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I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 29th, '23, 18:47
by Jug
I've always suspected that the amount of time oil has been in your engine is mostly irrelevant, it's more about the hours of use and the type of use.
In this vid the guy has actually done the oil analysis and Blackstone labs have confirmed it.
:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hJU112oUg8

Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 29th, '23, 21:25
by Robbo87
I concur, it's not the amount of time (up to a point) oil spends doing nothing in the engine, it's the type of work it's subjected to when it's being used that counts. Most bikers I know err on the side of caution and change the oil and filter a bit before the recommended intervals; but then, most bikers I know actually ride their bikes, they're not parked up for months (or years) on end.

Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 29th, '23, 21:53
by Jug
Robbo87 wrote: Jul 29th, '23, 21:25 most bikers I know actually ride their bikes, they're not parked up for months (or years) on end.
The curse of the man with several bikes and very high weather standards before riding will occur. :mrgreen:

One of the best oil service plans I've heard about was with plant machines where they change the oil based on fuel used rather that run hours, which I think is a good way of assessing how much the engine had been used rather than just how long it had been run for.

Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 30th, '23, 00:08
by billinom8s
Same with the dirt bikes though, that is done by hours a lot of the time. Saying that though, 20hrs with my bimble speed is a lot different to 20hrs with Olis speed.

I'll change the oil on my trackbike after 4 days but the Road Bike after 4000miles.

Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 30th, '23, 05:18
by ptolemyx
Interesting little video that. Note the comment oil is cheap, engines are not.

I'd like to change my oil based on mileage but find it convenient to do it annually during my bikes January sevice. Historically that's been 2,500 to 4,000 miles. On the Busa it was 5,500 miles last year and I gave myself a right bollocking about it.

Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 30th, '23, 06:36
by Ruffian
Would always rather over service than not.

When an oil and filter is less than £50 why risk it.
I'm going the offroad bikes every 10hours now as only has a 1l oil capacity.
Will always try to put a decent brand and spec oil also.

What realistically could you save by dragging services out etc besides the risk of damage and accelerated wear.

Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 31st, '23, 08:00
by Jug
Ruffian wrote: Jul 30th, '23, 06:36 What realistically could you save by dragging services out etc besides the risk of damage and accelerated wear.
Money, time, materials.

I don't like waste. It also guts me to take out oil that still looks clear/clean just because it has been in the engine for 12 months.
When I bought my 1190 it had just over 6,000 miles on the clock and was already on its third oil fill.. that is just daft considering it holds 3.6 litres of expensive 10w50 fully synthetic oil and has an oil service interval of 9,300 miles. Like most manufacturers KTM demands annual services or your warranty is gone, but after the warranty is over why would you still do that?

In my opinion a myth has been propagated that oil is only good for 1 year (once put in an engine) regardless of mileage. Maybe that was true once but manufacturers persist with this as they like to see customers come back for annual services. Oil manufacturers have no reason to stop this either as it sells more oil. The video shows what an independent authority on oil analysis thinks about annual oil changes regardless of mileage, and they have the test data to back up their view.

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Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 31st, '23, 09:35
by royb
Jug wrote: Jul 31st, '23, 08:00
Ruffian wrote: Jul 30th, '23, 06:36 What realistically could you save by dragging services out etc besides the risk of damage and accelerated wear.
Money, time, materials.

I don't like waste. It also guts me to take out oil that still looks clear/clean just because it has been in the engine for 12 months.


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Many years ago when I was an oil technician for a centrifuge company, we provided data to Ford, for an engine which was capable of 100,000 miles before an oil change.
I understand the case was proved, but Ford decided not to proceed because they would be destroying the very dealerships who they relied upon to sell their cars, and cutting off the lucrative trade of yearly services.
Oils have vastly improved since the 90,s so even more reason to ignore the yearly changes.

But if it makes you happy to do a yearly change, carry on.

Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 31st, '23, 17:46
by Ruffian
Jug wrote: Jul 31st, '23, 08:00
Ruffian wrote: Jul 30th, '23, 06:36 What realistically could you save by dragging services out etc besides the risk of damage and accelerated wear.
Money, time, materials.

I don't like waste. It also guts me to take out oil that still looks clear/clean just because it has been in the engine for 12 months.
When I bought my 1190 it had just over 6,000 miles on the clock and was already on its third oil fill.. that is just daft considering it holds 3.6 litres of expensive 10w50 fully synthetic oil and has an oil service interval of 9,300 miles. Like most manufacturers KTM demands annual services or your warranty is gone, but after the warranty is over why would you still do that?

In my opinion a myth has been propagated that oil is only good for 1 year (once put in an engine) regardless of mileage. Maybe that was true once but manufacturers persist with this as they like to see customers come back for annual services. Oil manufacturers have no reason to stop this either as it sells more oil. The video shows what an independent authority on oil analysis thinks about annual oil changes regardless of mileage, and they have the test data to back up their view.


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Agreed but some service schedules I certainly do not agree with.

When I was in the motor trade the only cars we had major issues with were the ones on "long-life" servicing running 25k miles or 24months.
Amount of these breathing heavily or increased carbon deposits. 1.6hdi peugeot engines were a prime example.

Each to their own though.
Comes down to personal preference.

Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 31st, '23, 18:49
by Ming
I've had my Trafic from new in 2016 and it's just shy of 200k miles. Renault service intervals are 25000 miles which, considering the use it gets in the hands of a courier, seemed a bit long. But I stuck to that, even though some had more regular oil changes, and the engine's been absolutely faultless. Had DMF and clutch issues but the engine had always been mega

Re: I knew annual oil change recommendations were BS.

Posted: Jul 31st, '23, 18:59
by TLS-Moose
Ruffian wrote: Jul 31st, '23, 17:46
Agreed but some service schedules I certainly do not agree with.

When I was in the motor trade the only cars we had major issues with were the ones on "long-life" servicing running 25k miles or 24months.
Amount of these breathing heavily or increased carbon deposits. 1.6hdi peugeot engines were a prime example.

Each to their own though.
Comes down to personal preference.
My 15 plate Berlingo with the 1.6 hdi went a couple of months ago with 135k miles on the clock. Only ever driven by me from 6 miles on the clock, only ever serviced once a year at the same time it was MOT'd, irrespective of miles, it never failed/let me down or needed any fluid other than screen-wash adding/topping up. It didn't get it's first service til it was almost 15k. I'm not quite so confident on the new Berlingo with it's Euro-6 1.5 motor ...... seem to be a few scare stories about these ad-blue engines .....