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Changing oil on the ride?

3K views 26 replies 22 participants last post by  V-Tom 
#1 ·
When you are on a long distance ride and change your oil what do you do about the used oil? what do you drain it into and what do you do with it afterwords? or do most people schedule an oil change at a bike shop? and don't tell me change it before... I am talking about long rides like to AK..
 
#2 ·
Unless it's an insanely long ride, like 12,000km's, just don't change it ?.

Put a good quality oil in at the start, change it when you get home. Long k's are easy on oil compared to say a commute run in stop-start traffic. The bike won't grenade at 6001 km's just because an oil change was 1km late.


Pete
 
#3 ·
Stop at a department store that has auto service (eg., Walmart)
Buy an aluminum roasting pan.
Drop your oil. Don't worry about filter (unless you are going RTW).
Smile at the man or lady in the auto service department and present your used oil for disposal.
Ride on.
 
#6 ·
Any auto parts store(or Wal Mart) that has the oil you use will take your old oil for recycling. Just find a pan to drain into and do it in their parking lot. I've done it twice and it cost me less than an hour of my time.
As others have said, it wont hurt to go 5 or 6,000 miles when touring. Especially with synthetic oils.
 
#7 ·
Curmudgeon

Having fallen prey to Murphy's Law far more frequently than I'd like to admit, even if I did long-distance (which I don't) I would try like crazy to schedule my oil changes in my driveway. Kinda suck to be a couple thousand miles from home and have a fastener cross-thread or strip. Not my kind of adventure. Maybe I read too many aviation magazines. In that field, the time an aircraft is most likely to experience problems is immediately after it has been serviced.
 
#8 ·
I dunno about doing an oil change if you are doing highway miles vs city stop and go. Truckers don't change their oil every 6K miles (10K kilometers). Especially if you are using the Shell Rotella stuff.
If your trip is long enough you may want to change oil when you change tires.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Changing oil on the ride...

I've done oil changes in the middle of a trip. I have stopped in shops and had it done, but I have also done it myself. If I think I will need an oil change during a trip I will bring filters with me but not oil, and the tools I will need (a 14mm wrench for the drain plug). I figure I can find suitable oil on the road but maybe not a suitable filter. I buy oil, then look for a small auto shop that would normally do oil changes. I stop in, explain that I'm on a long trip and need to make an oil change. I tell them I have everything I need to do the oil change and just need to borrow a drain pan and maybe a shop rag. I've never been turned down. With the oil change complete, they readily accept the old oil. I offer appropriate tips, then head out.

If you are departing Arkansas and headed for Alaska, I would probably do an oil change at the last point of reliable civilization, like Seattle or Anchorage, or wherever. I think a lot of states (maybe all) have laws regarding the acceptance of used oil. An oil-change facility must take used oil, within reason. They may charge an oil disposal fee, but that is usually $1 or $2.

If you are accustomed to and already familiar with doing your own oil changes, you will have no problems. But I would not try to do a camp site oil change and carry old oil with me unless it was absolutley necessary.
 
#10 ·
Guys, this is based upon facts backed up by Used Oil Analysis, not something Uncle Fred or some "expert mechanic" said:

Using a good quality filter to begin with, don't change it for 2 or even 3 Oil Change Intervals. Filters get MORE EFFICIENT as they are used, up to a point where they would get too packed and go into bypass mode. If your engine is in good shape, and you are simply on a long journey, that kind of riding is easiest of all on oil life.

True, over a long period of time, the filter material may gradually decay (I'm talking more than one year of time). So, when on a long trip, sure, change the oil when you need to, but, save yourself the trouble, and leave the filter alone. Your Insoluables value in the oil will be fine (and even gradually IMPROVE) for at least a couple of OCI's.

Don't take my word for it...search for scientific studies of Oil Filtration Basics, as well as real world results. Don't rely upon hear-say and old wive's tales...it's the 21st Century...Tribology and Filtration is actually a science, not voodoo.
 
#11 ·
Guys, this is based upon facts backed up by Used Oil Analysis, not something Uncle Fred or some "expert mechanic" said:

Using a good quality filter to begin with, don't change it for 2 or even 3 Oil Change Intervals. Filters get MORE EFFICIENT as they are used, up to a point where they would get too packed and go into bypass mode. If your engine is in good shape, and you are simply on a long journey, that kind of riding is easiest of all on oil life. ...
And the owner's manual backs you up on this.. it says filters every three oil changes.

