Oil Change .Question for all you experts ( do or not do)

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Barry Baker

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I do not get a opportunity to ride a lot so here is the deal ..I am leaving for a 1200 mile trip soon.. I last changed the oil 11 months ago and have ridden the fz1 3000 miles.. I use a Yamaha filter and semi-syn Yamaha oil.

Manual says every 6 months ?????? or 4000 miles.. My quseion is whats up with every 6 months I might only ride this bike ( i have others) 1K in 6 months. Also is the 4000 mile interval for petroleum , semi syn or full syntheteic I would imagine that would make a differance.

oil looks fairly clean in the site glass. : thinking: Change or not change ?
Thx in advance for your help
 
You will probably be all right, but it wouldn't hurt. If everything else is fine and cleared inspection I would change when I got back as long as there was little chance I would go over the mileage estimate.
 
Dino oil breaks down. I mean oil is not expensive and it doesn't get easier on these bikes to do it. I would change oil every 1-2k miles when I had mine.
 
Barry Baker said:
That was my thought also as the oil looks clean , the mieage is ok, I just did not know what the deal was with the 6 month interval in the manual ??
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This has more to do with not letting contaminated oil sit in the sump for too long. Even if you don't ride it much the oil picks up condensation and other chemicals as a result of combustion. It's always a good idea to put the bike away for the season on clean oil, but as the others have said it's probably ok to change it after the trip.
 
I recently changed my oil on Saturday before i took a 500 mi. trip this weekend and I switched from Yamaha regular blend 10w40 to Yamaha full synthetic 15w50. I wasn't thinking there was going to be much difference but figured since I work at a Yamaha shop and get a discount i'd switch over. I was extremely happy with the results. The bike idled, rode, and shifted much more smoothly. could be a coincidence or not but I actually got better gas mileage on the trip than I normally would also. I know that once you jump to full synthetic you can't jump back, but I believe it is well worth it now.
 
The thought behind the time change (months) is to not allow oil to get too messed up with condensation and then sit in the crankcase not protecting metal surfaces as well.
Condensation inside engines can occur by them just sitting there - not being used - going through daily and seasonal temperature extremes - with humidity playing the part of adding condensation.

It's better to run the machine every so often to "bake out" any condensation and combustion byproducts contaminations from just sitting. Condensation can occur with very short rides too - where the engine doesn't get up to proper operating temp before it's shut down. This is a matter of like 10 minutes. A few short times is fine - as long as the machine gets a frequent longer runs to "boil out" the Water and contaminates.

It's all just simple physics and chemistry. Think of condensation on the side of your cold drinking glass - it's due to humidity. It goes on to less obvious degrees in engines too - but it's always there - going on...

Low humidity climates - less so.
There are other condensations and chemical contaminations from the combustion process, too - that need to be "bake-out by longer engine runs - 15 minutes or so.

With all that - I've run a number of machines many hundreds of thousands of miles each. My own personal technique (I'm a mechanical engineer - love it or hater it - with engine design) has been to go by the color of the oil.
I change when the oil is darkening to the point of losing its golden tinge. If it's still got just a little golden tinge to it in a droplet on a dip stick - I run it. But it's getting very close to change - I never let it lose all its gold.
Except if the machine has sat for a long period (months) and not gotten properly heated up.
I have never had any engine failures and when opened up (rare - just heads) they have always been spotless inside.

Just as a note - for me - watching oil color this way - and driving a lot on my machines - it usually averages out to about 6,000 miles per change - but i don't go by number - I go by condition of the oil - and what that the machine has been doing - a lot of driving = good - sitting a lot - not so good - might change more - with a lot more color to the oil.

Just my 2 cents worth over a lot of years and a lot of miles.
 
I believe that the 6 month oil change frequency, is to protect against the motorist who often rides little short distance trips to the corner grocery and back, whereby the engine never really warms up. His mileage may be low, but these short little runs add to condensation in the oil, which degrade the lubrication effectiveness. Hence the oil change to get rid of contaminants such as these.

So if you mostly have made runs whereby the bike gets to completely warm up, but just not very often, then you should be fine using the oil for a while longer.
 
Barry Baker said:
Thanks, still has some "Golden Tinge". I guess if you have alot of condensation you would start to see some browning ?:dontknow:
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No, the browning is usually the other contaminants in the oil and/or the oil starting to break down. Condensation will bur off once the oil gets hot enough (water boils at 212 degrees F) after a 15-20 minute ride most of the condensation will disappear.
 
NJFZ1 said:
No, the browning is usually the other contaminants in the oil and/or the oil starting to break down. Condensation will bur off once the oil gets hot enough (water boils at 212 degrees F) after a 15-20 minute ride most of the condensation will disappear.
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I believe condensation can be seen as a milky haze in the oil sight window. Once the oil gets hot enough, that haze vanishes
 
Barry Baker said:
Thanks, still has some "Golden Tinge". I guess if you have alot of condensation you would start to see some browning ?:dontknow:
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No ... the darkening is from minute particles and contaminates being carried by the oil. It is in the process of oil getting dirty. The oil filter - if you buy one with a very fine filtration capability - they are marked according to standardized testing in small print on the box - will filter the largest most damaging stuff - and do a good job of it, too.

Condensation and combustion by products start the process of introducing acidic substances into the oil. (Condensation - by it's self - is colorless - it is water) If you run the engine hot engine (let it fully warm up) frequently - that condensation and crappy stuff gets burned off - due to the oil getting nice and hot.

Again - the increasing brown is the progression of microscopic wear particles. You want to keep the amount of wear particles in your oil low - so they don't wear your engine.
If you let it go to what I consider extreme - your oil would turn black - meaning it's got a lot of engine wear particles suspended in it. Not good for engine.
(Hint - don't buy a car or bike that has been treated that way - run with black oil - but be careful - salemen will quickly change bad oil - to get rid of the evidence of poor maintenance)

Just keep a good filter on - change it - keep the oil color good - your engine will be happy - you'll be good!
 
Dustin said:
That's actually just an urban myth. Switch as you please. :)
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urban myth or not if you carry a factory warranty still on your fz1 and Yamaha sees you switched between full synthetic and blend they will and have canceled warranty requests. doesn't matter what we think, matters what the manufacturer thinks. If you no longer or didn't purchase Yamaha Y.E.S. program than feel free to go back and forth. but why risk it?
 
Oil and filters are relatively cheap. I change mine every 3000 miles and regardless of the miles, change it before parking for the winter. Change it and ride this trip with Peace-of-Mind that you're safe.

You can NEVER change your oil too often, but you can certainly screw up the bike if you don't! ;) Git R' Dun!!!
 
I just got back from my 1800 mile trip to CO. I was at just under 3000 miles on my last oil change. I figured if I go a few hundred miles over, it's no problem. Well, to be honest with you I wish I had done it before I left. The last 1000 miles, shifting was a little rougher, bike started to run a little warmer and gas mileage dropped. I use the Yamaha Full Syn and with filter and the little discount they give me it's $55 for an oil change and takes about 10 minutes (15 minutes if its hot out).
 
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