Oil Changes for the Street

[tahoe striple]

This may have already been discussed to death, but what is the general opinion on how often to change the oil of the bike? Also any special advice when changing the bikes oil?
Thanks

[Diego]

If this were a model where lots of people had years of experience with it, a "general opinion" might be more meaningful.

As is, however, a "general opinion" will only be a collection of things people have picked up over the years... applicable to the Street or not... and therefore will only be what they happen to believe on the subject already, not something specific to this bike.

With that caveat firmly in mind, I will offer you my view. If you're doing a lot of riding that's out of the ordinary (ie, racing, stunting, hard adventure riding, lots of very short trips, etc) then change it more often than the manufacturer's recommendation. Otherwise, for normal riding when running a good synthetic oil, there's no reason to do anything other than what the manual suggests!

People will do whatever they choose anyway if they feel it gives them peace of mind, but consider this: The engine manufacturer has nothing to gain by recommending an unsafe oil change interval. Triumph tests the heck out of each design, and they consider 6000 miles a conservative interval in their water cooled engines. (They didn't even switch the twins up to 6000 miles until they'd done a LOT of extra testing to be sure it was safe for the wider temperature variations they have to endure.) So unless you have a real reason to change it more often, why make the oil barons any richer?

[Shakey]

The dealer wants to see me again at 6000 miles. Triumph has recommended 6000 mile intervals when using fully synthetic for quite some time now. I may change more frequently out of habit. I've yet to decide. My Guzzi is fully synthetic and they recommend every 3000. That's more along the lines of what I'm used to. If the oil looks clean and I'm not using any I may go 6000 with the Street Triple. I have a spare filter and oil at the house in case I change my mind.

[tahoe striple]

Thanks for the input. I new the factory recommendations, but I have heard people saying as often as every thousand miles which just seemed ridiculous. Probably try and do it every 3.
Thanks again

[TigerBonnieRich]

Shakey,
Color, in general, does not determine lubrocity.

Changing a good synthetic oil when it appears dirty may make you feel better, but in most cases it is unnecessary. The soot particles which make your oil look dirty are less than one micron in size. They are too smal to create wear.

The synthetics are blended with base stocks which are more concentrated, or have a higher T.B.N. This is why the change intervals are much longer than dino-oil.

Stick with a good synthetic formulated for your motorcycle, and don't worry about the color. If the color of oil worries you, than certainly stop flying. If you looked at oil in an aircraft engine, chances are it would be black as coal. Aviation grade base stocks and proper filtering...

Put your money in the tank, this is where we need it the most...

cheers....