Triumphrat

WildRice

The Owner's Handbook and the Warranty and Service Record booklet contradict each other in regards to the oil change interval on my 2003 Speed Four.

The Owner's Handbook says Miles (Kms): 500(800), 4000(6000), 8000(12000), 12000(18000), 16000(24000), etc. That is every 4000 miles or every 6000 Kms after break in. It recommends semi OR fully synthetic 15W/50 motorcycle oil on page 51, but says "Mobil 1 Racing 4T consistently performed well in our tests and has become our primary recommendation for the lubrication of all current Triumph motorcycle engines" on page 44.

The Warranty and Service Record booklet says: 500 miles, 4/6,000 miles, 8/12,000 miles, 12/18,000 miles, 16/24,000 miles, etc. That is every 4000 to 6000 miles after break in. No mention of Kms, only miles. Warranty Terms and Conditions includes: "14. The warranty does not cover machines which have been inadequately lubricated, or for which the wrong fuel or lubrication has been used."

Logically, I think they dropped the Km units on the Service Record booklet. My dealer was not sure, but said you could do the oil changes in that range (i.e. every 4000 to 6000 miles). I mentioned how expensive the Mobil 1 4T oil was and the dealer said that the advantage was that the oil change interval could be longer, which makes sense since synthetic oil will break down less. Changing the oil every 4000 miles would not be any longer than usual, but every 6000 miles would be longer.

Have you noticed that the S4/TT600 engine has a very deep oil pan that holds alot of oil. I thought I would get two oil changes out of one big container of the Mobil 1 4T, but It took nearly all of the container to fill up after my first oil change. That's $50 in oil and $15 for the Triumph labeled oil filter (made in Japan). That means oil changes are expensive, but also that there is a large volume of oil to circulate in the engine and perhaps sediment can settle at the very bottom, near the drain plug. On the other hand, this engine has the highest redline (14,000 rpm) of any Triumph motorcycle engine.

If I keep an eye on the oil level, use Mobil 1 4T, ride all year round, and don't use the bike for track racing, is it Okay to perform the oil changes every 6000 miles? I think it would be Okay. A compromise would be to change the synthetic oil every 5,000 miles (which is an easier number to keep track of). Maybe a magnetic oil drain plug would be good. The oil drain plug has a 13mm head on it and may be an unusual size.

The question is, do you put your faith in fully synthetic oil, or dump it out every 4,000 miles?

keithu

Yes, I put faith in fully synthetic oil but there are much more affordable synthetics out there. For example, the conventional Mobil 1 15w-50 (not the overpriced 4T crap) is fully synthetic and only costs $15-20 per gallon at Wally World or your local car parts store.

Contrary to old wives tales you may have heard it will not hurt your clutch or transmission or any other component of your engine. The conventional Mobil 1 15w-50 oil was tested last year by "Sport Rider" and they found that it protected as well or better than motorcycle-specific oils which cost $50 or more per gallon. IIRC, the 15w-50 blend doesn't include the energy saving friction modifiers that are found in the 5w-30 and 10w-40 blends. I've been using the "automotive" 15w-50 Mobil 1 for most of my TT600's 22,000 mile life now and haven't had a hint of trouble.

There are many alternative oil filters available for your bike. It's the same oil filter that is used by probably half of all Japanese bikes. But alternative filters are only a couple of dollars cheaper than the Triumph filter, so it's probably not worth driving all over town for. Your Triumph dealer might stock cheaper alternatives. I like the K&N filter because it has a 14mm bolt head on the end, easing removal. If you really want to save money there are probably some car oil filters that will fit on the TT. The filter used by me wife's Mitsubishi appears to be exactly the same as the one used on my TT though I haven't been brave enough to try it yet.


-KeithU


[ This message was edited by: keithu on 2004-07-13 01:33 ]

Diego

I'll leave it to someone more familiar with this engine to talk about service interval specifics, but one thing you should know about the Warranty and Service Record booklet is that there is only one for all models of Triumphs. It's generic.

That's why it shows 4000/6000 mile increments--some Triumph engines are rated for 4000 mile intervals, and others for 6000 miles. Most 955 Triples, for instance, have 6K oil changes; whereas, until recently all the Twins called for oil changes at 4K. I'm new to the world of Fours myself, but I would go by what it says in the Owners Manual unless or until Triumph issues a bulletin to the contrary.

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John

WildRice

"one thing you should know about the Warranty and Service Record booklet is that there is only one for all models of Triumphs. It's generic.

That's why it shows 4000/6000 mile increments--some Triumph engines are rated for 4000 mile intervals, and others for 6000 miles. Most 955 Triples, for instance, have 6K oil changes; whereas, until recently all the Twins called for oil changes at 4K. I'm new to the world of Fours myself, but I would go by what it says in the Owners Manual"

Okay, now it makes sense. So it's every 4,000 miles for the Speed Four. I will definitely perform the oil changes with Mobil 1 every 4,000 miles for the warranty period (two years). After that I may go to every 5,000 because I find it easier to keep track of the mileage that way and I think synthetic oil holds up for a long time.

Will

It depends on what kind of riding you do. If you are in traffic a lot, do a lot of short trips, and that kind of thing, you should change your oil more often if you want to get the maximum life out of your engine. If you mostly do long rides and don't flog it hard, then you can probably go a lot farther before the oil gets contaminated. Blowby and other kinds of contamination kill oil faster than breakdown these days. For what its worth, I change the oil after a track day no matter the mileage. Riding like that puts a lot of pressure on the rings, and inevitably some blowby will find its way into the oil. That is where the nasty stuff that eats things come from.

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Will
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