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Real Service Intervals - what you guys do on the road?

9K views 70 replies 17 participants last post by  V-Tom 
#1 ·
Hey troopers.

I have a Vstrom 650XT here in India and here the dealer/ Suzuki sells it with a 4000KM service interval. My bike is out of warranty (we only have 1 year warranty here); so I am not worried about what the dealer wants, but rather what the bike actually needs. **Till now I have been following the 4K Kms service intervals religiously.

I just finished a 5000KM ride over the last 12 days and other than chain tightening every 1000 Kms I have done nothing else. The bike already had 2500Kms out of service on it and with this ride I am just over 7500Kms out of service which is basically skipping 2 services.

Now, I know in Europe there is close to 12000Kms service interval on the same bike, in US I believe it is around 7500Kms (if I am not wrong); so can this bike actually do around 12K Kms on a single service? Provided - I use OEM oil filter & a fully synthetic high quality oil (my friend uses the same on his Versys with 15K Kms service intervals - dealer suggested).

Does the limitation lie with the Oil Filter? Will getting a better oil filter, make the service interval longer? I ask, because if my friend can run his Versys for 15K on the same oil, the oil can't be the issue.

The bike actually runs absolutely fine after 7500Kms out of service, I see no issues, it is just about the peace of mind.

Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
Does the limitation lie with the Oil Filter? Will getting a better oil filter, make the service interval longer? I ask, because if my friend can run his Versys for 15K on the same oil, the oil can't be the issue.

Thanks!
NOTE - all other things that a service requires are being taken care of at the intervals suggested in the Service Manual - like coolant flushing, brake fluid changes, all those things. Just the 4K Kms interval is unreal.
 
#3 ·
I think you just need to be smart about it, know your bike, the way it's used and what really happens at a service.

Different components of the bike wear out and need maintenance, but for different reasons and at different rates. For some components it's good for longevity to not ride the bike (e.g. chain), while other components actually last longer the more you ride the bike (e.g. oil, that absorbs moisture through condensation if the bike isn't ridden often enough).

What Suzuki has done, and what your dealer did, is average out the expected lifetime of individual components, taken into account average mileage, and set a service interval for all components based on that. Simply because it's too inconvenient to service the individual components at the optimum interval for each component - you'd be dropping your bike off at the dealer every 1000 km for a 10-minute service otherwise.

So don't take the service interval as gospel, but look at the individual maintenance items that make up service:

First, at each service the dealer gives the bike a good look over, looking for missing/loose bolts, deteriorating hoses, tire pressures and other things that go wrong over time. You can do this yourself in just a few minutes, if you don't do this automatically every day anyway.

Then, at each service things are replaced.

Oil changes? There are people out there that run oil for tens of thousands of kms. I have not seen many oil analysis reports from VStroms but the few people who do send in their oil for analysis after a 6000 km service suggests that after 6000 kms the oil is has lots of life in it. If you use a good quality (fully synthetic?) oil it won't break down easily. And if you ride the bike almost every day for an extended distance, condensation and water in the oil won't be an issue as well. If your air filter is in place, if you're using a good quality fuel and if your piston rings are OK (no significant blowby) then there's very little reason for contaminants to make it into the oil, so your oil filter should last for a long time as well.

Hydraulic fluids? The most important issue with them is the fluids absorbing moisture over time. This is not a factor of distance ridden, but of time and climate (temperature and humidity) - and there's really nothing you can do about that. But the two-year interval is probably conservative anyway so if you're half a year late, should be no problem.

Coolant? Mostly the same as above.

Spark plugs? Put some Iridium ones in there and you won't have to worry about them for tens of thousands of kms.

Air filter? This is mostly a function of the environment again (dust). Under certain circumstances (think Dakar-like rally racing) a 4000 km service interval could be too long, and daily changes could be a good idea. In other circumstances air filters could last for 10s of thousands of kms. Suzuki acknowledges this and says "Inspect" at every service, with mandatory replacement at 18.000 km (in case of my '02 Vee).

Most of the rest of the service is checking for wear items (tires, chain, brake pads & discs, bearings, valve clearance) and replace/adjust as required. Stuff that is external to the engine and visible (tires, chain, brake pads & discs), is something that you should keep an eye on anyway. Wheel and steering bearings require a bit more effort to check but still don't require a complete tear-down of the bike. That just leaves valve clearance, and this has a 24.000 km interval, and that's probably very conservative anyway. Not an issue on a long trip.

The very last thing on a service is adjustments of a few things. Idle speed, throttle cable freeplay, TPS, vacuum. Easily done on the road with very limited tools.

