4000 vs 6000 miles

[EricV]

I came in here to ask if anyone was doing any analysis or if it was "I feel" facts.

Glad to hear 4,000 is fine, I'm doing 5000 on the tenere, and 10,000 on the car.

I test at 5k on the bikes when I do the changes, mostly looking for contaminants, metal particles, coolant gases, etc. I do 10k interval on my Smart car, 6k on the other vehicles. It was interesting to see how the metallic particles started high on the wife's bike after a new engine was installed, then quickly tapered off after the first two oil change intervals and have stabilized by 4 intervals at 'normal' levels.

 

[Dogdaze]

Humans are silly. We like even numbers. In the EU, 10k kilometers is about as even as you get. And no one would buy that you needed to change the oil/filter at 5000 kms.

In the US, we've been brainwashed for the last 20 years that you have to change your oil every 3k miles, which is complete and utter BS by the oil companies and related industries. Entire businesses were created upon this myth and continue to thrive. 4000 miles seemed like something the US would buy, 6200, (10k kms), confused them and was double what they have been being spoon fed for all these years.

I actually test my oil. It's never even close to bad at 4k, just has some suspended combustion waste in it. I change it at 5000 miles simply because shifting starts to deteriorate, not because I'm worried about the oil breaking down.

Do what makes you happy.

Finally! Someone gets it! I've been telling my father in law that for years ::010::, he drives and loves Volvos, yet he canges his oil every 3000 miles, even though the computer states for him to run it 12-15k miles. It really is just a habit that the oil companies in the US thrive on, not to mention all those 'Jiffy Lube' type places, they do no exist in Europe. My diesel has 23000 kms on the odo, I do not need an oil change for another 9k KMs!!! It has 4 oil sensors, that constantly monitor the oil and engine conditions. So it is not unreasonable to expect bikes to run at least 10k km before requiring oil changes. I also change a little sooner, only because I find the shifting issues and a 'rough' sound makes an appearance.

 

[WJBertrand]

My Car ('13 Mustang GT) has an oil life monitor. it usually starts nagging me about getting the oil changed after around 8,000 - 10,000 miles since re-setting the monitor. As it takes 8 quarts, I'm not inclined to change it more often than that!

 

[Rasher]

Nick Saunders S10 did over 50,000 miles with something like 1 or 2 oil changes on his record up and down America trip - the engine was stripped after this and looked in perfect condition, it was put back together with no new parts (just gaskets) and went on past 100k without any problem.

I change mine about once a year which has worked out about 5,000 miles, I would not be at all concerned to do the full 6,000, Triumph now have 10,000 mile intervals on their exploders.

Most bikes will not match car intervals due to higher performance per cc / higher revving and most importantly as the oil also services the clutch on most bikes.

 

[2daMax]

I was wondering if the S10 has hard shifting issues when then oil is due. So thanks 4 pointing it out that it does. My oil is reaching 8k km or 5k miles and no sign of hard shifting.

My previous 2 bikes get hard shifting by 3k miles if using fully synthetic. Much less with mineral.... About 800 km.

 

[Xt1200zsupertenere]

Anyone know why the difference between the European specified 6000 mile oil change recommendation and the US spec 4000 mile oil change? they both recommend Yamalube 10w40 as the primary oil. Just curious, as far as I know the bikes are the same.....

Yes ! 6000 Miles ( 10 000 km / once A year ) europé .... the yamaha dealer use 10w-40 yamalube fully syntetic , and we have valve-sheck at 24 000 Miles ( 40 000 km ) ..... and 5 year warrenty as long we do service as sopose to att the dealer every year .....
BUT they are expensive

 

[Xt1200zsupertenere]

Yes ! 6000 Miles ( 10 000 km / once A year ) europé .... the yamaha dealer use 10w-40 yamalube fully syntetic , and we have valve-sheck at 24 000 Miles ( 40 000 km ) ..... and 5 year warrenty as long we do service as sopose to att the dealer every year .....
BUT they are expensive

And they only change oil in rear every 12 000 Miles ( 20 000 km / 2 years ) , same with sparkplugs

 

[Checkswrecks]

I was wondering if the S10 has hard shifting issues when then oil is due. So thanks 4 pointing it out that it does. My oil is reaching 8k km or 5k miles and no sign of hard shifting.

My previous 2 bikes get hard shifting by 3k miles if using fully synthetic. Much less with mineral.... About 800 km.

I change on the 5,000 mile marks and can tell when the miles are getting close, but it's not really hard shifting.


You WILL get hard shifting if you don't lube the shifter pivot when you change oil, especially if you do a lot of dirt or rain.
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=15230.0

 

[whisperquiet]

I change at 4000 miles while in warranty and 5000 miles when out of warranty with 15w40 Shell Rotella dino.......

