Oil And Filter Change

[Bob_Roller]

Changed the oil and filter today, put Castrol 10w30 in the bike for winter riding, and my method of removing the spark plug leads and installing an old set of plugs and setting them on the cylinder fins, while I crank the engine with the starter until the low oil pressure light goes out. What a difference 10w30 makes on the starter speed as compared to 20w50, sounds like I have the spark plugs removed. I think this will improve my starting during the 'frigid' Phoenix winter.

[Justin B.]

Interesting.  I use my bike as a sanity check.  If it's too cold for it to crank and start it's damn sure too cold for me to be out riding it!

[Bob_Roller]

My frame of mind is , as long as it's not snowing or raining, it's a good day to ride. I don't mind being cold ( this is Phoenix and how cold can it possibly get), but being cold and wet isn't worth the effort.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I am getting ready to change my oil, also.  But only for it's long winter nap...

[Justin B.]

Hmmm, Bob said "how cold can it possibly get?"  I guess I'm gettin' wussie in my old age.  When water starts getting stiff I feel it's too cold to have an 80 mph wind in my face!  [smiley=1drink.gif]

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I hope you are recycling all those bottles....  

[Ed Miller]

In Oregon there's a 5 cent deposit on the bottles, unless they're Gatorade or water or juice.

My bike starts fine in sub freezing weather with the Amsoil 20W-50 motorcycle oil in it, but I just read on the Airlist yesterday where Tom Cutter said that you shouldn't use 20W-50 unless the temperature is expected to be over 80 degrees most days.  Even if the bike starts, the heavier oil is just harder on the bike when it's cold.  Maybe I should re-check my owner's manual?

[suecanada]

Haven't heard that before.....I put 10W30 in for winter but rarely ride..I thought 20W50 was the way to go.
So many opinions about oil isn't there?

[Justin B.]

Although 20w50 dino oil is pretty sluggish I would think that the superior low-temp flow properties of synthetics would make the 20w50 OK in moderately low temps.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I don't like to ride once the bike has been put up for the winter.  I like to drain all the gas and dry out the tank.  So the oil I put in now will be my fresh oil for the spring.

[Bob_Roller]

Left the bike outside last night, 38 F. this morning, and the bike started with about 2-3 seconds of starter rotation. That 10w30 oil really improved the starting, but I have to make sure it's out of the bike by April. I did some research about oil and cold temperatures, and my original plan was to use 10w40 oil, but the facts showed me that there was minimal difference between 20w50 and 10w40 in cold conditions. My main concern with cold starting, is when I take the bike to work, normally I'm leaving at 4:30 pm, but  with increasing regularity I'll be there until 11pm, and I'm quite often the last one there, so if it doesn't start I'm in deep trouble. I moved to Phoenix 13 years ago, so I could ride all year long, so unless it's not safe to ride (wet conditions) one of the bikes gets taken to work. I've keep track since March 1st of '05, and I have taken a cage to work only once.

[FSC]

Well I don't know how your winter over there is (and I have problems converting °F to°C...). But my bikes (R45 R80R) run all year on 20W50. In the summer I would not want to miss it at around 35°C and in the Winter even at -10°C (should be around 10°F) I usualy have no problems strating the engine. Okay it is not as vivid as in the summer but works fine. In my opinion a 0W30 is far "fluid" (? or how do you say it...). BMW recommends a 10W30 for the temperaturerange of -30°C to +5°C (-20°F to +30°F). And the 20W50 is ok for -10°C to +40°C (15°F to 105°F). So why use anything else? My big one has now 175000km and the R45 is at 120000km. And I always have good oilpressure (which is the most important point for a healthy engine)...
This is the original chart for the temperature ranges: http://kleine-boxer.redeker.net/album_page.php?pic_id=562

[suecanada]

Rob..you say you drain all the gas from your gastank like I do. Is there something I should be doing, spraying into the carbs to make sure any residual gas doesn't gunk up? Float bowls have been emptied and dried.

[Chris_in_BC]

Rob..you say you drain all the gas from your gastank like I do. Is there something I should be doing, spraying into the carbs to make sure any residual gas doesn't gunk up? Float bowls have been emptied and dried.

Hi Sue,
 I am with you and Rob. I drain all the tanks (gas goes in the car),  leave gas taps open and hoses disconnected from carbs, leave off my gas cap so it can air... I drain the float bowls and dry them.  Give a quick clean of the main jet group which gets most of the residual gas from the system. Never had a problem. I normally just run 20-50W as I can't ride in the winter anymore where I live. But when I used to ride year round on the coast, I would use 10-40W for the winter months.

Chris

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Do what Chris says, Sue.  I have come to respect his opinion.  
I haven't been inside my carbs in a long time, save new floats and fl. needles this year.  They were gone through by a good mechanic in Williamsport, PA about 6 years ago.  And I always empty the bowls and run the engine until it dies (that's the lazy way of doing what Chris says...).

But, I don't do anything special with the tank, and the original liner is still going strong (where is that knocking-on-wood smilie?)  My tank often gets put out of the way (not quite like yours...) and I have easy access to the bike to work on.

When I think of how easy it is to remove the gas tank, I just have to say:


"I love this bike".