Circling back to your question. Why the 4000 km interval? I've never been to India but my gut feeling is that from the list above, given your circumstances, the air filter could be the most critical thing. It could well be that this needs changing more often in India than anywhere else. And the good news is that you can change the air filter yourself. The bad news is that the air box is under the tank, so it requires removal of quite a bit of plastic, then the tank, then the air box lid. Not particularly hard, doesn't need any specialised tools or skills, but it is time-consuming.

So yes, I think that if you're smart about it and perform some limited maintenance while on the road, you can easily extend the service interval well beyond the 4000 km stated.
 
#4 ·
OIl filters only need to be changed every 3 oil changes. They do need changing as the wet clutch does shed particles into the oil but not frequently.

I know my DL1000 (accidentally) went 16000k's between changes and the oil still looked like oil and had good viscosity at that. Older bikes benefit from more frequent changes (and usually don't get them) - go by the information in the Service Manual and realize that's very conservative. FOr example if I was on a long trip and 2000k's for home I'd do the oil change at home, not when the k's hit xxxx.
 
#5 ·
@BackPacker - thank you so much for such a detailed reply! I do check the bike regularly - a cursory check of all things hoses, bolts etc during the weekly cleaning and a thorough check of things hidden under the facade every month during the deep clean.

I live in a tropical, coastal place - GOA, so yes the humidity & heat is high and throughout the year and 5 months of heavy monsoons. The replacement of fluids, hoses, cables etc has been on point too.

Luckily - the dealership is a very scenic 25 minutes ride away and the manager and staff are dear friends, so dropping in for regular checks is never an issue. I sometimes swing by to even get them to tighten the chain and do basic maintenance that is time consuming.

@PeteW - good to know that 16K was fine too. I am mostly looking at around 5-7K between services specially while I am on the road and that is what most of our trips come down too.
 
#7 ·
@NineCows

The factory filter is very good quality and isn't the reason that Suzuki might suggest shorter service intervals.

My understanding (with over 40 years in the automobile industry) is that the biggest factor is quality of gasoline with climate issues also being a factor.

From what I've read western Europe has the best overall quality of gasoline with consistent high standards. As a result, manufacturers that pay attention to this can give longer service intervals.

..Tom
 
#9 ·
I’ve had an oil change done on the road in New Mexico.Knew it was near ready when leaving home.Took a filter with me.Dropped in to a dealership,,they drove us to a roadhouse,had lunch.They picked us up when it was done.$10 tip to the shop rooky,who shuttled us about.
Sure don’t get that kind of service here, in Canadastan.
Many other instances,not To hi-jack your thread.
 
#10 ·
Give the bike a quick look-over before each ride. Air in the tires, oil in the sight glass, all lights working, brake pads have material left, brake sliding parts not dry or corroding, chain rollers not galling, sprockets not hooking, fork tubes clean and seals not leaking. There are many potential failures you can catch early this way, and being familiar with what you're seeing you'll notice those small differences before they become problems.

Other than that, ride it often and it should last a very very long time.
 
#11 ·
I use full synthetic and always double the service interval.
Your biggest issue is battery in the heat ...I was replacing every year until I got a lithium.
I'll go 12,000 km on the CB300F with no maintenance and in theory even with no chain maintenance if Regina's claims work about no stretching.
TPMS is really useful for me as it alarms if pressure drops. They are cheap these days.
 
#12 ·
Here, US, the oil change interval as per the schedule is 3500 miles = 5600 Km.

I run full synthetic oil and the longest I have done is +8000 miles for along trip out west from NY. The engine (DL1000 2014) consumes no oil it seems, even after so many miles. When the oil get really worn shifting gets affected but not after 8k miles long distance riding.

So back to the original question I would think 7.5k Km with synthetic oil is absolutely no reason for concern. But I would change it now that the trip is over.
 
#13 ·
On my 2015 DL1000 I did oil changes every 12,000 km. I generally use Top Tier gas so I know it has the higher level of additives. My oil was almost always Rotella 5w40.

Engine was still fine at 235,000 km when I sold it. (Replaced by my 20202 DL1050.)

..Tom
 
#15 ·
I am going to make this easy........steps -
1) have the bike completely up to date when you leave
2) use synthetic oil and an OEM oil filter
3) check oil level, chain, and tires at the end of each day
4) add oil only to maintain full level

When you get to 15,000 miles, do an oil and filter change.

Put out any fires promptly.
 
#17 ·
How dusty are the roads on that trip?
 
#18 ·
Most of it was driving through tropical forests /coffee plantations - I would say around 3.5K out of 5K was not dusty, but the other 1.5K was on the coastal highways & inner state/national highways though and outside cities. It was also just after the monsoons finished so most of the areas are still over grown.

Also I understand if it is very dusty we are looking at air filter, a few critical bearings, chain etc need extra care. Which is understandable and I wouldn't frankly open my air filter unless I absolutely have to, that is one thing I absolutely hate doing and would prefer that the service centre does it.

