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8k Oil Change Interval?


Tpoppa

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Honda's oil change interval on the CBR600RR is 8k.  That's the longest interval on any bike I've owned.  It seems long, but no one knows this motor & trans better than Honda's engineers.  I have 3.5k on the oil now and it still looks pretty clean.

 

Would you/could you wait until 8k to change your oil?  Why/not?

 

(Not here to debate oil brands...I use high quality, motorcycle specific, synthetic oil)

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How it looks has jack to do with is it time to change it. It's all about how well it is doing it's job. Part of it's job is to remove dirt...so looking dirty can be an indication of it doing it's job. You say you use synthetic. My answer is limited to synthetics. If it was dino oil the answer would be change it soon. Synthetics are designed to do their job for many more miles than dino. 10K in most cases. I run 12k to 15k a season. So I change first thing in the spring, run it 7500 and then change it. That gets me through the season. I have NO problem running a synthetic that long, and I would argue that anyone changing a synthetic (under normal driving circumstances) sooner than that is wasting their money. I would run it a little longer but I would still have to change it once mid-season..so why not split the difference....

 

You are fine, run it to 8K. Although you probably won't get there this season...so you will be changing in the spring I would assume/hope.

Edited by Tonik
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...so you will be changing in the spring I would assume/hope.

 

I've never seen any real reason that oil needs to be changed in the spring.  Any moisture that builds up by less frequent running over the winter would evaporate within minutes.  The oil's composition would remain unchanged.

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I wish I could find the damn info packet I got from Chevy a couple years back when I called bullshit that our trucks only need oil changes every 7500 miles. They had all this information, graphs and tests that showed quality of oil at the different intervals and debunked a lot of the "every 3000 mile olden day thinking"

 

If Honda says 8k, I'd say just do it every 8k then. Afterall, its their ass for the warranty!

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The scientific part of my brain knows that 8k is fine.  But the part that likes to tinker with the bike may not be able to leave it alone that long.

 

I've heard people recommend changing oil before winter and/or in spring, but I've never seen it in an owners manaul (I have seen change at least every 12 months in the manual though).  I think modern synthetic oil can handle a large amount of contaminants before it degrades.   Plus, my bikes don't exactly sit over the winter :)

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I was told to change the oil at the end of the season so it has fresh oil in it while it sits. Reason being something about the acids from combustion that get in the oil not sitting in the engine all winter long?

I heard that too, about changing the oil at the end of the season.

Not really sure what is going on inside the crankcase when just sitting. I usually change the oil once a year. The last few years, less then 2,000 miles riding during the summer.

 I have let the bike sit over the winter with "dirty oil". If it matters, I use Spectro oil.

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My Ducs are scheduled for every 6k and 7.5k

I change the oil every year, at least. I can usually tell by how notchy the transmission gets. I know that is about as reliable as a "butt dyno", but it's my system.

I also live by "a clean engine is a happy engine". Old, dirty oil doesn't fly in my garage. It's dirty because it's contaminated. My bikes couldn't care less, but that Honda uses a hydraulic chain tension system. Dirty oil is failsauce oil.

Flame suit activated. :)

What kind of Tractor oil do you use?????????

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Maybe specs have changed? Maybe modern oils don't have to change out over Winter?

If it's oil that meets Honda specs, I'd say ok, unless it's obviously dirty or wasted oil.

Then change it anyway. Engines that get hotter than normal will need oil changes sooner, etc.

A problem typically seen in air cooler engines, not water cooled.

 

Also engines that are run outside of normal conditions of any type.

Hard use, change the oil more often.

 

edit: I absolutely agree with the "notchy" butt diagnosis. I call it "crunchy". Shifts feel different.

Most noticeable at low rpms, when tranny parts are trying to move around.

Edited by ReconRat
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When in doubt you could send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs and get and analysis. Looks like this. 

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n553/VFR781/Misc/OilLabReport_0001_zpsf887a86e.jpg

 

 

The bike shifting felt "notchy" and by the report shows the viscosity fell out of spec. Seems like the butt diagnosis

 is not a bad indicator to do a change. 

Edited by mello dude
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Nope. Changed it at 600 miles to rotella t6.. I've got like 2800 miles on it right now and it feels ready for clean oil... That or I'm just picky... Never used a synthetic motorcycle specific oil, so I may try it and see if there's a difference

Edited by Steve Butters
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Pretty much the butt/foot dyno for me as well. Shifting on both the Wing and Super Hawk start getting knotchy around 3500 miles. I could not get myself to go 8K. Some where around 4K I dump it. The only true way to know is with an oil analysis. I myself won't get that anal about it.

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