[Honda-biker]

I found this article about how a Honda India Technician says you only need to change oil every 12 000km, i think that is a bit excessive. Even if it is biased on you new designed motor..


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crank as and camshaft CBR 250 are no longer using a roller type of bearing. It use ring type, same type with common bearing in the car, which is need a fluid/lube to change roller function.

high oil pressure will make crank and camshaft almost frictionless, gap between as and bearing is only 0.075 mm... so a liquid type of lube is mandatory.... recommendation is 10W-30

advantage
- less noise
- less friction
- lower temperature
- longer part and lube usage

AHM (Honda Indonesia) recommendation is 12,000 km..

I think i'll stick with the 1-3000 km option..

 

[250 Tom]

Oil is not that expensive and its the life blood of the engine. I change mine much more often than honda says i need to. They dont want your bike to last for ever they want to sell you another one. After engine is broke in i always switch over to synthetic oil to.

 

[Night_rider]

I agree paying the extra coin for the better oil is always better.

More expensive oil gives you a better running motor, and hey its a **** lot cheaper each time to pay for the extra oil, swapping motors is top $$$$$

 

[wheelie>stoppie]

3000km interval is overkill for the new single cylinder motor. Plus if your using synthetic it just gets better with each heatcycle. Honda spent a lot of time and money on the new engine. I doubt they would recommend 12000km interval if it wasnt ok for the motor. They wont risk something like that and have to lose money on a recall due to components prematurely wearing out.

 

[Phaedrus]

Follow What The Manufacturer Recommends

They have the know how, testing facilities and experience to recommend what is best for your engine. The notion that their service protocol is geared to cause premature wear is against their own economic interest. Nobody repurchase a brand with previous engine problems. Honda has the reputation of building bullet proof engines, so they won´t gamble with it.

For perspective American tend to change Oil more often than Europeans, partly because Oil is cheaper and partly due to ecological pressures. I just got a new Audi A4 and they recommend THE FIRST OIL change at 10,000 kms! The only ones that benefit from the 3,000 miles oil change are the Oils companies. Think about it the economic impact to Oil companies if everyone doubles the service interval.

 

[Honda-biker]

They have the know how, testing facilities and experience to recommend what is best for your engine. The notion that their service protocol is geared to cause premature wear is against their own economic interest. Nobody repurchase a brand with previous engine problems. Honda has the reputation of building bullet proof engines, so they won´t gamble with it.

For perspective American tend to change Oil more often than Europeans, partly because Oil is cheaper and partly due to ecological pressures. I just got a new Audi A4 and they recommend THE FIRST OIL change at 10,000 kms! The only ones that benefit from the 3,000 miles oil change are the Oils companies. Think about it the economic impact to Oil companies if everyone doubles the service interval.

Would you follow what the honda dealership says which is technically backed up by their manufacture says? So then i should or shouldn't change my oil every 12 000 KMS, and 10 000 KMS on a new break in period for a motor seems a tad extensive, because during your break in you might have extra impurities caused by the initial break in and from the 1st oil change. So it might be better to drain all those out with an oil change. Somes time not following the law is better than not following the law. The manufacture isnt always right, that why we have recalls and such .

 

[Michael]

They have the know how, testing facilities and experience to recommend what is best for your engine. The notion that their service protocol is geared to cause premature wear is against their own economic interest. Nobody repurchase a brand with previous engine problems. Honda has the reputation of building bullet proof engines, so they won´t gamble with it.

For perspective American tend to change Oil more often than Europeans, partly because Oil is cheaper and partly due to ecological pressures. I just got a new Audi A4 and they recommend THE FIRST OIL change at 10,000 kms! The only ones that benefit from the 3,000 miles oil change are the Oils companies. Think about it the economic impact to Oil companies if everyone doubles the service interval.

I agree with Phaedrus. I have had a good run out of Honda engines (motorcycle and car), and have done nothing special, other than following their recommendations.

Any machine will wear out eventually, but if properly maintained its life can be prolonged.

The Honda Dream 100 I have here in Thailand has done over 180,000 km. I bought it as an ex-rental at 80,000 km from a guy who maintains his bikes properly. I had the engine overhauled (top and bottom end) at 170,000 km. It does not have an oil filter, so it gets an oil change and a once over, every couple of months or 2,000 km. I just use standard 10W-40 oil

If I was doing a lot of short runs I would change the oil more frequently. I use a bicycle for local trips.

The CB 250 RS I had in England had done over 70,000 miles when it was stolen. The guy who owned it from new for 10 years before me just used it to go to work and back. He kept up the scheduled maintenance, but did nothing special. It had no oil filter, so that was an oil change and a once over every 1,500 to 2,000 miles. I did the same, using re-refined 10W-40 oil.

I could go on, but the point is made.

The CBR 250 R has an oil filter, so it has a longer service interval than simple bikes of yore..... just follow the recommendation.

There could be advantage in using synthetic oil, which has a longer life before it breaks down compared with standard oil.... in which case the oil change interval could probably be extended.