I live in Goa, a tropical, coastal place and most of it is quite forested, hence we do not have the dust issue much here - hence I wanted to understand the implication of extending the service interval.
 
#19 ·
If you're riding in India, dry, hot, dusty conditions, traffic in the cities, some or a lot of off road, that's considered "severe duty" for any vehicle. Your air filter will get dirtier sooner. Your engine will run hotter a lot more. That's why they recommend shorter service intervals. I would replace that air filter & spark plugs every 11k-12k km, change oil every 5k km. Oil filter every other oil change. Why change plugs? You're going to inspect them at 11k-12k km anyway. There's no reason to skimp on replacing them unless you already have iridium plugs, then replace at twice that interval.

There will be folks who will argue the above is overkill. I'm not one of them. Fresh oil is the life blood of your engine. Air filter is where your engine breaths. Extending the use of those under severe duty cycles is fool's economy.
 
#21 ·
The biggest killer of oil is fuel so replacing the filter will do nothing to help this and since we now run EFI the chance of getting unburnt fuel in the oil is greatly reduce.

Changing oil on a EFI motor early is a waste of cash and doing it late will not hurt.
 
#22 ·
The biggest killer of oil is fuel so replacing the filter will do nothing to help this and since we now run EFI the chance of getting unburnt fuel in the oil is greatly reduce.
...
EFI engines run rich on cold startup cycles so EFI vehicles that idle a lot to "warm up" or do mainly short trips end up getting fuel (and water) in the oil and should have oil changes more often. Not as bad as carburetor vehicles but still an issue with cars and bikes.

..Tom
 
#26 ·
@V-Tom , I am getting lost in your post. What are you trying to say? That oil temp is a non-issue in Stroms?

I assume with your post following right after mine, you are discounting my advice. If you aren't, that's fine too. I offer the following for consideration by the collective.

Conventional oils start to breakdown at around 120C/250F.

Synthetics are good to in excess of 325F and higher for shorter duration.

Whether you are running an air or liquid type oil cooler, no oil cooler, an air cooled bike, or a liquid cooled bike, almost all oil temperature sending units are mounted in the sump or other area where oil is guaged in quantity. Meanwhile your oil is circulating through the cylinder head and the valve train picking up a lot of higher temperatures, that it then transfers to the larger quantity of oil in the sump. The sump is in essence a radiator. The significance of this is oil is exposed to temps much higher than your gauging point as it moves through the engine.

If your making an argument that the better heat resistance of a synthetic oil to oxidation and cook off is not needed in a water cooled engine, I will respectfully disagree.
 
#40 ·
@V-Tom , I am getting lost in your post. What are you trying to say? That oil temp is a non-issue in Stroms?

I assume with your post following right after mine, you are discounting my advice. If you aren't, that's fine too. I offer the following for consideration by the collective.

Conventional oils start to breakdown at around 120C/250F.

Synthetics are good to in excess of 325F and higher for shorter duration.

Whether you are running an air or liquid type oil cooler, no oil cooler, an air cooled bike, or a liquid cooled bike, almost all oil temperature sending units are mounted in the sump or other area where oil is guaged in quantity. Meanwhile your oil is circulating through the cylinder head and the valve train picking up a lot of higher temperatures, that it then transfers to the larger quantity of oil in the sump. The sump is in essence a radiator. The significance of this is oil is exposed to temps much higher than your gauging point as it moves through the engine.

If your making an argument that the better heat resistance of a synthetic oil to oxidation and cook off is not needed in a water cooled engine, I will respectfully disagree.
I understand what you are saying re sump temperature vs oil temperature in the cylinder heads, etc. I also know that the big part of the reason Porsche went to liquid cooling was so that coolant can run around the multi valve cylinder head to keep the temperatures down. That would tend to cool that oil somewhat as well.

I'm saying that because Stroms are liquid cooled and most have an oil cooler, oil temperature isn't nearly as big a deal as it is in air cooled bikes. Assuming everything is working fine they aren't going to overheat in traffic and high oil temperatures at high speed are a non issue. (The German cars I have sold are designed to run flat out all day long on the Autobaun and every bit of training I had in the 80's said that 140°c is the danger point for oil in those engines. That's why they have the oil coolers.) Short trips with the oil not getting to operating temperature, idling and poor quality gas are likely much harder overall on oil that fast running.


Certainly my 2006 DL650 which had about 185,000 km / 115,000 miles when I took it to Death Valley had no issues riding in 120+°F temperature and had no issue heading home from Utah to near Toronto, Ontario running at 80 to 90 mph on the interstate all day long in temperatures in the 80's to100°f. (Like many DL650's it used oil at high speed slabbing. That didn't change much in the heat.)

