No more synthetic oil change interval debate for me now

[Stilslo]

Just got home from work about an hour ago. Changed the oil and filter, too tired to test her out. I'll try her in the morning and hope this resolves the tranny issue.lease:

 

[card16969]

im starting to debate if i like the mobil 1 4t i just switched to it and she seems a lot tighter and doesnt run as smooth and shifting from 2nd down to first it keeps going to neutrul and not wanting to shift to first so i think im going to try a different oil

 

[Stilslo]

Shifting is back to normal. Smooth as can be(for a busa).

 

[tedbull]

Shifting is back to normal. Smooth as can be(for a busa).

That is great to hear.


Instead of starting a new thread for my question I will post it up here. I have done alot of searching but have not found any real facts about it.

So, how long can synthetic oil sit in a crankcase before it loses its properties and becomes acidic? Im sure there are variables to this?

Here is my situation: I got injured (not bike related) and only rode my 2007 Busa 2,000 miles in 24 months time. So I have 2,000 miles and 24 months on Mobile 1 4t synthetic and a OEM filter. Will the oil still lubricate well enough and hold its anti corrosion properties after sitting that long of time? I usually change my oil out at the start of every riding season. And my instinct is to just change it out, why risk it right. But the oil isnt cheap, (cheaper than a engine or tranny rebuild though) and the oil in the crankcase looks good. I did run the bike last week for the seccond time this summer on the old oil and the bike ran and sounded fine. I am still healing so I wont be riding much more this season, maybee a couple days, few hundred miles, and I wont be riding it hard. Basically I am looking for anyone who has their own experiance, input, or info on the facts about how long synthetic oil can sit. I have new oil and filter ready to go in but I thought I would ask this first out of curiosity.

BTW. My bike sits in a insulated attached garage and temps here are not too drastic during winter so condensation in crankcase shouldnt be an issue. Bike was started every three months or so since sitting. Bike has 5,500 total miles.

 

[Big E]

One other thing. A properly maintained chain also helps with shifting.

 

[BusaWhipped]

Amsoil full synth every 3000-4000 miles. The oil isn't just lubricating the engine, it's lubing the transmission and collecting clutch fibers in addition to the normal contaminents from a gas engine that blow past the rings.

 

[Stilslo]

That is great to hear.


Instead of starting a new thread for my question I will post it up here. I have done alot of searching but have not found any real facts about it.

So, how long can synthetic oil sit in a crankcase before it loses its properties and becomes acidic? Im sure there are variables to this?

Here is my situation: I got injured (not bike related) and only rode my 2007 Busa 2,000 miles in 24 months time. So I have 2,000 miles and 24 months on Mobile 1 4t synthetic and a OEM filter. Will the oil still lubricate well enough and hold its anti corrosion properties after sitting that long of time? I usually change my oil out at the start of every riding season. And my instinct is to just change it out, why risk it right. But the oil isnt cheap, (cheaper than a engine or tranny rebuild though) and the oil in the crankcase looks good. I did run the bike last week for the seccond time this summer on the old oil and the bike ran and sounded fine. I am still healing so I wont be riding much more this season, maybee a couple days, few hundred miles, and I wont be riding it hard. Basically I am looking for anyone who has their own experiance, input, or info on the facts about how long synthetic oil can sit. I have new oil and filter ready to go in but I thought I would ask this first out of curiosity.

BTW. My bike sits in a insulated attached garage and temps here are not too drastic during winter so condensation in crankcase shouldnt be an issue. Bike was started every three months or so since sitting. Bike has 5,500 total miles.

I wouldn't go that long without changing the oil myself, but thats just opinion. It would be interesting to see the results of an oil analysis on your 2 year old oil.

 

[Stilslo]

One other thing. A properly maintained chain also helps with shifting.

I do a pretty good job of keeping track of the chain. As soon as I changed the oil, the shifting went back to normal. Since the last oil change I've made a ton of full throttle roll ons up to 1xx mph (I've gotta stop going ridding with sportscustoms) Maybe the oil just got contaminated with clutch fibers from being ridden hard. I don't know.

 

[Spkrdctr]

I use Amsoil with their high tech nanofiber technology filter. It will go more than the 4000 I do now. I could stretch it to 5000 easily.

 

[drgnrcr]

X2 for the chain. I change out mine every ~3,500 as per the manual and I also use Mobil 1 10W-40 Moto. I just sent out my oil to be analyzed. I'll post the results... I'm at about ~29K on my '08 and ride the piss out of her, using a SS Oil Filter.

 

[semi]

i ran regular oil for 18,000 miles changing it every 3000 and then changed to Motul 300V 4T which i change every 6000 miles which averages out to about six months...it seems to be working pretty well

 

[Schism]

my bike didn't do well on the mobil 4t which i used once because it was cheaper and convenient to find. my intervals for a change is about 2k and i have used amsoil for the past 12yrs. with great results.

 

[StromBusa]

Every 3000 (after 500, 1500), so I can remember... 3000, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21,24,28,30,33, 36,39,42,45,48,51,54,57,60,..... Cars&bikes.

 

[GsxrBots]

I change my synthetic at 2000 miles!

