Oil interval @ 3K is surely beneficial for the longevity of the engine as its still within the service interval . I drop every 4k km and my Versys has been in tip top condition since 09.

 

There is no harm except to your wallet and schedule...
I follow the 12'000 km instruction. No issue.
This is not a ktm, snowblower or some other 25h engine...
The engineers are actually protecting themselves by asking you to change every 12'000km.
So it can go longer.

 

12k km seems like awfully a lot. looking at my magnetic oil plug, even after 3k I see metal shavings attached to it. because I have several bikes so it does not feel like I change the oil so often, and I like changing oil; it gives me pleasure seeing that the engine gets new fresh blood. but maybe it is overkill, i don't know. I wonder if there were any studies about how the length of the intervals in changing the oil would affect the longevity of the engine. I guess it is difficult to draw a clear conclusion because there are so many variables, like riding style, etc... by the way, I change the oil filter every second time.

 

Maybe you need a better oil filter if you change that often and still see metal shavings.

 

Like you said , there are many variables like if you take long ride every week then replaceing oil at short interval will be good , but if your ride are short then oil change can be streach a bit,

 

Like you said , there are many variables like if you take long ride every week then replacing oil at short interval will be good , but if your ride are short then oil change can be stretch a bit,

I am not being a horses backside here, but, if you take long rides every week your oil will be in better shape than short rides, especially if your oil doesn't have time to get to higher operating temperatures. When your oil heats up it allows water that may have condensed in your crankcase to boil/evaporate out preventing that water from sitting on metal parts. Short trips that don't warm the bike up don't allow this to happen. I ride my bike year round, change my oil at 5000 miles and have it tested occasionally. I use Rotella T4 and have for the life of the bike. I have never had oil tested that did not meet or exceed every minimum standard for protection. My KLR 650 now has 84,400+ miles and still going strong.
Using good oil is key, Make sure it has the MA/MA2 rating. The engineer at the oil test facility I use says that wet clutch (motorcycles that use the same oil in the clutch/transmission/crankcase) tend to sheer oils pretty quickly. A good MA/MA2 oil will withstand this better than regular automotive oils.
I know this is a Versys forum, it will be my next bike. Sorry about the KLR reference.

 

Once a year.

I haven't kept a bike longer than 60,000 miles so it doesn't really matter. Most bikes give up the ghost from sitting too long with electrical Gremlins being the main reason someone gives up on a bike that hasn't been wrecked.

 

Kawi says 12,000 I think, I do 10,000. Cant hurt to do shorter intervals if that makes you feel better. I use the larger filter to carry a bit more oil and make sure the oil level is filled to the top line on the view port. I havent used a magnetic drain plug but I like the science behind it.

 

I was wondering about this issue of overfilling the engine. isn't there a danger if blowing the seals?

 

Top line on the glass. Using a larger oil filter is something you will have to research yourself. Many folks do it to help with cooling the engine and in our case , particularly the stator which gets a lot of work.

 

Oil is relatively inexpensive... so I tend to change it often, especially if I have a longer ride coming up. Why not?

 

Every 6000 km I go to an authorized kawasaki service. Service guy use Motorex Formula 15W50 semi synthetic.

Kawasaki manual say every 12 000km.
Service more frequently when operating in severe conditions: dusty, wet, muddy, high speed,or frequent starting/stopping.

 

15w50 in a 650 versys?

 

YUP! Quite a few of us run Mobil1 15w-50 in our V650s.

And I have for MORE than 100,000 miles.

 

You won't go wrong if you put 10W40 or 15W50

Oil

most important property of a lubricant. Understanding viscosity can help reduce wear, improve fuel economy, and make more horsepower.

www.motorstate.com

 

Maybe I should try some 15w-50... I would go the 7500miles if the bike "would let me" / I felt comfortable doing so. This coming from someone who changes their oil at intervals extended longer than OM spec on cars/trucks. Problem is my bike exhibits really hard shifting at just over 2500 miles on the oil like clockwork so that's when I change it. I started the using MC specific fully synthetic when my '09 was new to me but since it was needing to be changed sooner than spec I switched to the RotellaT and it performs just as well since neither were getting me to 7500mi so I have just been running cheaper oil changed more frequently since the expensive oil wasn't getting me more time...

How cold of ambient temps are you 15w-50 guys running that? I ride a lot even down at freezing temp, but haven't riden much below it yet.

To clarify I'm confident and feel comfortable running the engine the whole 7500mi without changing, it's the transmission that I worry about since they share oil. I think the oil seems to be thinning out too much after 2500mi to continue protecting the gears. Gears have a high pressure low surface speed along the teeth. Engine components have high velocity to give the oil films more ability to protect the surfaces.

 

How cold of ambient temps are you 15w-50 guys running that?

I ride HOT or COLD, and never even think of what oil I use (M1 15w-50).

I know this is a Versys forum, it will be my next bike. Sorry about the KLR reference.

You'd be amazed at HOW MANY of us came to the V650 from a KLR650.

Oil will discolour with use, but it it's actually black, you may have a blowby problem, which a compression test will help determine.

My V650s got their FIRST oil change at about 50 miles (when I arrived home w/ the NEW bike), and my memory is that AFTER THAT change - the oil ALWAYS appeared black at the oil-changes.

 

If I lived in cold climate, I would run 10w40. Where I live now, in Thailand, is really hot so I run 15w50. I guess 20W50 would be alright too. Higher viscosity oils are more protective, but they may cause higher fuel consumption as they bike has to make more effort to distribute the thick oil through all that tight clearance spaces in a modern bike. The older bikes or Harley (air cooled) use 20w50. I run mostly Motul fully synthetic. Some say that Mobil is not fully synthetic, I don't know. Someone wrote:
"I called Mobil about this years ago. They admitted it is not 100% synthetic. I asked them why they label it as synthetic when it in fact is a blend. My call was escaleted to research department, then I was transfered to a Tech. The Tech's response was, "We only label it that way in the USA.", don't you love how America Regulates Oil Companies."

