Oil and filter change query

Hi good people. Maybe you guys can throw a bit of light on this, I have a 1990 ST1100-London which I bought last year. As a matter of peace of mind other than take the last owners word for it I decided to change the oil and filter. I used Motel 10w40 part synthetic oil and a Hi-Flo filter. I'm not a high mileage rider as I would probably do around 3-5000 miles a year. My workshop manual says to do an oil and filter change at 12000km (approx. 7500 miles) but some people I have talked to advise not to leave it more than 4000 miles to change the oil and filter. Your views are grateley appreciated and thanks in advance oPoST1:

I change every 7-8k miles. Purolator 14612, Rotella 5w-40. Have used this formula on STs for over 25 years, 300k miles.

It's a ST1100-L not "ST1100-London" and Motul oil not Motel oil ..........stupid autocorrect

In your case, using a semi synthetic, or even if you used full synthetic, change it once a year at the end of the riding season. Anybody changing synthetics (and even a quality dino oil) at 4,000 miles obviously has money to burn unnecessarily.

I love oil threads

thekaz said:

I love oil threads

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I'm sure that's very helpful to the new guy, who may, or may not, be put off commenting here because of it.

Bush said:

...change it once a year at the end of the riding season.

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+1... especially in the low mileage, short trips only situation as described...

Bush said:

I'm sure that's very helpful to the new guy, who may, or may not, be put off commenting here because of it.

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HEY HEY oil threads are pure comedy for mechanics

As others mentioned, for the miles you ride, just change it at the end of each riding season.

And, use something better than what you can get at a local motel.

Short rides produce water vapor and acids that are neutralized by the additive package in the oil. So short rides are harder on the oil than running the engine long enough to get it up to temp in a steady state condition that will boil off or otherwise rid the engine of said water vapor. So, as said above, once a year.

I use the Purolator 14610 filter - it's a little longer than the 14612, I believe. So it has more media area.

Re: Oil and filter change query.

BaldyJohnny said:

Hi good people. Maybe you guys can throw a bit of light on this, I have a 1990 ST1100-London which I bought last year. As a matter of peace of mind other than take the last owners word for it I decided to change the oil and filter. I used Motel 10w40 part synthetic oil and a Hi-Flo filter. I'm not a high mileage rider as I would probably do around 3-5000 miles a year. My workshop manual says to do an oil and filter change at 12000km (approx. 7500 miles) but some people I have talked to advise not to leave it more than 4000 miles to change the oil and filter. Your views are grateley appreciated and thanks in advance oPoST1:

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I usually give the same general advice, use JASO oil only, proper weight for temperature conditions, synthetic or blend is preferable and change it more often as the bike ages, in relation to miles. to me motorcycle oil change intervals, especially dino oil, at 7-8000 miles is not good. for one thing, is that filter gonna really keep trash off of your bearings and cylinders after 8000 miles ? people forget, wet clutch bikes have a lot of potential debris in the oil vs. a car. also, bike cooling systems are not near as good as a car, all my water cooled Honda's run much hotter on a humid summer day than a car, so, if you can afford it, change oil and filter often, its cheaper than an engine re build.

BaldyJohnny said:

Hi good people. Snip, Snip ....

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You are making an assumption - please stick to the facts.

I've found this a good reference, and cut and pasted bits to my cellphone for handy lookup.

Oil filter cross reference
http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/FilterXRef.html

I've been using 'fleet' oil for diesel trucks in my Nighthawk and intend to do the same for my ST. It doesn't have the additives (they effect the efficiency of diesel engines). I haven't had any problems whatsoever.

I used to think "fleet" or diesel oil is a superior oil compared to auto oil until I found lab tests comparing the two types.

You can do much better than by using diesel oil. Lots of guys use Shell Rotella full synthetic. Another excellent non-synthetic oil is Castrol GTX.

Take a look at this : Oil Tests http://www.motoroiltests.com/car-oil-testing.html#.V9SmMigrLIU

I just use it cause, if you find JASO rated oil, you'll pay 3 times as much. I live in a rather small town without any 'big box' stores but we have a NAPA. The 'fleet' oil is easy to get a hold of. Plus, I typically change my oil at the beginning of every season (tho I may need to reevaluate that if I start putting on serious miles riding an ST) so it has served me well enough. I'm very leery of buying automotive oils... sometimes the 'energy conserving' label isn't on there, but the additives are in there.

That being said, I know Rotella is pretty much universally popular for motorcycles.

Wosmo said:

I typically change my oil at the beginning of every season

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Not going to suggest what kind of oil you should use, but I am going to suggest that your engine would be happier if you changed the oil (and filter) at the end of the riding season, rather than leave the year old, contaminated oil in there until spring.

I do about 8,000 km a year and the bike is in storage over winter for about 5 months. I change the oil and filter mid November, just before it gets put away for the winter, and again the mid to end of July. Slight overkill, but I'm not comfortable running for 7+ months without a change. Dino Rotella.

Castro and a Honda filter for me. Change every 5k or so. jmho
ToddC