You may be wondering; how often should I change the oil on my motorcycle?
The answer depends.
Three main factors are influencing how long before an oil change needs to happen.
First, what type of engine oil is already inside your bike?
There are 3 types
- Mineral
- Semi-synthetic
- Fully synthetic.
The second point is distance. How many miles you’ve traveled on your bike since the last oil service?
Thirdly, how many months have passed since your last motorcycle oil change? Also, did you ride your bike in that timeframe? It is an important detail.
If more than a year a passed since your last oil service, you are due.
How Many Kilometers Before Changing Your Motorcycle Oil?
That depends on what oil is currently inside your bike.
- Mineral 3,000Km to 5,000Km
- Semi-Synthetic 8,000Km to 10,000Km
- Fully-Synthetic 11,000Km to 16,000Km
For you imperials system weirdos
- Mineral 2,000 to 3,000 miles
- Semi-Synthetic 5,000 to 6,000 miles
- Fully-Synthetic 7,000 to 10,000 miles
These are your solid rules of thumb.
Yet every motorcycle is different.
Take the time to go through your bike owner manual for reference to your bike oil change recommendations.
It will give you a more precise answer.
Your Motorcycle First Oil Change is The Most Important
If you bought a bike under 2,500Km – 1500 miles or a brand new motorbike, the rules change.
A motorcycle under that odometer reading must go or is going through an ”engine break-in” period.
When your motorcycle is factory new, it has very tight tolerances between the moving parts of its engine.
It means fewer spaces for the oil to travel in and out from those components, and they will instead grind against each other.
This grinding process is going to fill your motorcycle engine with metal shaving and contaminate the oil.
If this sounds alarming, calm your tits! There is nothing to worry about…yet.
This mechanical phenomenon is perfectly normal.
Back to the point, your motorcycle oil is going to be full of metal shaving. Not a good thing in the long run.
So that is why your first and second motorcycle oil change needs to happen way earlier than a routine one.
You want to get those metal shavings out of there by doing an oil change both during and after the engine break-in process.
A good rule of thumb is to do it at 800Km – 500 miles.
Then do it again at 2,500Km – 1500 miles.
After that, you are good to go for your regular oil-changing schedule.
Again for a more precise answer, refer to your owner manual about changing your motorcycle oil for the first time.
Do you need to change your motorcycle oil every year?
If a year has passed since you last changed your oil, then yes.
After a year inside your motorcycle, the mechanical oil starts to break down, losing its lubricative properties.
In short, if you wait too long for your oil change, your engine will wear itself out more quickly, and you run the risk of mechanical damages.
How Long can Oil sit in a Motorcycle?
You should replace the oil after 4 months if you haven’t started or ridden your motorcycle in that timeframe.
The way to extend that timer is not to let your motorcycle sit for too long.
Ride your bike for at least 30 minutes every two weeks if you can.
And cheating by idling the bike doesn’t count. The engine is not going to be hot enough.
Why do you need your engine to be that hot?
You need your bike engine at its intended riding temperature to get rid of the accumulated moisture from the oil.
When excess moisture stays in the engine, it will lead to accelerated oil degradation and corrosion. It will ultimately result in mechanical problems.
If you haven’t ridden your bike in the last four months, your next ride should be riding toward your bike shop for an oil change.
That is exactly what I do at the beginning of every motorcycle season.
Since I live in Canada, Quebec, riding a bike in winter is not allowed by laws.
So my bike sits tight while it is snowing for several weeks.
Then the first thing I do is change the oil when the sun starts shining in spring.
How Often do You Need to Change Your Motorcycle Oil Filter?
You should replace your filter every time you are doing an oil change.
Simple as that.
You could get away with skipping a filter change if there isn’t much debris in your oil.
But, it is not recommended.
I mean, c’mon, you’re taking a significant risk for saving only a few bucks on a poor oil filter?
What to do about oil if you don’t know a bike’s mechanical history?
It happened to Carl, a friend of mine.
He was interested in buying a particular bike.
The owner didn’t want to keep the motorcycle she inherited from her recently departed father and decided to sell it.
She knew nothing of the bike’s mechanical history, so we had to guess. I accompanied Carl to give my input.
The machine seemed in decent shape, and I took a dipstick to check the oil color.
If it were black, I would have told my friend not to take any chances and change the oil as soon as possible.
But in this case, the oil was clear and golden. The oil level was also where it should be.
All was indicating a low milage after the bike’s last oil change.
Everything was good except that we didn’t know what type of oil it was and for how long it sat in there.
I told my friend to take the safe path.
”The oil looks good, but we don’t know what it is, so assume it is the worst scenario which is mineral oil. To be on the safe side, change it soon or after you rode 3000km, Max.”
Here is the moral of the story; when in doubt, change the oil.
A Final Advice on your Motorcycle Oil Changes.
After an oil change, please keep a record of it.
Please write down the date it was done and what the odometer said at the time.
It is funny because it is a case of doing what I tell you to do and not what I am doing.
I am guilty of neglecting this detail, and I regret it every time.
What can I say? I’m a stubborn dummy who thinks he can remember everything.
But seriously, write it down on a piece of paper. Then keep it with your bike documents like license and insurance.
It will prevent you from forgetting this critical information and feel pressured to do a possibly unnecessary early oil change to be on the safe side.
Set some reminders for your oil change schedule because you don’t want to forget about timing it too late.
Because then, this could be REALLY expensive for you.
Ride safe, buddy.