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oil change on a motorcycle...

10699 Views 22 Replies 16 Participants Last post by  may2nd, 
H
if you saw my last post you will know i am planning to get a 2011 cbr250r and if i didn't mention this eariler, i'm a newb and i only know a bit.... so please bare with me here :)

how much of you do your own oil change or take it to a shop?

i want to learn how to do my own oil change so if you are experienced with doing an oil change in a motorcycle i will appreciate your advice and any info that will help me out.

What type of motorcycle oil is recommended?
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1
Honda-fan said:
if you saw my last post you will know i am planning to get a 2011 cbr250r and if i didn't mention this eariler, i'm a newb and i only know a bit.... so please bare with me here :)

how much of you do your own oil change or take it to a shop?

i want to learn how to do my own oil change so if you are experienced with doing an oil change in a motorcycle i will appreciate your advice and any info that will help me out.

What type of motorcycle oil is recommended?
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Well i can say on my cbr125rw its a pain in the ass to "change" oil.."filter".
I dont hope its the same on the 250
I looked in the techmanual but couldnt find it, neither understand the language :)

And use the oil Honda recommend in the manual you get when you buy it, or at least the spec´ for the oil.
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R
I usually do mine at a shop.

Change the oil and oil filter after 150-200km.
Do this again after 1000km.

I personally change mine every 1000km until 4000-5000km.

After this change to fully synthetic oil.

No harm comes in changing the oil early or too regularly, but it's important to change the filter after a few 100kms as a new engine will still has metal in it that will run into the oil, best to get it out soon.

Don't run fully synthetic oil until the break-in period is over.
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Redline said:
I usually do mine at a shop.

Change the oil and oil filter after 150-200km.
Do this again after 1000km.

I personally change mine every 1000km until 4000-5000km.

After this change to fully synthetic oil.

No harm comes in changing the oil early or too regularly, but it's important to change the filter after a few 100kms as a new engine will still has metal in it that will run into the oil, best to get it out soon.

Don't run fully synthetic oil until the break-in period is over.
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How long do you usually run on synthetic oil after the break-in period is finished? Wouldnt it be better to just change the oil filter after the 1st oil change as it'll collect all the excess metal?
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R
Yup, change the oil filter after 150km, and again after 1000km.

Change the oil and oil filter after 150-200km.
Do this again after 1000km.

And change it again when you change to fully synthetic oil.

Changing it more than this will not do any harm. It's a good thing to care of.
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C
Im looking for some GOOD motorcycle oils. With limited knowledge it's hard finding good oil for a motorcycle.

Motul oils are said to be the best motorcyle oil.

Amsoil is another oil for motorcycle's i heard good stuff about.

thoughts?
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250 Tom
I use amsoil in all my bikes. After break-in I switch over to synthetic. There are many good oils out there but whats more important is keeping it changed on a regular basis. The little motor will be putting out a lot of R.P.M.s. Take care of it and it will take care of you
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CBR_Guy said:
Im looking for some GOOD motorcycle oils. With limited knowledge it's hard finding good oil for a motorcycle.

Motul oils are said to be the best motorcyle oil.

Amsoil is another oil for motorcycle's i heard good stuff about.

thoughts?
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Some people use Shell Rotella T6 synthetic. It's for diesel engines but it also works for bikes because it got no friction modifiers. It's cheaper than Motul and Amsoil.
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A
@Redline - Why do you insist changing to fully synthetic by 5K kms? Why not after 1K or 2K or 3K?
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B
I know it's old, but I thought I'd answer the OP's question:

I changed my oil for the first time today, at home.

All you'll need is an allen-key set, and a half-decent metric socket set. Also make sure you have an oil change pan or bucket to catch the oil as it drains out of the bike. If you're not sure about how accurate you are at pouring a funnel could be useful.

In terms of parts, I just bought two litres of genuine Honda oil and a Honda filter. I didn't replace the gasket on the housing, and look for suggestions from some pros as to whether I should have. It isn't leaking at all.

Follow the directions in the manual, and you'll be gold. It's really quite an easy oil change compared to most. Next time I'll take photos :doh:
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killstrelok
If you follow all the directions in the owners manual you'll also need a torque wrench, how necessary that actually is, is debatable.
My dealer changed my oil to synthetic at first service.
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J
I was going to change my oil at 200 mi. but the dealer recommended that I wait for the 600 mile service. He said that Honda uses a break-in oil (without friction modifiers) and I should wait for the first service.
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cbr9927
jpit said:
I was going to change my oil at 200 mi. but the dealer recommended that I wait for the 600 mile service. He said that Honda uses a break-in oil (without friction modifiers) and I should wait for the first service.
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Thats what I go by too, had a Honda car and you should not take out the oil too soon either. Probably stick with dino oil for the 1st 3k miles and than to full synthetic.
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M
ive heard m any different things from many different people.. i changed my oil last sunday. however i did not take the right lower fairing off.. just kinda held it out while removing the filter casing and filter.. however i should add i wasnt intendinding on totally changinging the oil, i wanted to have a look at the filter cause i bought 2 different at the local moto store and wanted to see which one fit and mistakedly found that by loosening the casing bolts oil comes out..imagine that!!Duh! anyways putting the new filter on with the spring gasket ond filter on properly was a pain in the ass!! i acctually had my girlfriend out in the garage helping me put the bolts bak into the casing while i held the whole oil filter, spring, gasket sanwitch together..got it bak together but was prepared as farc as having oil to put in so i called my local honda dealer and he said synthetic 10w 30 sae would be fine just regular run of the mill motor oil, and he said it would not effect the warranty negativly in any way..page 117 of the owners manual lists 4 or 5 different kinds of oil you can use..hope all goes well with your oil change..oh and i have about 400 miles on my moto..
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Cire 5th
jpit said:
I was going to change my oil at 200 mi. but the dealer recommended that I wait for the 600 mile service. He said that Honda uses a break-in oil (without friction modifiers) and I should wait for the first service.
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The service guy said almost the same thing to me except he didn't mention break in oil. He said that the bikes nowadays (not word for word) do not need an oil change right away or too soon. I mentioned about the metal shavings and he said that the engineering nowadays is better than old bikes.

