Who does 2500 mile oil change???

linck241 · #1 09-07-2007, 03:54 AM

Hi all,
I was wondering how many people doa 2500 mile oil change?
I hear of so many people doing it but in the owners manual of my 07 street glide it says to change the oil at 1000 miles and than 5000 miles.
My question is where did the 2500 one come in and if it is necessary why does'nt the manual say?

Thanks

Motosurf · #2 09-07-2007, 04:20 AM

I do, because it's cheap insurance and easy to do yourself. Oil breaks down faster inan air cooled engine that is subjected to greater heat than in a liquid cooled engine.

06 StreetBob

xxxflhrci · #3 09-07-2007, 04:27 AM

In my Twin Cam, I change mine every 2k using 1.99 a quart dino and a black filter, so an oil change sets me back about 14 bucks. So far this method has given me 67k trouble free miles. She doesn't smoke, use a measurable amount of oil between changes, and still runs great.

In my Ironhead, I change it every 1.5k miles using Pennzoil 20w-50 and a cheapo foreign made $1.99 filter. I change the oil a little more often in this bike to make up for the poor filter it uses.

Lost1 · #4 09-07-2007, 06:09 AM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: linck241

Hi all,
I was wondering how many people doa 2500 mile oil change?
I hear of so many people doing it but in the owners manual of my 07 street glide it says to change the oil at 1000 miles and than 5000 miles.
My question is where did the 2500 one come in and if it is necessary why does'nt the manual say?

Thanks

Manual doesn't say it's necessary because it isn't. Some people see a benefit in dumping perfectly good oil, and if that's what gives them a warm & fuzzy, then so be it. But I've never seen one person who could produce hard evidence that reducing oil drain intervals by half has increased engine life and/or reduced wear. If the oil & filter are still performing as advertised when you do the change, the new oil & filter will offer no benefits whatsoever over the used oil and filter.

As long as you run a good oil and change at the manufacturer's recommended intervals, you have nothing to worry about.
Personally, if using dino I change every 3000, synthetic I change every 5000 & use a HD filter.

pauletich · #5 09-07-2007, 09:30 AM

I change mine every 2500, as of now I do not use synthetic. I will be changing to Mobil 1 or AMSOIL on my next change (1000 mile from now). I may go 3000 - 4000 mile then, I like to keep it clean and gives me peace of mind.

EVOrider · #6 09-07-2007, 01:04 PM

Usually change mine around 4-5,500 miles using regular 20w50 for the warmer months. Then it gets changed to diesel 15w40 for winter weather riding. In the winter though, the riding is shortened somewhat and it usually only gets around 3-4,000 miles. The transmission and primary is changed yearly reguardless of mileage.

The bikes either get the official Harley filter or a WIX filter. Black or chrome.....does not matter.

My 1998 Electra Glide I bought new has been living by the above service schedule once warranty was up. The bike currently has around 180,000 miles with original lifters, cam, pistons, rings, heads, jugs, and lower end. Knock on wood....it still does not leak or burn any oil and power is still strong delivering around 50mpg. Bike does not get ridden as much anymore though since I bought a 1998 FLHTCUI last year.

When I first got that bike.....I changed it at the 500 mile mark. 1000 mile mark, 2000 mile mark, then at 3000 mile mark. In the first 3,000 miles, everything was totally stock including carburetor and pipes. No jet kits, special air filters, or any other performance modifications. The speed never got above 60 mph either. That was how I broke the bike in and I've had great results. It was frequent oil changing at the beginning, but I think it paid off.

Around 75,000 miles......I did replace the INA bearing to the Torrington bearing though. Piece of mind!

Lost1 · #7 09-07-2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: EVOrider

My 1998 Electra Glide I bought new has been living by the above service schedule once warranty was up. The bike currently has around 180,000 miles with original lifters, cam, pistons, rings, heads, jugs, and lower end. Knock on wood....it still does not leak or burn any oil and power is still strong delivering around 50mpg...

Holy cow- so she's just about broken in now, eh?

180K- that's awesome...

QT Hush · #8 09-07-2007, 02:26 PM

Change your oil and filter as often as necessary for peace of mind. Personally, I do not think that changing oil at half the recommended intervalsis necessary. Don't you think that after all of the extensive testing that if oil was good for only 2500 miles that that's what the engineers would recommend?

xxxflhrci · #9 09-07-2007, 10:09 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: QT Hush

Don't you think that after all of the extensive testing that if oil was good for only 2500 miles that that's what the engineers would recommend?

There's two sides to the coin:

1.) Believe the oil companies that recommend 3k changes for most vehicles.Selling oil is their job.

2.) Believe the motor companies engineers that recommend 5k+ oil changes for most vehicles. Selling replacement parts and new vehicles is their job.

Lost1 · #10 09-08-2007, 08:15 AM

Back in 1996 Consumer Reports did a test using 75 New York City taxicabs over a 22-month period covering 4.5 million miles using 20 different oils from 11 manufacturers. They checked engine tolerances before & after the tests on each engine and had samples from oil change analyzed for contaminants, acids, etc. They ran some of the engines for 3000 miles between changes, and some at 6000. The oil brands tested were:

Castrol GTX Exxon Superflo Shell Fire & Ice Havoline Mobil (dino) Mobil 1 (syn)
Pennzoil Quaker State (dino) Quaker State (syn blend) Valvoline (dino)
Valvoline Durablend (syn blend) Kendall

Long story short- after tearing down and measuring the internals of all engines, all of the 20 oils were equal in protecting the engines and none stood out as being better than the others. In addition, there was no more wear on the engines that went 6000 miles between changes than on the engines that went 3000 miles between changes.
Mobil 1 was tested in several engines and changed it at 12,000 mile intervals and it performed comparably to the dino oils changed at 3000 & 6000 miles.
Slick 50 & STP Oil Treatment were also tested and no benefits were observed from either product.

Bear in mind that these were oil formulations being used in cars 11 years ago, and oils have improved since that time. (This post is mainly to show how recommendations from oil companies can be misleading in determining oil change intervals, not to determine suitability of any specific oil in a motorcycle.)
But the tests do give a good snapshot of how oils compare to each other and how well they do their job in protecting engines when tested in a hostile environment, i.e. stop & go traffic on a commercial scale in NYC. It also serves to debunk the "You must change you oil at 3000 miles to get maximum life from your engine" myth and clears the air of much of the marketing hype surrounding engine oils. It also pretty much shoots in the @ss most brand loyalty arguments...