Anyway I have ridden two of my Stroms over 200,000 km with no issues so there certainly doesn't seem to be any issues with oil. (I know that isn't even close to high mileage compared to some out there. How long do you expect your Stroms to last?) does any of this oil talk rally matter in the real world?

..Tom
 
#30 ·
I use synthetic oil and I don't worry about the oil change interval. If it gets to around 10,000 kms, maybe but usually I just change it once per year or if the shifting gets a little notchy (which to me is a good indicator). Is it abuse? Could be. I have 4 bikes so the Vstrom doesn't get much more than 10k kms per year on it. My Honda ST gets 30-40k kms per year and it gets changed once a year as well. KTM gets about 10k kms/yr and it gets changed once per year. The Blackbird.....poor thing. Lately it is getting only about 1,000 kms /year so I change it every other year.
When was the last time you heard of a Vstrom engine failure due to not changing the oil often enough?
To the OP.....don't worry about it. Changing oil every 4,000kms accomplishes only one thing.....more money for the dealer, less for you.
As my long time friend (and Honda/Suzukie dealer) said (regarding Hondasvanyway). "you could probably run Brycreme in the crankcase and the engine would be OK. They are built that strong..." Whether it applied to Suzukis or not, I can't say, but he never said that Suzukis were weak in the engine department.
 
#32 ·
My father has always done his own repairs and servicing and noticed a big improvement in the condition of his oil when he moved to a EFI motor, his thinking was they crank and start quicker and when the ignition is shut down so is the fuel system, this stopped the unburnt fuel washing down the cylinders and settling in the oil.

In 1996 he purchased a new V6 VR Holden and decided to test his theory, at 1000ks he changed the oil and compression tested every cylinder, keeping a close eye on the oil he settled on a service interval of 30,000ks.

Every service he again compression testing every cylinder, keeping notes of this along with his fuel consumption and oil usage, nothing ever changed on that car, I don't use it anymore but I still have the car, it has 365,000ks on the clock, the motor has never burnt oil & the compression is the same as it was at 1000ks, his trial convinced me I don't need to rush my service intervals so I don't.

I know many that will change their oil early but then push their chain and sprocket to the limit, a broken chain will do far more damage to a motor than a late oil change.
 
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#36 ·
My father was in the auto parts game my entire life, parts and oil were free so his experiment had nothing to do with costs.

He believed the average punter was being shafted and roped into keeping a industry alive.
 
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#39 ·
I change oil once a season, usually in late winter, and ridden around 7000+mi/11,000km. I've used Suzuki Ecstar R9000 10W40 full synthetic exclusively, and change the filter with an OEM each time. New crush washer each change; comes with the kit. Kind of guy I am. Chain is lubed each tankful to ~400mi/650km or after rain/washing with DuPont Teflon chain spray. Very little residue on the wheel and swingarm and less glop behind the sprocket cover. I clean it with a lint free rag once or twice a season. OEM Spark plugs have ~24000mi/38,000km, I've got iridiums ready to go in. This is also Fluid Year: Brake, coolant, fork and motor oil.
All the annual and longer interval maintenance gets done pretty much on schedule, Valve shims were done last year.
 
#44 ·
@OCL I wasn't running at high speeds in Death Valley. Probably in the 55 to 65 mph range. Heading home in the interstate was a max of 100⁰f but cooled down to about 80⁰f when I got near Chicago but I was typically traveling at 80 to 90 mph until close to Chicago.

Doesn't take away from your point though.

Although one point I've been trying to make is that oil temperatures on Liquid cooled bikes with coolant/oil coolers are not going to have the high temperatures in traffic as the fan will keep the coolant temps down which will keep the oil temps down

..Tom
 
#45 ·
@OCL
Although one point I've been trying to make is that oil temperatures on Liquid cooled bikes with coolant/oil coolers are not going to have the high temperatures in traffic as the fan will keep the coolant temps down which will keep the oil temps down

..Tom
Oh yeah I'm with you. I had a DR650 (air and oil cooled engine). It had an external oil cooler as well that sat in the breeze. I hooked up a Cylinder Head Temp sensor to the DR650's motor I could see the CHT on the fly on my aftermarket digital gauge cluster. The CHT temp definitely varied depending on ambient temp, RPM, vehicle speed, etc. I could tell when the motor was working hard to stay cool, or not. Under ideal conditions, the CHT temp would sit around 280-300 F. But at extended high speed running on hot days, or extended idling, or off road riding, the CHT would rise up to 320-340+ F. Keep in mind CHT doesn't compare to coolant temp. This is to your point, liquid cooled motors are able to regulate engine heat against the effects of ambient temps and engine loads much better.
 
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