 

[dietDrThunder]

There are several posts in this thread with people mentioning that once they saw the condition of the oil, they knew that it needed to be changed more often.

You can't 'see' the condition of the oil, unless it's a) new or b) badly contaminated, like when a bearing is failing, or a head gasket is letting coolant into the oil. Google up Blackstone Labs, get your oil tested, and form your OCI around that. I've been doing that since the early 90's, and the results are always educational and interesting. On the S10, that testing has led me to using Rotella-T synth (no surprise there) with a 6,000 mile OCI. I could actually go to around 8k, but I like to have the excuse to get an eyeball up close to the motor more often than that, plus my human tendencies to let emotion in the form of mechanical sympathy start to override my knowledge of facts as I pass 6,000 miles, and I change it to make myself feel better

 

[Tenerester]

A bunch of us bought S10ES in 2014 and service intervals stated in our owner's manuals were every 6,000KMs (4,000 Miles) under normal riding conditions. However, another buddy of mine bought a S10ES in 2016 and according to his owner's manual states the service interval every 10,000KMS (6,000 Miles). All bikes are Canadian specs and we found the inconsistency very strange.

Obviously if I asked Yamaha US or Canada, their answer would be 'every 6000KMS (4000 miles) under normal riding conditions'. They have to support their local dealerships. But it would be interesting to know what Yamaha Japan's opinion on this is.

 

[corndog]

I am using Mobil 1 synthetics in the engine and rear drive. I too, like even numbers.

Engine 5,000 miles, filter every 10,000 miles
Rear end 10,000 miles

I had 2 Blackstone Oil Analysis on my 2013. One at 15,000 miles and one at 30,000 miles. Both came back fine.
My 2015 only has 3,500 miles on it, so I will wait a little longer for an analysis.

The 2013 used about 1/2 quart between changes. Looks like the 2015 is using less so far.

 

[Pterodactyl]

I think it is pretty difficult to go wrong on oils these days as well as the change interval. 3,000; 4,000; 5,000;..... 8,000.... what difference does it make? ::025::

 

[snakebitten]

I'm more peeved that manual didn't mention rear tires every 2500-3000 miles. ???

Oil every 4000 miles even seems generous to my dinosaur generation. Grew up taught 3000 by my dad and grandpa.
So 4000 is a luxury.

 

[taskmaster86]

For the guys that are having their S-10 oil analyzed by the labs, please post the UOA results here for all of us to see. It would be very interesting!

Typical of forum life, pics or it didn't happen!

 

[bob dirt]

Yamalube 3-5k depending if I'm on a ride or near home. Changed it at a friends house in Wallace Idaho last summer after riding the Oregon coast. Always filter and rear drive at the same time. Same thing with my Wing. Wife's Lincoln hybrid gets free oil at stealership at 10k. My motorhome is on a Mercedes chassis and calls for first oil change at 20k. Couldn't let that happen. Changed it at 3.5k and the filter looked really crappy. Can't see spending money at a lab. I'm sure oil lasts a lot longer than we think but it feels good to put new oil in it and wash the windshield once in a while.

 

[markjenn]

A bunch of us bought S10ES in 2014 and service intervals stated in our owner's manuals were every 6,000KMs (4,000 Miles) under normal riding conditions. However, another buddy of mine bought a S10ES in 2016 and according to his owner's manual states the service interval every 10,000KMS (6,000 Miles). All bikes are Canadian specs and we found the inconsistency very strange.

Obviously if I asked Yamaha US or Canada, their answer would be 'every 6000KMS (4000 miles) under normal riding conditions'. They have to support their local dealerships. But it would be interesting to know what Yamaha Japan's opinion on this is.

Importers set different service intervals. It has been this way with most mfgs for a long time even if the bikes for different markets are essentially identical. They'll say that the reason is that different riding conditions in different markets require different intervals, but it mostly reflects each importers judgment on the appropriate balance between service costs and risk of failures, warranty costs, how best to match the competition and maintain sales, and how they view keeping their dealers service bays full.

It just illustrates that service intervals are not hard/fast things set only by engineers. They are broad judgments influenced by a lot of factors. Which means that individual owners can also interject their own judgment and make their own tradeoffs. Which most of us are doing even if we don't realize it. For example, how many of us "Every two years replace the internal components of the brake master cylinders and calipers as well as clutch master and release cylinders" or "replace the brake and clutch hoses every fours years" as Yamaha recommends?

Yamaha Japan doesn't sell bikes to riders; they sell bikes to importers who are responsible for all sales, advertising, warranty, service, and support for their individual markets.

- Mark

 

[2daMax]

My Aussie spec is listed as 10k km. Seems to be true as my oil is coming to 8.5k km and I still HV not experience shifting issues normally associated with sheared down oil. Using fully synthetic.