how often do you guys change your oil in your 4strokes? i know what my manual says, but it seems my oil gets dirty pretty fast. i change my air filter about every three rides. one ride for me is usually about 2 hours of real tight woods riding with a couple of high speed straits. $15 a liter for my motorex oil has deffinately a bummer, but i dont know if i trust anything else.
how often to change oil?
- Thread starter sloopy
- Start date
- May 27, 2007
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Your best investment is in a timer, I changed my oil way to often because i thought that I rode longer than I actually was but with that timer I knew how long I rode, I do clean my air filter after ever ride,
Depends on what I was doing. 2 or 3 hours at the track, 3 to 5 hours in the woods. Oil filter every 9 or 10 hours. Air filter every ride or two. Alot of thumper guys are running Rotella with great success. It's 9 bucks a gallon compared to the 57 dollars a gallon you pay for that Motorex. I'de rather drain the oil before it looks bad than run it too long cause it costs so much. Just my $.02 (now worth about $.005)
If you look at the people running Rotella non synthetic, they change it often and many still end up rebuilding their engines within a year or so. I run Amsoil. It is a third less than Motorex and I have extended my oil & Filter changes to about 6-8 rides of 80-100 miles. The bike is an 01 400exc and currently has about 10k on it. The only thing ever done is I replaced the cam bearings and cam gear with the updated parts. It doesn't smoke and runs great always. The bearings were like new btw. Whenever I do my valve adjustments the engine is squeaky clean inside. Most of the people running Rotella or other non synthetics (some on KTM talk use Wal-mart oil) end up with a gold/brown film on all internal parts. This is a sign of very hot engine oil and the early stages of sludge. My advice to you is to switch to Amsoil and don't look back. However if you want to try crap from wal-mart be my guest. I repair these bikes and I can always use more work.
Hevster1 said:
How did any engine ever survive before we were blessed with the wonderous properties of Amsoil?
When you buy a full case of Amsoil does it come with it's own shovel to make it easier to shovel this bull****?
I always wondered what happened to those Hare Krishna idiots that used to hang out at the airports. It looks like they all joined the Amsoil cult, and they are no less annoying. :rotfl:
Hevster1 said:
I highly suggest you read this.....http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/showthread.php?t=146867
Oil quality is not guaged by price. If it makes you feel better to run expensive boutique oil, go for it. I have better things to do with my money.
- Aug 2, 2000
- 13,504
- 19
I change my oil when I remember to, I don't run Amsoil, I run whatever the cheap Silkolene is (maybe it's the mid-grade semi-synthetic, whatever) and I've never had issue. I don't even know what Rotella is.
oldguy
Always Broken
- Dec 26, 1999
- 9,411
- 0
I use nothing but Rotella synthetic in both a 250F and a 450. I change it regularly at about 1 1/2 hours and the filter every second oil change. Of course my son is known for babying the bikes around the track near the rev limiter :nod:
Eric Gorr is currently replacing the crank in the 450 not because it needed it but after 3 seasons of racing I need to know it is changed. He commented that all the parts looked like new except for expected wear in a 3 year old race bike. The oil costs me $16 a gallon at Walmart
Eric Gorr is currently replacing the crank in the 450 not because it needed it but after 3 seasons of racing I need to know it is changed. He commented that all the parts looked like new except for expected wear in a 3 year old race bike. The oil costs me $16 a gallon at Walmart
- Thread starter
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- #10
the only reason i run motorex is because ktm suggest it, yeah i am sure that ktm gets paid from motorex, but ktm builds good stuff so i figure if they suggest it why not, except the price. i do like the fact that the motorex comes in liters instead of quarts, it makes it easier to get the right amount when doing oil changes. i think that i am actually going to switch to repsol it is cheaper than motorex and i hear that it is good.
the whole amsoil thing is kind of weird i think that there is a cult following and i am not sold.
btw rotela is damn good oil for a diesel but i would not put it in my bike, i dont want to chance it. my wife told me no to a new bike. i do run rotella t in my 2000 e350 powerstroke dirtbike haulin machine and its got 532,000 miles on it now.
the whole amsoil thing is kind of weird i think that there is a cult following and i am not sold.
btw rotela is damn good oil for a diesel but i would not put it in my bike, i dont want to chance it. my wife told me no to a new bike. i do run rotella t in my 2000 e350 powerstroke dirtbike haulin machine and its got 532,000 miles on it now.
sloopy said:
Motorex is an excellent oil but like you pointed out it's pretty pricey. Is it worth the price? That's a personal call probably.
Shell Rotella and Mobil Delvac the two most popular diesel oils have proven time and again to provide excellent results in four-stroke race bikes. I've taken apart an awful lot of engines that have run these oils and I've never failed to be impressed. The additive packages in good diesel oils are among the best available for our purposes. The fact that they can be purchased in bulk for a really good price makes it easier for most folks to justify changing it more often, which is the key.
It's been my experience that folks who use ultra expensive oils like Motul 300V tend to leave it in longer because of the cost of changing it. The best oil left in too long, doesn't pay in the long run.
There is nothing wrong with Amsoil, but there is nothing special about it either other than the laughs you get when crazy zealots go off on their freakazoid rants.
In the long run , clean oil is the "best oil".
- Thread starter
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- #14
so how do i tell when it is dirty? looking at it through my site glass? when it is really dark? i dont think that i would be able to change the oil every hour and a half that would mean i would not even to make a complete ride without changing the oil, which is kind of a pain a in the butt on this bike. correct me if i am wrong but does the manual say ever 9 hours, or after every race. what if i ride it like i race it when i am not racing?
- Aug 2, 2000
- 13,504
- 19
Sloopy lives in a very bad part of town
and everybody else, tries to put my sloopy down
Sloopy I don't care, what your daddy do
Cuz you know sloopy, girl, I'm inlove with you
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on
and everybody else, tries to put my sloopy down
Sloopy I don't care, what your daddy do
Cuz you know sloopy, girl, I'm inlove with you
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on
You are going to see all sorts of different intervals and you'll have to decide what's best for you. We change the oil on our bikes every 2-3 hours on the hour meter which is the equivalent of one race day for us. Clean oil is cheap insurance, if you are putting on 3+ hours on the hour meter in a ride day I personally would be dumping that oil after the ride. The first thing is to get an hour meter though, all sorts of folks think they put 4+ hours on the bike then get an hour meter and find that a typical ride day puts a lot less time than they think on the bike.
- Thread starter
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- #17
my bike came with an computer on it with odometer, lap timer, clock, and hour meter. i have been changing the oil about ever 3 hours now. maybe i will stay the same on the time and change the brand of oil i am using to a less expensive repsol.
what about the days i ride for 6+ hours?
what about the days i ride for 6+ hours?
Uhhh, that gave me a vey disturbing mental picture of Pred. Karaoke night at the little hillbilly corner bar, microphone in hand, Pred is rockin' it in a little pink tu-tu (on loan from Gomer). :yikes: Make it stop, make it stop......... :bang:
How hard are you running it? If you run it in the lower RPM range you should be fine. If you're running it really hard I would bring the stuff with you and change it. Sometimes we'll do a 5 or 6 hour ride in the woods, I just try not to wring it out as much. At the track I'm lucky to have 3 hours of run time in a 6 hour session. But if I did any more I would definately change it cause I tend to abuse the clutch at the track.
sloopy said:
sloopy said:
Drain the oil after one of these rides and see how it looks. See how much clutch residue is left behind, and check how the oil smells (burned, or acidic smells are cause for concern) and decide from there.
At some point it just comes down to using good judgment. Using pyramid scheme oils with magical properties won't change that. ;)