[fencingdude101]

Depends on the person and the bike but most guys change it after ever few track days. You run the engine at maximum performance for extended periods so oil breaks down faster.

You think formula one cars get their oil changed every 3k miles

Touché... Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

 

[poloza429]

For me no matter what the manual said, i change mine around 3,000 miles/4,800km . Same with vehicles, there is no way i would wait till 12,000 to do an oil change on this bike.

I run full synthetic and i change mine every 5k. It Could honestly go over that, neither the oil or the filter are ever that dirty or have any particles in them to warrant that they needed to be changed. Not that just looking at the oil alone is good enough indication but a buddy of mine is a mechanic at a Kawasaki dealer and even he agrees that the oil in these bikes will last longer than 3k. I'm not trying to crap all over your maintenance habits but i do think people should know that changing it every 3k doesn't actually do much. But once again I'm talking about full synthetic. Also should note that as others have pointed out it depends on your riding habits.

 

[kojiiro]

I run full synthetic and i change mine every 5k. It Could honestly go over that, neither the oil or the filter are ever that dirty or have any particles in them to warrant that they needed to be changed. Not that just looking at the oil alone is good enough indication but a buddy of mine is a mechanic at a Kawasaki dealer and even he agrees that the oil in these bikes will last longer than 3k. I'm not trying to crap all over your maintenance habits but i do think people should know that changing it every 3k doesn't actually do much. But once again I'm talking about full synthetic. Also should note that as others have pointed out it depends on your riding habits.

Your last statment is a pretty important factor. If you are not riding hard or in a crappy/dusty/ dirty enviroment, you can go longer in betwen. I dont run in a very xdusty/dirty enviroment but I do run the bike hard/ highrt rpms on my canyon days.

 

[Unseen]

dont know if i missed it, but at what point do we switch from from non synth to full synth? this will be my second oil change and i went with non synth, looking to make the switch on the next oil change.

 

[fencingdude101]

I've heard anywhere from it doesn't matter, to 1500-3000 miles. I will personally be waiting till my ~4500 mile oil change, but there are others on the forum that changed at 600.

 

[Unseen]

I've heard anywhere from it doesn't matter, to 1500-3000 miles. I will personally be waiting till my ~4500 mile oil change, but there are others on the forum that changed at 600.

i should prob call the dude who did the 600 mile service and see what he did when he changed the oil. if he went with dino, i can switch over to full synth. if not, im good with what i got.

 

[XPyron]

It's probably been said but if you are just a regular rider with average oil change intervals, the oil will not matter. If you are planning extended oil change intervals or running against redline often, synthetic may be a better choice.

For the price of T6 however, it may not matter. I stopped running T6 in favor of a 10W40. Considering the miles I put in I could even run Amsoil and probably not worry too much about cost on this bike.

 

[Vinho]

Hey guys, new to the forum, and to the motorcycle world in general!

I regrettably did not change the oil in my 2006 650r before the harsh Canadian winter struck, and she now sits in my garage begging for spring to come. Being the fourth owner on this machine, she did not come with the owner's manual. Is the oil 10w-40 the recommended weight & grade? And will full synthetic automotive oil be acceptable so long as I religiously change the oil every 3k miles?

Thanks,
-Vinho

 

[BlueSentra]

Hey guys, new to the forum, and to the motorcycle world in general!

I regrettably did not change the oil in my 2006 650r before the harsh Canadian winter struck, and she now sits in my garage begging for spring to come. Being the fourth owner on this machine, she did not come with the owner's manual. Is the oil 10w-40 the recommended weight & grade? And will full synthetic automotive oil be acceptable so long as I religiously change the oil every 3k miles?

Thanks,
-Vinho

Hi Vinho, welcome to the forum! The first page of this thread has already tons of info -- service or owner's manual is optional. I'm just waiting for my third oil change and am switching to fully synthetic. Fully synthetic is not necessary (regular mineral SAE 10w-40 JASO MA oil is okay for as long as you change every year or every 7.5k miles whichever comes first), but it's cheap insurance and good for the engine too. Ride safe!

EDIT: NEVER EVER USE AUTOMOTIVE OIL! Use only four-stroke-motorcycle-specific (JASO MA, MA1, or MA2) oil for our bikes.

 

[Vinho]

Hi Vinho, welcome to the forum! The first page of this thread has already tons of info -- service or owner's manual is optional. I'm just waiting for my third oil change and am switching to fully synthetic. Fully synthetic is not necessary (regular mineral SAE 10w-40 JASO MA oil is okay for as long as you change every year or every 7.5k miles whichever comes first), but it's cheap insurance and good for the engine too. Ride safe!

