oil change interval in hours

[aaronrkelly]

I'm keeping my bike simple and trying for clean...so Ive got no gauges. No odometer meant before I changed the oil when I "felt" like I had gone a thousand miles.

Just recently did a top end overhaul and I'm going to try to keep on top of maintenance a little better.

What I did was put a little hour meter on my bike....kinda hidden out of sight. Seems like a decent alternative.

Now I'm kinda doing the math trying to approximate 1000ish miles into hours. I'd say my riding is mostly relaxed back roads.....in town some. When I'm on the highway I usually stay around 60 to 65.

I just figured to be on the safe side I'd work on the assumption of 50 miles an hour average, although I'd probably be less.

1000miles / 50 MPH = 20 hours

Anybody else have any thoughts or input?

 

[5twins]

That sounds about right. Since you just did an overhaul, I would do the 1st couple changes sooner, maybe the 1st at 5 hours and the next at 10. Pull, check and clean the filters as well.

 

[Scrambled]

That sounds about right. Since you just did an overhaul, I would do the 1st couple changes sooner, maybe the 1st at 5 hours and the next at 10. Pull, check and clean the filters as well.

I never leave oil in my bike for longer than two months no matter what , even when in storage. If my bike ever runs too hot , like being in a traffic jam , I dump the oil as soon as I can . Cheap insurance .

 

[SINKING78]

I use a gps unit that track all the stats. Total hours moving, highest rate of speed, AVERAGE speed, current speed, etc... I do about the same riding style as you do, relaxed mostly back roads or city, highway 55-60. My average speed is a LOT lower than 50mph. As far as changing the oil goes I agree with 5Twins and Scrambled...

 

[retiredgentleman]

I never leave oil in my bike for longer than two months no matter what , even when in storage. If my bike ever runs too hot , like being in a traffic jam , I dump the oil as soon as I can . Cheap insurance .

I give you A+ for engine maintenance, certainly far superior to the average biker.

I change my oil at the begining of November and the engine will not be run again until April. That same oil will then be used for 1600 kms. I don't feel anything has deteriorated while the oil is sitting in the engine over the winter.

I'm not trying to be critical, but I just have to ask what is the benefit of changing oil after 2 months, if the bike is in storage. Maybe I need to change my oil more often.

 

[jd750ace]

25 hours is the interval for many older aricraft air cooled engines. Of course they run from peak power down to cruise power, anywhere from 60-80% of peak. I think 25 hours would be a suitable interval for regular changes.
I agree, clean fresh oil is cheap insurance.

 

[gggGary]

The old Lycoming Continental 25 hour intervals are changed to 50 hours when you go from an oil screen to a pleated filter. The good news is an aircraft engine get run a LOT harder than a street motorcycle engine, the bad news; once away from the ground they operate in a virtually dirt free environment.

 

[Scrambled]

I give you A+ for engine maintenance, certainly far superior to the average biker.

I change my oil at the begining of November and the engine will not be run again until April. That same oil will then be used for 1600 kms. I don't feel anything has deteriorated while the oil is sitting in the engine over the winter.

I'm not trying to be critical, but I just have to ask what is the benefit of changing oil after 2 months, if the bike is in storage. Maybe I need to change my oil more often.

I store in an unheated shed ,so condensation is the reason why I put fresh oil in every two months . Plus, I start my bike at least twice a month when in storage ,I don't "mothball" in the winter ,I work on it when it is warm enough. Come spring I am ready to go . I even put fresh fork oil in before storage and change that before I ride too . My gas has stabil in it ,but I like to drain it and put fresh in at least twice over the winter ( I just use it in the car and snowblower ) . I just find bikes winter better for me this way.

 

[aaronrkelly]

I use a gps unit that track all the stats. Total hours moving, highest rate of speed, AVERAGE speed, current speed, etc... I do about the same riding style as you do, relaxed mostly back roads or city, highway 55-60. My average speed is a LOT lower than 50mph. As far as changing the oil goes I agree with 5Twins and Scrambled...

I do the same thing using a GPS speedometer app on my smartphone.....but sometimes I just hop on and ride without using it - so the stats are never accurate.

I figured the average would be quite a bit lower.....like 40ish.....but at 40mph 1000 miles would be 25 hours. Id rather change it at 20 hours and maybe change it too often then not often enough.

Im running the MikesXS performance oil filter that uses the paper cartridge oil filters in place of the stock oil screen. Im using oiled UNI air POD filters.

I may run it to 25 hours after all.

That sounds about right. Since you just did an overhaul, I would do the 1st couple changes sooner, maybe the 1st at 5 hours and the next at 10. Pull, check and clean the filters as well.

Yeah Im going to run it more like 2 hours.....change the oil and paper filter. I also changed out 5th gear for the Mikes XS overdrive gear - Im thinking as that wears in it may make some metal. Im a big fan of Rotella T oil so oil changes are cheap anyways - not like Im shelling out for Royal Purple.

1st at 2 hours.....then depending on what I find in the paper filter go from there.

 

[jd750ace]

The old Lycoming Continental 25 hour intervals are changed to 50 hours when you go from an oil screen to a pleated filter. The good news is an aircraft engine get run a LOT harder than a street motorcycle engine, the bad news; once away from the ground they operate in a virtually dirt free environment.

I've pulled a lot of screens! Especially on O-320 and O-360s. Lots of folks down our way don't fly enough for crap, and they don't put any money into maintenance except for when they do thier annual, and even then they argue they only flew 9 hours in the past year! A lot of them only own the things because they can't get anything for them selling them.
When the new small aircraft market went to shit behind a bunch of law suits against manufacturers, values rose pretty good. After some much needed legal reforms, it resurged, and all those 30-50 year old airplanes lost a lot of value. Blue gas at 8.00 plus per gallon does not help either. I'd rather go in halves on a used Cirrus 22 series than to spend that much on an old Bonanza that's changed hands 10 times in 40 years, and still has ancient radios and "steam gauges" as we call them.

 

[retiredgentleman]

I store in an unheated shed ,so condensation is the reason why I put fresh oil in every two months . Plus, I start my bike at least twice a month when in storage ,I don't "mothball" in the winter ,I work on it when it is warm enough. Come spring I am ready to go . I even put fresh fork oil in before storage and change that before I ride too . My gas has stabil in it ,but I like to drain it and put fresh in at least twice over the winter ( I just use it in the car and snowblower ) . I just find bikes winter better for me this way.

Yes, I agree, water in the oil is not a good thing.

Here in Calgary, being on the lee side of the mountains, the dryness is second only to the Sahara dessert. The first year I arrived here, from Ontario, it never rained once in a whole year I don't think you can even buy an umbrella in this town.