CBR 250r - the thumper....

[sunruh]

Originally Posted By: AngryScientist
dont think these motors are the same, i definitely only have one sump.


with 1 sump you will thrash that oil in short order.

if you were to change the oil at an intervaul that kept it in grade, any savings at the gas station would be offset by oil changes.

 

[grampi]

I get a laugh when people call 250 4 storkers "thumpers"...to me a thumper is something that generates a lot of torque at low RPMs...my brother-in-law had a 650 Kawsaki, single cylinder, 4 stroke, enduro type bike...now THAT was a thumper....250s are too small (IMO) to be called thumpers....

 

[Robenstein]

8,000 miles is way too long for a shared sump high revving motor. I honestly do not know where some of these oil change intervals come from unless they want to sell more bikes when the old ones bust. I have an owners manual for my 1986 Chevy Monte Carlo SS. It is carbed and from back in the day when oils were garbage as far as breakdown was concerned and the manual said to go 7,500 miles between changes. I can see why my engine was sludged up to beat the devil when I got it if someone was going by the manual.

Id run a good 10w30 HDEO and change it at shorter 2,500 mile intervals or when you feel your shifting get notchy. I ran Rotella or Delvac 15w40 in my Virago 250 v twin and it was ready to be dumped at 2,500 miles. The sump held about 1.8 quarts.

 

[Phishin]

Originally Posted By: Robenstein
8,000 miles is way too long for a shared sump high revving motor. I honestly do not know where some of these oil change intervals come from unless they want to sell more bikes when the old ones bust. I have an owners manual for my 1986 Chevy Monte Carlo SS. It is carbed and from back in the day when oils were garbage as far as breakdown was concerned and the manual said to go 7,500 miles between changes. I can see why my engine was sludged up to beat the devil when I got it if someone was going by the manual.

Id run a good 10w30 HDEO and change it at shorter 2,500 mile intervals or when you feel your shifting get notchy. I ran Rotella or Delvac 15w40 in my Virago 250 v twin and it was ready to be dumped at 2,500 miles. The sump held about 1.8 quarts.


Thank you. Finally someone confirmed that I'm not nuts.

But the problem (for me) with changing the oil every 2500 miles is that I don't want the shifting to get notchy. That means it's too late for me. Others can handle it. But I don't want my bike to run like that.

I look at 2-wheeled vehicles as "machines". I like to obsess over my "machines". Because they are small, and performance orientated, I want all my bikes to operate flawlessly....all the time. I want all my bikes to be super clean, no leaks, no spills, no runs. Clean, surgical machines with a high order of maintenance and performance.

That's why I like bikes. It's you and the bike. 100%. You can feel the road, the vibration of the engine, the tone of the exhaust, the wind, smells, etc. etc.....for me, riding a bike is a spiritual experience and I prefer to keep my sanctuary prestine.

 

[AngryScientist]

well, i did the oil change and went with Castrol 4T synthetic motorcycle oil. as expected the bike is running fine. i'll go with 3k OCI's for now and do a UOA or two and determine how the bike is doing on the castrol.

been riding to work every day this week in NJ, daytime temps have been hovering right around 100 degrees here, a real heat wave, grumble.

 

[vo_marz]

anything over 3-4500 RPM and it eats regular motor oil for all 3 meals...

Get amsoil/redline/any group4/5 you can get for cheap

group 3+ will get sheared within the 1st 600 miles.

 

[Robenstein]

Originally Posted By: vo_marz
anything over 3-4500 RPM and it eats regular motor oil for all 3 meals...

Get amsoil/redline/any group4/5 you can get for cheap

group 3+ will get sheared within the 1st 600 miles.



That all depends on the bike. Some are much harder on oils than others. My XV250 spent a lot of time above 6k RPM and it would not chew up a Group III or even a non synthetic Group II+ in 600 miles.

 

[Mik]

I don't think it's based on the CRF engine; it's a "clean sheet" DOHC design (much milder state of tune)...... THis engine is also used in the new CRF250L dual-purpose bike (albeit slightly re-tuned).....

 

[Scout1]

I change the oil in my FJR at 2000 miles (shared sump 4 qt. capacity). I've done UOA's twice and both times the oil has sheared from a 40 wt. to a 30 wt. which I suspect is why the shifting gets notchy about that time. I'm currently running Rotella 15/40 and it seems to be holding up better (in terms of shifting) than the RTS I've tried a couple of times. Don't get me wrong, RTS is absolutely wonderful when it first goes in... just seems to deteriorate faster in my experience. My bike also seems to get some fuel dilution in that time which is strange since I do mostly freeway riding.

For a 250 with a much smaller sump, I would certainly recommend more frequent oil changes than you're planning... the UOA's are a good idea and should tell you how it goes.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: vo_marz
anything over 3-4500 RPM and it eats regular motor oil for all 3 meals...

Get amsoil/redline/any group4/5 you can get for cheap

group 3+ will get sheared within the 1st 600 miles.


Absurd. I use a group 2 conventional hdeo(rotella 15w40) and it lasts just as long in service as straight 60 grade Amsoil v-twin in my shared sump Honda 750 v-twin. And last longer than m1 v-twin,Amsoil v-twin,m1 4t 10w-40,Amsoil powersports 0w-40 and M1 15w-50.
Rotella actually has actually matched the straight 60 grade in maintaining shift quality and surpassed all the others I mentioned.
So vo-mars. I suggest actually trying all the products you so quickly group together and make an informed post,rather than a blanket statement which is so far from fact its science fiction.

 

[Mackelroy]

Shifting is more related on how strong the oil has on clutch grip, the stronger the clutch grip, the more notchy the shifting, a negative effect with Rotella on some bikes, via very notchy shifting.

Sounds like rotella, does okay in your bike, On my vfr, I ran rotella(15w40) about 200 miles, the shifting was so nothchy I had to dump it. Just too much clutch grip.

 

[SlipperyPete]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: vo_marz
anything over 3-4500 RPM and it eats regular motor oil for all 3 meals...

Get amsoil/redline/any group4/5 you can get for cheap

group 3+ will get sheared within the 1st 600 miles.


Absurd. I use a group 2 conventional hdeo(rotella 15w40) and it lasts just as long in service as straight 60 grade Amsoil v-twin in my shared sump Honda 750 v-twin. And last longer than m1 v-twin,Amsoil v-twin,m1 4t 10w-40,Amsoil powersports 0w-40 and M1 15w-50.
Rotella actually has actually matched the straight 60 grade in maintaining shift quality and surpassed all the others I mentioned.
So vo-mars. I suggest actually trying all the products you so quickly group together and make an informed post,rather than a blanket statement which is so far from fact its science fiction.


You've been kind of mean today. For a Canadian, I mean.

 

[SlipperyPete]

Originally Posted By: Mackelroy
Shifting is more related on how strong the oil has on clutch grip, the stronger the clutch grip, the more notchy the shifting, a negative effect with Rotella on some bikes, via very notchy shifting.

Sounds like rotella, does okay in your bike, On my vfr, I ran rotella(15w40) about 200 miles, the shifting was so nothchy I had to dump it. Just too much clutch grip.


I experienced the same thing with Rotella, but I suspect it had more to do with the rough nature of the Tiger 1050 transmission than the oil.