He then mentioned after all that oil change talk, to push the bike, feel the power. He said its ok (this is the same day when I posted about I will runmy bike to 9k every gear). He said that when the bikes come out of production his district manager went out to Asia and saw what they did to these bikes. He said if you saw what they did to these bikes, that I wouldn't want to buy it. They redline it at every gear.

Anyway, when I get to 600 mi I will go for my first service which includes my first oil change, which he recommends. I asked him if he has serviced CBR250Rs before and he said a bunch of em. He said though, If I really really wanted an oil change I can do, of course.

For my first service it will cost me $220 not including parts. I am going to ask if I can watch the lubrication of the chain process and oil change process. I want to be able to know how to do that. I have done oil changes on my car before.
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may2nd said:
ive heard m any different things from many different people.. i changed my oil last sunday. however i did not take the right lower fairing off.. just kinda held it out while removing the filter casing and filter.. however i should add i wasnt intendinding on totally changinging the oil, i wanted to have a look at the filter cause i bought 2 different at the local moto store and wanted to see which one fit and mistakedly found that by loosening the casing bolts oil comes out..imagine that!!Duh! anyways putting the new filter on with the spring gasket ond filter on properly was a pain in the ass!! i acctually had my girlfriend out in the garage helping me put the bolts bak into the casing while i held the whole oil filter, spring, gasket sanwitch together..got it bak together but was prepared as farc as having oil to put in so i called my local honda dealer and he said synthetic 10w 30 sae would be fine just regular run of the mill motor oil, and he said it would not effect the warranty negativly in any way..page 117 of the owners manual lists 4 or 5 different kinds of oil you can use..hope all goes well with your oil change..oh and i have about 400 miles on my moto..
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By that do you mean automotive oil?

You don't want to use auto oils. Current auto oils, 30-grade and below, have Friction Modifiers that can cause clutch slipping. Oils above 30-grade (5W-40, 10W-40, etc) don't have modifiers, but still aren't a good choice IMO. Auto oils currently have lower levels of ZDDP (Zinc and Phosphorus) than they did previously. That's not a problem for cars with roller cam lifters, but solid lifter designs (like cycles) need higher levels of ZDDP to protect the cams from galling.

Diesel oils like Shell Rotella (conventional and synthetic) have higher levels and no modifiers, and are a good choice.

Cycle-specific oils have the same high levels.

I've run Rotella T6 synthetic in many of my cycles with good results, and just recently changed to Castrol 4T Racing cycle oil. I may give Motul a try next time around. IMO Motul is definitely one of the best, but Rotella T6, Castrol 4T cycle, Mobil1 4T cycle, and similar are more than adequate for all but the most demanding conditions.

If I was racing I'd be using a Motul double Ester synthetic.


Jay
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JKV357- yea, i was a little leary when he said it was ok to use automotive oil, but he said it would be fine..so i filled it with 10w 30 synthetic because i had it on hand and there were no shops open that sunday night to get moto oil..so before i added the oil i called back one more time to ask the guy if he was sure and he was so the bike has a crank case full of oil but i havent ridden it since..i changed the oil as one of my winterizing chores for the bike..i guess if worse comes to worse i could drain the synthetic automotive stuff i just put in and replace it with proper oil..whats your take?
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250 Tom
To bad you didnt just put in the right oil in the first place. Not sure if it would hurt anything or not but it was me I would just change it again for peace of mind as they say. It only holds a guart and a half so not really that big of deal
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M
Yeah, i just called the honda dealership again this morning and he said the same thing..so im gonna go get some motorcycle oil today and drain the stuff i put in sunday and put in new.peace of mind..;-)
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J
may2nd said:
Yeah, i just called the honda dealership again this morning and he said the same thing..so im gonna go get some motorcycle oil today and drain the stuff i put in sunday and put in new.peace of mind..;-)
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That's what I'd do. There are some people over at another forum I frequent that say they've been using auto oil (10W-40 Mobil1) for a while with any issues, but that's not a good idea IMO.

Your 10W-30 auto oil has Friction Modifiers that can build-up on the clutch plates and make them slip - plus - (and more importantly) it has too low of ZDDP levels to be safe for the cam.

When you are only talking 1 1/2 qts, it better be right - and top-quality IMO.


Jay
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