The observation that the shifting becomes harder after a while should be taken under consideration. This means that the oil is loosing some of its protective properties after several k. It would be interesting to check the oil in some lab.

I personally think that changing the oil according to manufacturer recommendations is unreasonable. The oil is thick, black and looks like crap. I would never run such thing in my bike. The fact that one can have a high millage on a bike while rarely changing the oil is not a decisive argument...

By the way, I heard somewhere that the reason why manufactures suggest such long intervals is due to them competing between each other to provide the lowest cost of ownership.

 

I don't comment much on oil threads, mostly do your thing if you feel strongly about it. Your bike isn't going to die if you don't change oil for 10k. Longevity of engine, well, don't sweat it, we're all doing just fine regardless of our preferences, no worries. It's not all that dirty, you do have a filter after all.
The transmission gears shear oil, but that doesn't degrade lubricating properties much, just shift quality. Certain oils will work better.
I'd stick with 10-40 mostly, maybe 15W40. 20 is getting a little too thick for those cold starts where you want oil quickly where it needs to go in the first 30 seconds.. Short trips bad, long trips good. If all short trips or commuting, then shorten your interval.
Oil will discolour with use, but it it's actually black, you may have a blowby problem, which a compression test will help determine.
Overfilling? I go to max when filling, I like my engines to have all the oil available. A couple ounces overfill isn't going to cause problems, you'd have to grossly overfill. Oil is well below the crankshaft, but there is the "windage" factor, so yes, don't overfill grossly.

 

once I overfilled the engine, so that the oil was coming to the top of the window, above the upper mark. would that be considered as excessive overfill?

 

I tried amsoil metric oil a few years ago and found it didn’t live up to the hype. In under 5000km the shifting became very clunky. Switched to Motul 7100 and change it at 12000km just because. The inside of the engine is spotlessly clean at almost 80000km.

 

If you can still see a bit of air, it's not an overfill IMHO.... what are we talking, a coupla three ounces? As soon as you start the engine, the level drops significantly..... do you even see it in your sight glass now? A healthy quart or more just went all through the engine.
In the interests of science, I measured the oil drop on an FJR as I had an engine all apart...... 2 litres disappears as soon as you start it. However, significant overfill does get too close to the crankshaft, top of the sight glass on that bike is 36mm to the bottom of the crank, which was an "overfill" of about 0.5 litres. On a Versys with their lower oil capacity, I'd think overfill to the top of the sight glass would be somewhat less. You do keep track of how much you dump in I hope, so also hope you don't grossly overfill. With a couple of oil changes, you should know exactly what to dump in...
What I'm saying is if you know it's not over the top of the sight glass, call it good.

 

Thank you! I was wondering how to take the excess oil out? according to the manual, with a syringe from the fill-cap. It did not work for me; i could not reach with the rubber hose the oil.

 

One time I inadvertently overfilled, so I took my plastic oil-pan, cleaned it WELL, then drained the oil into it, decanted the oil back into the oil-cans and refilled the sump CORRECTLY!

 

Yes, this what I did too. And one time, I took the oil filter out to remove small amount of oil.

 

I saw this youtube posted on 300 forum. while it refers to first oil change, this maybe also serve as an inspiration to change the oil more frequently.

 

I changed the oil every 12,000kms on my previous Versys and had not problems with it, so dit with 136,000kms on the clock. Always used car oil, synthetic, and Bosch 3300 filters.

IIRC the manual calls for oil changes every 12,000kms with mineral oil, following that interval with synthetic is already on the safe side.

 

that quite amazing. did you have to open the engine at sometime to fix anything?

 

change mine every 3000 4000 miles with 20w 50 lucas ... never had any problems with it

 

I have one more question. I live part time in India, and several of my bikes are sitting there. I always fill the bikes with fresh synthetic oil when storing them. But now they are sitting there almost 2 years, and I doubt that in the current situation I can go back there any soon. Would I need to change the oil again? Does it deteriorate in time? Sitting in the bike, is not the same as in a bottle, as some oxidation takes place.

 

I put amsoil full synthetic in my bike and ride it every single day essentially since I don't have a car and I change it every year don't even bother with the mileage!

 

yes, but what if the bike is not being used. does the oil go bad in time?

 

If the bikes are stored indoors they will be fine. Tires and batteries would be of more concern from sitting than the oil in the crankcase.

 

My only concern with going longer distances between oil changes is that the Versys only carries 2.3 liters of oil and you actually change just 1.8 liters with a filter change. In my books that is not a lot of oil. As to leaving oil in an engine for years, yes it will deteriorate after a couple of years. That is why the manufactures always state " Even if you don't put enough miles to do an oil change, change the oil at least once every year". There are always acids , including moisture left in the oil that will start to do its thing on the parts inside an engine. As time goes on the moving parts inside the engine & transmission loose their oil film protection. Synthetics are better at providing this oil film protection but given long enough even that will end up in the sump.

I tend to change earlier than later. Oil is cheap insurance in my mind.

 

I HOPE this isn't a repeat post: I ALWAYS change oil at 5,000 miles// 8,000 kms, so I just look at my odometer for the current mileage and IF the numbers LEFT of the " , " are divisible by " 5 " in the US, or by " 8 " in Canada, then it's time to change the oil and filter!

AND I ONLY use Mobil1 15w-50

 

you are really a strong believer of Mobil 1. it is not even a synthetic oil. i am recently inclined to use Shell ultra advanced. it is fully synthetic and not made of crude oil