 

[somebody5788]

Felt I should add that my local dealer said that I should do my oil change myself every 3000 miles. Knowing full well they were not going to get a dime for it.

 

[HSR01]

perhaps this going to be and endless, but yesterday when i ask the service garage, they said to change the oil every 12.000 km. but then i ask my self: "is it alright to go that far?".

feeling not sure, i really ask one of the mechanic, and he said that if we really want to make things sure (engine, etc) then change the oil for every 3000-4000 km. and i can change it my self.

now, the question is should i follow the instruction or just play safe according to my own knowledge? cause the honda CBR250R engine is a new type of engine that different from any other small-medium cc honda bike in the market. even the mechanic him self admit the difference with other type of honda bike that he ever handle.

 

[Brian]

The owners manuals that I have read list intervals for maintenance, but for the oil change and air filter there usually is a clause about driving conditions. High speed, high temperature, and dirty conditions may require service sooner. Highway versus city stop and go etc. I will use Honda guidlines.

 

[Boonty]

And it is also in the manual as an annual chnage regardless of Km

 

[103]

I would not recommend to put an other brand oilfilter on the honda, even if it fits.
ALWAYS use original parts; if it doesnt exist yet:

In emergency change the oil and keep and clean the filter.
My aut. mechanic (experience over 25 years) have seen what happens to engine over time when not original filter.

 

[somebody5788]

perhaps this going to be and endless, but yesterday when i ask the service garage, they said to change the oil every 12.000 km. but then i ask my self: "is it alright to go that far?".

feeling not sure, i really ask one of the mechanic, and he said that if we really want to make things sure (engine, etc) then change the oil for every 3000-4000 km. and i can change it my self.

now, the question is should i follow the instruction or just play safe according to my own knowledge? cause the honda CBR250R engine is a new type of engine that different from any other small-medium cc honda bike in the market. even the mechanic him self admit the difference with other type of honda bike that he ever handle.

The mechanic is only there to help you. He doesn't want to work on a bike that hasn't been maintained as it just makes his life difficult and doesn't pay him more. So if you take care of one it helps you, it helps him and it just makes everyone's life easier.

But the biggest factor in oil change interval is not miles or time, it's how the bike is ridden, if you make a lot of short trips you NEED to do the oil at 3000miles or less. If you do long trips, proper warm up and even a "cool down" (driving the bike easy for the last few minutes of the trip) then you might be safe with 5000 intervals. However I don't think I'd ever go past 5000, I like to change mine as soon as the color starts getting harder to see through instead of when it's straight up black like a 12,000 mile change would be.

Although a yearly oil change will be fine for most US riders. If you store the bike I strongly recommend a coolant flush every 2 years and drain and fill the oil with clean oil before storing it (don't have to change the filter just put clean oil in so it doesn't leave carbon deposits stuck in the piston rings and eventually making them jam up.

 

[aytacaksel]

my cbr250 wasted all oil (1.5lt) at 6700km. now at service.. engine sound not good

 

[thaicbr]

Personally i would do the the 1st change at about 250km's then another at 1,000km's then 5,000km thereafter but always ensure the use of the correct grade quality oil and a filter change each time. ( and the grade can change depending on how hot the country is)

For those that advocate 1,000 or 2,000km changes remember that EVERY time you change you oil the 1st few seconds some parts of the engine may be dry or wearing due to lack of oil. NOT a good idea (there was a guy on the Ninja forums who changed his oil every 1,000km and then started finding metal particles in his oil)

 

[somebody5788]

Personally i would do the the 1st change at about 250km's then another at 1,000km's then 5,000km thereafter but always ensure the use of the correct grade quality oil and a filter change each time. ( and the grade can change depending on how hot the country is)

For those that advocate 1,000 or 2,000km changes remember that EVERY time you change you oil the 1st few seconds some parts of the engine may be dry or wearing due to lack of oil. NOT a good idea (there was a guy on the Ninja forums who changed his oil every 1,000km and then started finding metal particles in his oil)

This is false. Draining the oil doesn't do anything to the engine that just shutting it down will do. The oi passages that hold pressure have a check valve at the pump so that they cannot drain back to the pan (therefore causing a lack of oil pressure for a second) Meaning that as soon as you start the engine that oil is going through all the bearings, the oil pick up does however drain back into the pan, doesn't matter if the pan was full the whole time or whether you drained it and refilled it, the oil pump wouldn't even know the difference.

I say 3000 mile oil changes for most riders, that should be around 5000km. Any shorter will just get expensive.

 

[thaicbr]

Ok cool..... I really didn't know that. Sorry.

 

[Panamera]

who says anything about 12000km or even 3000km?

The manual says first service 1000km then every 6000km for oil+ filter change.

pretty much just like every other bike

 

[250 Tom]

As I said before Oil is the lifeblood of the engine. Were talking less than 2 quarts here. Its cheap and easy to do why push it?

 

[Rick]

As per my mechanic at Honda Dream, Tokyo:
"1st oil and filter change @ about 600KM
After that, oil each 3,000 KM, oil filter every 6,000 KM."

I think I'll follow Honda's recommendation; and log the changes in my engine log book.