4K mile oil change intervals?

[SgtTom]

Ed March ran his ancient C90 on a busted oil pump (no oil circulation) for 800 miles I think. Engine was pretty shot, but it went 800 miles with no lubrication. Crazy.

I think these engines will be fine if you choose to go the full 4k. But at 0.7 quarts, I say change it on whatever interval you feel like!

Who is Ed March?

 

[r80rt]

Ed March – Around The World On A 30-Year-Old Honda C90 (motorcycle.com)

Adventures of a C90 (edmarch.blogspot.com)

 

[Migolito]

I posted on Advrider about my Oil Change. The Engine holds 1 US Quart with a full engine drain. I used full syn 10w40. Be warned, IF you intend to remove the Clutch cover (as I did) there are Dragons about. Meaning as you pull the cover off internal linkage falls out. This can be a little concerning, especially if your me. The linkage can 'easily' be reassembled when you are ready..HOWEVER if you are not solid on how it goes back in (me), you will find yourself watching Indian videos (well made btw) on reaasembling LRD. Do a YT search on the Honda innova (free hint)
With all that being said, when I took a look in my engine after I removed the Clutch cover, it was clean. Nothing to wipe out. Yes, just a wee little bit of metal shavings in the screen, however, these could remain there forever and never cause an issue. They looked like assembly filings.

 

[Migolito]

BTW, Ed March is a confirmed BadAss!

 

[r80rt]

Thanks for the oil change info, and yes Ed March is a badass.

 

[JS45]

What has everyone been doing for the break in period? Have you let it go 600 miles or changed the oil at 100? Ridding it easy still after the first 100 miles or ridding like normal after that? What has everyone been doing?

 

[Southwest ORV]

What has everyone been doing for the break in period? Have you let it go 600 miles or changed the oil at 100? Ridding it easy still after the first 100 miles or ridding like normal after that? What has everyone been doing?

Thinking I’ll do 600 like Honda says. But don’t have mine yet.

 

[Lostagain]

I'm going to go the 600 mile route. I trust the Honda engineers. With that said, on my last few (maybe a dozen) new motorcycles I did really early oil changes and even sent oil samples to be analyzed. Those were usually much higher performance engines. All that made me feel good but really did not do anything other than reinforce the idea that I can go much longer between changes than conventional thinking. 6-10K miles between changes worked out just fine using full synthetic oil of the recommended grade. At the time I was doing really long trips so the longer interval let me make an entire coast to coast to coast trip without changing oil. In the case of the LRD I think time will be the limiting factor. Changing once a year sounds reasonable and that might just end up being the magic 600 miles too.

 

[Migolito]

I rode mine about..ish 600 miles. Changed out to 10w40 full synthetic and will change it out every 3-4 thousand based on my particular driving. I'm 200 pounds+gear+luggage. IF I was 150 pounds and used it for 'around town', and the climate I rode in was temperate, no freezing, no extensive wet...I'd go 4-5 thousand no probs.

Also, its not even a quart so......

 

[Southwest ORV]

I rode mine about..ish 600 miles. Changed out to 10w40 full synthetic and will change it out every 3-4 thousand based on my particular driving. I'm 200 pounds+gear+luggage. IF I was 150 pounds and used it for 'around town', and the climate I rode in was temperate, no freezing, no extensive wet...I'd go 4-5 thousand no probs.

Also, its not even a quart so......

So...cheap and easy.

 

[JS45]

How about your ridding tendencies? Are y’all babying them and varying speeds until 600 Miles or letting it rip after 100?

 

[B18CXr]

I removed my original oil @ 100 miles and will be changing it every ~1k with Honda GN-4 10W-40 (1 qt), it's too cheap to not.

 

[Southwest ORV]

How about your ridding tendencies? Are y’all babying them and varying speeds until 600 Miles or letting it rip after 100?

I’ve wondered the same thing.

 

[Lostagain]

There are two schools of thought about breaking in a new engine. One says to baby the engine, don't over rev, let it bed in slowly. The other says to load the engine with full throttle revs through the gears and moderate heat cycles, followed by an oil change. The latter has served me well. It is worth noting that many manufacturers put every new bike on a dyno to verify that it is running within spec. Thus, the machine you get may well have been run up to redline by the factory. I know this to be the case with Guzzi, Ducati and Zongshen.

 

[r80rt]

I just ride them like I'm going to ride them.

 

[G19Tony]

How about your ridding tendencies? Are y’all babying them and varying speeds until 600 Miles or letting it rip after 100?

I start off doing that, then it devolves into just riding it normally.

 

[Southwest ORV]

For peace of mind, I have followed break-in guidelines on all of my new machines.

 

[G19Tony]

For peace of mind, I have followed break-in guidelines on all of my new machines.

I think I come fairly close. I’m not heavy handed anyway.

 

[yoga addict]

I asked at the dealership. Their recommendation: ride normally, no break-in specific riding modifications needed. OK, great!

 

[AZ7000']

I rode it in the woods, on the street, and did a top speed run or two. My 1974 has needed 1 valve adjustment in 47 years. Don’t overthink it, I’d guess it would run for 50 years with an oil change or two.
I’m still under 100 miles tho