..Tom
 
#14 · (Edited)
#1. Avoid it in the first place. Have it done or go to local suzuki dealer and by oil and a filter. Then do it at home before you leave. Duh. :mrgreen: Use synthetic for an even longer interval. I have a 5 gal container for used oil. When full I dump it at work or at a auto parts place.

#2. You blew off the above advice and are a slacker. OReillys auto has a place to dump used oil. Buy some $5 a quart motorcycle oil. They MIGHT have an oil filter for the bike. Buy a cheap pan, dump the oil and refill. Recycle the oil. Throw the pan away.

#3. Really cheap and don't care. Go to Wally World buy the cheapest oil they have. Go to the woods and dump the oil on the ground and refill (not recommended). Or dumpster dive and get a milk jug or gallon of ice cream, cut the top off and put the oil in it. Wally world may take it.
 
#17 ·
Or dumpster dive and get a milk jug or gallon of ice cream, cut the top off and put the oil in it. Wally world may take it.
Actually, the Jiffy Lube auto oil change place I go to told me to just pour my motorcycle oil into a plastic gallon milk jug and just leave it with them. They said to leave it by the front door on my way to work in the morning, and they will pour it into the recycle drum when they arrive.
 
#15 ·
I've used a cardboard box with a plastic bag liner. Usually there's not much discussion when I walk into O'Reilley or Wal Mart and drop off my used oil because there is no one there to help me anyway, so I just leave it on the counter and walk out.
 
#19 ·
On my long trips I just pop it on the centerstand outside of an autozone or other major car parts store.
Buy oil and a pan.
most places will take the used oil. Just leave the pan for the next biker...
In South dakota they already had one I could use!

Had to make sure I stopped at bike shops to grab filters along the way... Dont try to change your oil there....
 
#20 ·
Agreed, you don't need to change your filter unless you're on some epic RTW quest.

If you just can't stand it, most Napa auto parts stores stock Wix filters. Suzuki has used the same filter on pretty much every bike and ATV for many years, so they're not hard to find.

Wally World stocks Fram shite -- frankly, I'd rather just not change the filter at all.


One option I haven't seen discussed yet is finding a friendly fellow Strommer along your route and borrowing his or her garage facilities. I know I'd be happy to assist anyone passing through Indianapolis, and I usually have several filters "in stock".
 
#25 ·
If you just can't stand it, most Napa auto parts stores stock Wix filters. ".
Wix makes excellent filters. So does Purolator Pure 1, and Hi-Flo. Again, I speak from actual UOA results, not from guessing. The only reason not to really know facts these days is an aversion to searching on any good search engine, and reading scientific material on whatever subject being searched.
 
#22 ·
The service manual, page 2-13, says to replace the engine oil every 4,000 miles, 12 months, and the filter every 11,000 miles, 36 months. If it wasn't written in Japanenglish it would have said 11,000 miles or 36 months, whichever comes first. (It also says to change the oil every 6,000 km and the filter every 18,000 km, and they did a sloppy job of converting to miles.)

The filters for our .65 liter engines are just a bit smaller than the filter for my 4.7 liter Toyota pick up truck engine, and I've been running that 10,000 miles between changes with excellent oil analysis reports. And, the 4000 mile oil drain interval is for conventional oil. One of the main attributes of synthetic oil it's slower rate of oxidation giving the oil longer service life.

Over-change your oil and filter if you want, but you don't need to.
 
#24 ·
The service manual, page 2-13, says to replace the engine oil every 4,000 miles, 12 months, and the filter every 11,000 miles, 36 months.
Thanks PT......I didn't see the milage number above the 36 months.....not that I go by that anyway.
V-Tom....don't take my post as "correcting you" on the filter change, I was just quoting what the manual had printed.......and I was only half-correct in repeating it!!! :headbang:
 
#26 ·
Wat-Mart in Fairbanks let me use a drain pain but wouldn't let me change it on their property so I went across the street to a nightclub parking lot.
 
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