30-50K oil change intervals?

[WuzzaCBXRider]

Ever hear of such a thing? On the Z900RS forum, my other bike, one guy said synthetic oil lasts 30-50K miles between changes. Another guy from London and one from Glasgow chimed in below after I said I believe in synthetic motor oil too as I’ve always used Amsoil but 30-50K w/o changing?


“The US is unique in changing oil after a few thousand miles, nobody else does it and no engines are damaged either. Not sure why you all believe you have to do it.” …Glasgow

“Most people over here never change their oil for the life of their bike and I usually change mine every year or two.” …London

With no engine damage? This is hard to believe, even with synthetic oil, that this is actually a common practice across the pond. What about oil filters, valve clearance checks, oil level checks and adding oil? Whaddyathink?

 

[Bumblebee]

These "Geniuses" need to watch this video....

 

[sixpack577]

I have seen oil that looked like it had never been changed once.
If you've ever made powdered chocolate pudding, had it it set up too thick in the fridge, and had to mix in milk again after to smooth it out...that's about as close to the same thing I've seen...minus the extra milk.
This was in high school Vo-Tech Mechanics, one of the administrators brought his old truck in, as he couldn't figure out the engine noise/knock,(beautiful original laquer black 50's Ford stepside pickup, straight-6, 3spd on columm).
We couldn't belive what was on the dipstick, and when the drain plug came out, nothing else did...for a minute, lol.
It was spongey pudding goo, and it literally took around 24 hours for it to drain from the pan, at least what would come out.
I remember being able to push down over an inch into the center of the stuff in the drain pan, and it just flexxed, like soft rubber, lmao, there was nothing liquid about it.
There was suprisingly no carbon, nothing burnt or glazed, but it was worn out and rebuilt, as parts were out of spec.
I guess by this point in life I shouldn't be suprised by some people's stupidity, but, fortunatelty...sometimes I'm still amazed, lmao

 

[Bumblebee]

I have seen oil that looked like it had never been changed once.
If you've ever made powdered chocolate pudding, had it it set up too thick in the fridge, and had to mix in milk again after to smooth it out...that's about as close to the same thing I've seen...minus the extra milk.
This was in high school Vo-Tech Mechanics, one of the administrators brought his old truck in, as he couldn't figure out the engine noise/knock,(beautiful original laquer black 50's Ford stepside pickup, straight-6, 3spd on columm).
We couldn't belive what was on the dipstick, and when the drain plug came out, nothing else did...for a minute, lol.
It was spongey pudding goo, and it literally took around 24 hours for it to drain from the pan, at least what would come out.
I remember being able to push down over an inch into the center of the stuff in the drain pan, and it just flexxed, like soft rubber, lmao, there was nothing liquid about it.
There was suprisingly no carbon, nothing burnt or glazed, but it was worn out and rebuilt, as parts were out of spec.
I guess by this point in life I shouldn't be suprised by some people's stupidity, but, fortunatelty...sometimes I'm still amazed, lmao

I saw this once in a GPZ550 many years ago, it belonged to my neighbor's wife and she said it was getting hard to shift........when I took out the drain plug, there was a hesitation before oil came out and it looked like molasses...I noticed not a lot of oil came out either. I did 3 oil changes back to back with el-cheapo oil to flush the engine...each time it got less and less black.

The sad thing is the bike looked just like new, always garaged and waxed but no maintenance....everything that should be changed, needed to be changed from brake pads to chain and sprockets....the oil on the chain mixed with sand and dirt wore the sprockets down so the teeth looked like spikes...

 

[sixpack577]

I saw this once in a GPZ550 many years ago, it belonged to my neighbor's wife and she said it was getting hard to shift........when I took out the drain plug, there was a hesitation before oil came out and it looked like molasses...I noticed not a lot of oil came out either. I did 3 oil changes back to back with el-cheapo oil to flush the engine...each time it got less and less black.

The sad thing is the bike looked just like new, always garaged and waxed but no maintenance....everything that should be changed, needed to be changed from brake pads to chain and sprockets....the oil on the chain mixed with sand and dirt wore the sprockets down so the teeth looked like spikes...

Yeah, I've seen a few bike's with basically no maintenace done over the years.
I don't understand why people can't check the oil level and color in the sight glass, but I assume these people are too special to realize it's even there.

 

[Bumblebee]

Yeah, I've seen a few bike's with basically no maintenace done over the years.
I don't understand why people can't check the oil level and color in the sight glass, but I assume these people are too special to realize it's even there.

In this lady's case, her husband knew nothing about bikes and neither did she...

It was kind of ironic that after they divorced and he found love again that he and his new gal were both on a riding course I taught...he was on leave out of Afghanistan and they were planning on getting bikes when he came home but he never did....

 

[Berlin Germany]

it is a sheer nonsense if e.g. car-manufactorers talk about any kind of longlife or lifetime oil fills.

every experianced craftsman will knock ur head if u leave e.g. a motor oil for longer than 10-15 000 km in the engine

oil in the autom.-trans should be changed all 80-100 000 km
at gear transes it should be changed every 50-60 000 km

and if you ask an engine/transmission manufacturer what they mean by lifetime, most of them will answer with 180,000 km.

what a moronic answer - engines / gearboxes last significantly longer with good care and treatment - especially if you change the oil more often
why do we change the engine oil on our bikes every 6-8,000 km or on our cars every 10-15,000 km?

yep - so that they all last longer and hopefully at some point you won't get anything tar-like out of the oil pan.

 

[RacingJake]

My neighbor never changed his oil in his car, when it was due he would trade it in for a new one. I never asked him if he got a flat tire ?

 

[RacingJake]

I will say I had a 89 F150, 302 and 5 speed with over 250,000 miles and never really followed the schedule oil changes. Had a part time job at a oil change station and the Boss asked me how long before oil changes, I said every 3 years or 50,000 miles. He gave me a funny look said Jake your not going to sell products to customers your my Pit guy now lol.

Finally cut the truck up and made a trailer out of it and put the 302 in my 65 Falcon, swapped oil pans, valve covers and put a Holley double pumper on her and still runs like a bat out of hell. No sludge in the oil pan or under the valve covers, I guess cheap oil does have it's benefits lol. That's was 15 years ago but now 5K oil changes, Motorcraft filter and oil for me.

 

[Bumblebee]

My brother pulls his dipstick, checks the oil if it's dark and burnt smelling he changes it ....unless it's under warranty he has never followed recommended oil change intervals....

His old RT Beemer has over 650,000 miles on it now and his newer RT has over 200,000 miles on it

I go by mileage and/or intervals because even if the bike (or truck) sits for a long period or short drives/rides, the oil gets compromised