EDIT: NEVER EVER USE AUTOMOTIVE OIL! Use only four-stroke-motorcycle-specific (JASO MA, MA1, or MA2) oil for our bikes.

Beauty, that sums it up niceley, thank you very much for your prompt reply

 

[driver1]

Very informative, details will help a lot to newbies. THANKS

 

[gkirk78]

Hey guys,
I hit 640 miles on my 2014 Ninja 650, and I could not get an appointment sooner than a week out to have the 600 mile service performed (I would have most likely added an additional 100+ miles). I went ahead and changed the oil myself. I used a KN filter (KN 303) and Mobil 1 4T 10w 40 motorcycle oil (https://mobiloil.com/en/motor-oils/mobil-1/mobil-1-4t-motorcycle-oil).
I was a Honda (auto) technician in my youth (2 year AS in auto tech, multiple ASE certs, Honda factory silver level training), so I know my way around a machine. My guess is my bike will be perfectly fine making the switch to synthetic oil right after the break in. BTW, the break in oil looked like it could go another 3000 miles or so XD. It was very clean, just a tiny bit cloudy. The 2014 oil change was very close to what was posted here, the only differences:
The oil drain plug is on the LEFT side of the bike (riding position), opposed to the right.
The entire fairing comes off as one piece (one, each side).
All of the other tips apply, such as reusing the drain plug washer (or replacing it), the oil filter having been tightened down by Thor at the factory, using a shield to prevent oil from dripping on the header pipes for the filter removal for easy clean up, etc.

Cheers!

 

[thakur22]

For me no matter what the manual said, i change mine around 3,000 miles/4,800km . Same with vehicles, there is no way i would wait till 12,000 to do an oil change on this bike.

I changed mine at 500 then at 3500. The oil at 500 was pretty much clean and nice light brown. The oil at 3500 was completely black. I think I will start changing the oil at every 2000 miles. I used valvoline synthetic motorcycle oil. Even with the synthetic, it was pretty black.

 

[thakur22]

Hmmmm I always thought the 650's had a two stroke engine ^^. Well, thanks for clearing that mess up for me

It's a parallel twin cylinder engine but utilizes four stroke mechanism.

 

[XPyron]

I just saw this link on the ZX6R forum. I guess we have a resident oil filter testing expert. I have been running an XG7317 for a bit now and recently switched to Rotella T Triple and I can't complain. I just bought another jug and 3 more filters for the end of the season. Even though I don't store the bikes anymore, I still do the yearly oil change per the manual.

Filter Fun, Part 2 (or, "The Oil Filter Test Thread")

 

[Unseen]

is there a specific moto oil tester for our bikes, or bikes in general? i use blackstone labs for my wrx to check impurities etc. wonder if theyd do moto bikes too. i should look into it.

 

[XPyron]

Yeah, I think this is what you are looking for. I have seen tests for damn near everything.

Bob Is The Oil Guy | The Internet's Number One Motor Oil Site

 

[RT27]

Hi Vinho, welcome to the forum! The first page of this thread has already tons of info -- service or owner's manual is optional. I'm just waiting for my third oil change and am switching to fully synthetic. Fully synthetic is not necessary (regular mineral SAE 10w-40 JASO MA oil is okay for as long as you change every year or every 7.5k miles whichever comes first), but it's cheap insurance and good for the engine too. Ride safe!

EDIT: NEVER EVER USE AUTOMOTIVE OIL! Use only four-stroke-motorcycle-specific (JASO MA, MA1, or MA2) oil for our bikes.

AMEN 2 major things bike engines do car engines do not, hence motorcycle oil only, 1. wet clutch plates. Oil for bikes also lubricate clutch, cars do not. 2 transmission uses same oil as engine, cars do not. Trans gears do what they call SHEAR FACTOR, it will eat car oil in no time. Car oil is not meant to be sheared by the gears spinning on each other like bikes do. Bike oil is different as it has to stand up to major shear forces in the gear box, and also have to lubricate yet allow clutch to fully clamp to drive wheels. Bikes use just a few quarts run the best oil you can get, a few bucks now may save thusands in engine rebuilds. Think of what you paid fo rbike, oils and all fluids should be the best, do not get penny smart and dollar dumb. My brother was a motorcycle mechanic for years, so I get this info from him and his buddies, use top line fluids in oil brakes coolant, all of it. In the big picture it is cheaper than most basic mods guys toss and with no thought of cost. I have seen ghuys try to save 5 bucks on oil and brake fluid, yet drop 500 for exhaut slip on, how silly is that. One is looks and sound and the others are the life blood of a very expensive engine. 500 buck slip on is useless if engine blow up or seizes.