. I change the filter only every other oil change. Gear oils get changed in the Spring after the transmission internal surfaces have condensed out whatever moisture they will over Winter in cold storage.
 
Yearly. For newer bikes that take synthetic, 5-6k miles if I ride it that far, 2-3k for petroleum. All on the proviso that I rarely ride less than 100 miles when I go out.
 
I am a firm believer that we change oil way too soon. I pulled oil samples from my Harley at roughly 7,500 miles and the reports said to run it another 2,000 miles and retest. I was changing it at that time so I never went any farther. I am very comfortable with the 6,000 miles changes on my '18 RT and and certain it could go farther. I would have no issues going 10,000 miles with synthetic on my RT.

Years ago my company truck was an 2004 GMC van and I would change oil every fall, never paid much attention to the mileage, but 12,000-14,000 miles. That van had 150,000 miles on it when I left that company and I never added oil between changes so it definitely did not hurt it. I happened to talk to my old boss the other day and we got talking about vehicles. He said they replaced that van a while back with over 300,000 miles on it and the engine was never opened up, but the rest of the vehicle was shot.
 
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Snowbum has a /6 owners manual on his website. For engine oil, it says change:

"...every 7500 km (5000 miles) or not later than every 6 months. If the machine is ridden only for short distances, or at outside temperatures below 0C (32F), change the oil every 3 months or after a maximum of 3000 km (2000 miles)."

I wonder what the German engineers considered "short distances"??
 
Snowbum has a /6 owners manual on his website. For engine oil, it says change:

"...every 7500 km (5000 miles) or not later than every 6 months. If the machine is ridden only for short distances, or at outside temperatures below 0C (32F), change the oil every 3 months or after a maximum of 3000 km (2000 miles)."

I wonder what the German engineers considered "short distances"??

Later manuals used the term "severe service" instead of short distances. They defined severe service as riding in winter cold weather, or riding frequently when the engine doesn't become fully warmed-up.
 
Snowbum has a /6 owners manual on his website. For engine oil, it says change:

"...every 7500 km (5000 miles) or not later than every 6 months. If the machine is ridden only for short distances, or at outside temperatures below 0C (32F), change the oil every 3 months or after a maximum of 3000 km (2000 miles)."

I wonder what the German engineers considered "short distances"??
I don't go by what the owners manual says. I go by what the oil manufacture says.
 
Snowbum has a /6 owners manual on his website. For engine oil, it says change:

"...every 7500 km (5000 miles) or not later than every 6 months. If the machine is ridden only for short distances, or at outside temperatures below 0C (32F), change the oil every 3 months or after a maximum of 3000 km (2000 miles)."

I wonder what the German engineers considered "short distances"??




Well, there was a time when they thought they could get to Moscow quickly.
 
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