Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 - Oil

Basic Dirtbike Maintenance 101 - Oil

There are a million things to worry about on a dirt bike.  It’ll drive you crazy.  But if you take care of the basics, you can save yourself a lot of time and money.  But it takes some discipline.  We are not ‘race every weekend’ riders, but we do ride 2-4 times per month, for a good 4 hours each time.  Here is what we do. This first post will cover oil.

I am a serious “change your oil” person, with all my vehicles.  I figure it this way:  Oil is about $5 per quart, an engine rebuild is $1500 or more.  Enough said.  When it comes to our bikes, I have two rules:

1. Change the oil every ride.
2. Use motorcycle oil.

Change the oil every ride
Bottom line: change the oil every ride, no exception (unless you putt around for 30 minutes and call it a ‘ride’).  All you need to do convince yourself of this is to drain your oil after one ride and see that it is thinner and darker than when you put it in.  Modern 4-strokes are technologically amazing, revving high and generating tons of power.  That equals heat, friction, and oil breakdown.  2-strokes don’t have to lubricate the top-end, but they operate at high RPM, operate at high temps, and you really work the clutch on a 2-stroke: result is oil breakdown.  Sometimes I will let my son’s CR85 go two rides, but that is as slack as I will get.  Really.

Some 4-stroke bikes have separate oil for the tranny and the top end.  That’s ok, you still want to change it every ride.

I don’t change the filter every ride, but I do change it every 3-4 rides.  Again they are cheap, and it keeps the oil flowing free when its not clogged up with gunk.  I use Tusk First Line filters because they are inexpensive, and they work great.  $3.99 at RockyMountain ATV/MC  vs $8 at the parts store.  I buy five or so at a time.

Use motorcycle oil.
A lot of guys will just pour some auto oil in their bike.  It will work, but it is not best for your high performance motorcycle motor.  I won’t bore you with all the details, but there are additives in automotive oil that are not good for your wet-slip clutch performance, and there are additives missing from car oil (like zinc) that your motorcycle engine really likes. If you are really into this kind of thing, the dudes at Bike Nomads put together a fine article on this:  

http://www.bikenomads.com/wiki/index.php/Do_not_use_car_oil_in_bikes

Motorcycle oil is graded by JASO, which sets standards for vehicles of Japanese origin (that would be your Yamaha/Suzuki/Honda/Kawasaki).  Learn more here if you are into it.  JASO

There are a lot of really cool looking special racing synthetic oils you can get at the cycle store.  They are $8-15 per quart.  I don’t use them.  I use Suzuki Performance 4-cycle Engine Oil, 10W-40, SP-4A, as it is 1) Formulated for 4 stroke motorcycles, and 2) You can buy it in 1 gallon jugs for about $15.  Enough said. I get it at my local Honda dealership because I can’t find it online.  Hope they never go out of business.

Oh, and you need to use the viscosity that is recommended by your manual (10W-40, etc). The manual will also usually give you some ratings, such as “SH or higher”. If you use oil specified for motorcycles, this will not be a problem.

If you are really set on using regular motor oil, then you need to make sure you look through the store for an oil that is "type SH (or higher)" and is "non-friction modified”.  You also don’t want oil that has “Energy Conserving” or “EC” on the label, because there are additives in these oils that will affect your clutch performance.  These additives lay a protective coating on parts, resulting in less friction, which will affect your clutch performance.  It's true, as early on I ran regular motor oil in one of my bikes, and noticed some clutch slip about halfway through the day.  Once I switched over to motorcycle oil, I haven't had any problems.

A lot of people like Shell Rotella, as it is inexpensive, meets the tech specs, and you can get it at most auto stores and Wally World. I dont use it, but people seem really positive on it based on the feedback on forums I have reviewed.

Things You'll Need

• I bought some 10" paint buckets at Home Depot, they work great for lots of things, including draining oil. They even have lids that fit them
• I also have a 5 gallon bucket with a lid, its a recycled paint bucket that has a screw on pour spout, and it works great to store used oil. Most auto parts stores have a free oil disposal tank, and so I stop by every month or so when the bucket fills up.  I'll use this to dump all my petroleum based liquids that come from maintenance. Be green.
• Get a large measuring cup that denotes ml, at least 1000 ml
• I also bought a funnel from the parts store that is long and skinny, it works great to get the oil in that little hole
• Sockets that will fit your drain plug, screen filter (if your bike has one), and weep hole screw (mine is an allen bolt)
• Torque Wrench
• I keep all my oil implements in a big zip-lock baggie, because i am OCD and i dont want dirt getting into my engine

Changing the Oil

• Start the bike and run it for 10 mins or so to get the oil warmed up (it will drain better) and to get it circulating so that any metal shavings that may be in the case will drain out better.
• Remove the oil filler cap, put a rag over it (don't stuff it in the hole), and remove the drain bolt, drain the oil into your small bucket.
• I will also remove the screw that allows excess oil to drain when filling (weep hole) while the oil is draining. I will put all three screw/bolts into a rag while I am working.  Keeps them together, and keeps dirt off of them, which I want to keep out of my engine.
• If your bike has a screen filter (my Suzuki does) remove it, and blow it with an air compressor to get any metal shavings out.  Re-install the screen. 
• If you are changing the filter, remove the cover and pull out the old filter. I use a pair of needle-nose pliers, put them into the filter hole, expand them to grab the filter from the inside of the hole, and remove. I will take a paper towel and soak up any oil that is sitting in the filter cavity.
• Take the new  filter, smear a little oil on the rubber seal, then install according to your manual, which is usually with the rubber seal facing the engine.  Re-install the filter cover, and torque the bolts to the specifications in your manual (don't over-torque).
• Re-install the drain plug, and torque the bolts to the specifications in your manual.  Be really careful putting the drain screw back in - always start it by hand.  This is one bolt you do NOT want to cross-thread.
• If you replaced the filter you will need to add more oil, your manual will give you an amount of oil to put in with and without a filter change (on my Suzuki, its 600ml for an oil change, 1000ml if I also replaced the filter.
• When you start pouring the oil in, some oil will weep out of the fill indicator screw hole.  That is normal. The bike should be level and straight upright for the weep hole to drain the oil to the correct level in your case.
• Once the oil has stopped coming out, screw in the fill indicator screw, and the oil fill cap. I will usually wipe any grime off of the oil fill screw cap before putting it on.