Yes maybe synthetic oil doesnt break down as quick as non synthetics do.
All bikes breath air and in the air you have debri. I dont care how great your air filter is
or your oil filter debri gets into the engine and mixes with the oil. Also the clutch fibers will
also get in with the oil. Debri, clutch fiber dust will create engine resistance and enternal wear which acts
like sand paper putting small miscroscopic grooves on the enternal engine parts..
Even more so since our bikes have ram air tubes sucking air we will suck in more road debri
then a car or motorcycle with out ram air ducts.
Debri in your oil is what causes engine wear.

So with all that being said, I will change my synthetic oil at 2000 miles with fresh CLEAN gold colored oil nowing that I drained out the debri and clutch fiber particles....

If you are getting dirt from the intake into your oil, you've got bigger issues than oil change intervals..

 

[The Big Red One]

That is great to hear.


Instead of starting a new thread for my question I will post it up here. I have done alot of searching but have not found any real facts about it.

So, how long can synthetic oil sit in a crankcase before it loses its properties and becomes acidic? Im sure there are variables to this?

Here is my situation: I got injured (not bike related) and only rode my 2007 Busa 2,000 miles in 24 months time. So I have 2,000 miles and 24 months on Mobile 1 4t synthetic and a OEM filter. Will the oil still lubricate well enough and hold its anti corrosion properties after sitting that long of time? I usually change my oil out at the start of every riding season. And my instinct is to just change it out, why risk it right. But the oil isnt cheap, (cheaper than a engine or tranny rebuild though) and the oil in the crankcase looks good. I did run the bike last week for the seccond time this summer on the old oil and the bike ran and sounded fine. I am still healing so I wont be riding much more this season, maybee a couple days, few hundred miles, and I wont be riding it hard. Basically I am looking for anyone who has their own experiance, input, or info on the facts about how long synthetic oil can sit. I have new oil and filter ready to go in but I thought I would ask this first out of curiosity.

BTW. My bike sits in a insulated attached garage and temps here are not too drastic during winter so condensation in crankcase shouldnt be an issue. Bike was started every three months or so since sitting. Bike has 5,500 total miles.

Now I'm not advocating this by any means, but a guy on the bobstheoilguy.com forums had his conventional oil analzed for kicks that had been is his bike for 16 years and somewhere under a 1000 miles or so if I remember right, and Blackstone labs said the oil was fine. They did say they found some possible evidence of slight acidic corrosion, but nothing engine killing. I don't ride my bikes near as much as I should, and have left low mileage Mobil 4T full syn racing motorcycle oil in them for several years with no worries, condensation, shifting issues, noise or anything else.

To ease you're mind you can just drain the oil and leave the filter in, which makes the oil change a snap I change my oil by mileage not time since I have multiple bikes and don't get to ride them much.

Like I said tho I would NEVER leave oil in a bike for 16 years no matter what the mileage, 2-3 years max for me depending on mileage, and ONLY the best syn available.
That test does show how much we underestimate oils tho.
This guy also stored his bike in an outdoor shed.....an insulated, connected garage (which I have) would be even better

 

[E Zurcher]

4K miles every time.

 

[lankeeyankee]

If you are getting dirt from the intake into your oil, you've got bigger issues than oil change intervals..

Are you saying the air that comes into the engines intake is pure with 0% particals or that the air filters stops this 100%
It's funny cause I could swear they suggest you change your oil more frequent if you drive
in dusty conditions?
Please do explain your therory of how the outside air doesnt get into the engine, be kind of hard for a 4 cycle combustion engine to run without air and fuel not being able to enter into the combustion chambers which in exchange goes into the cylinders

 

[Josh]

You don't want to know but a whole lot further than 3600 miles. And on Mobil 1 Racing 4T. Never had that issue. Would be worth it to see how it does in another 4000 miles.

I ran Rotella Synth 5w40 when I bought my '07 with 1.2k miles on it over Memorial Day weekend in '10, and the bike seemed happy. I changed it at 4-5k miles. Then I ran a couple cycles of Amsoil 10w40, sticking with the 4-5k mile interval, and the bike seemed happier. I never really noticed any noteworthy loss of oil at my 4-5k interval.

I picked up the Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10w40 last time because Advance had it on sale with a filter. I'm at 6k miles on this change because I've been a bit lazy, but I checked it yesterday while I was flushing my clutch and brake fluids. I was a full quart low. I was pondering this morning if it had more to do with my interval, or if the 4T is thinning out more than the other oils did. I suspect it's the latter since I never really noticed any loss with the 5w40 Rotella synth. I'm at 21k miles now.

Do you notice any such loss with your scoot?

 

[Sous]

Amsoil synthetic gets changed every 5K - 7K depending on my time available. I am around 27K miles and still running strong.

 

[GsxrBots]

Are you saying the air that comes into the engines intake is pure with 0% particals or that the air filters stops this 100%
It's funny cause I could swear they suggest you change your oil more frequent if you drive
in dusty conditions?
Please do explain your therory of how the outside air doesnt get into the engine, be kind of hard for a 4 cycle combustion engine to run without air and fuel not being able to enter into the combustion chambers which in exchange goes into the cylinders

Air filter, yes, oil filter? If your rings are letting dirt past your combustion chamber, there's a problem..

Maybe I'm TOTALLY off base here, but that doesn't seem right at all. The oil filter is to stop metal particles from wear inside, not from dirt outside. I'm not a mechanical engineer, I just play one on TV...