Hi guys,
Just came across this cool site in my searching for an answer here......

I bought a '04 Honda 350ES this spring, and my dealer recommended that i not change the oil until 1000k, after which time it is considered properly broken in, and at which point they would do the next oil change and make valve adjustments, inspect etc.

Is 1000km for this initial oil change the right info? I even phoned back to the dealership to the mechanics and this is what I was told again.

They did not use break in oil btw.......

I am now at 600km of average driving..... and i am kinda concerned that i need to wait for 1000k to change the oil?

What do you guys think of this?

Thanks.

 

I would hope that you meant a 100km and not a 1000km as you stated in your post.I have an 02 and even in the manual it says at 100km or 20 hours for the first oil change.Change mine every 600km or so just to be safe,oil is relatively cheap compared to any motor work down the road.

PR. Framer

 

nope, 600 miles, 1000k is what they wanted and no sooner

 

Ouch! I change my oil and filter on a new bike at 1-2 HOURS, then again at 10 HOURS! During normal operation, I rarely go much over 20 hours without an oil change. I would suggest using Honda GN4 (you should not use a synthetic oil in your autoclutch bike).

Your Rancher (and every other bike except the Honda 450R!), uses the same oil for the transmission and "wet" clutch, that it uses for the engine. This makes your oil wear out way more quickly than in your car.

A great article:
http://www.thumperfaq.com/oil.htm

More than you ever wanted to know:
http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html#Oil

 

Thanks for the info.... this is my 1st bike, and i've been trying to carefully follow directions. As i mentioned, i called back to re-affirm that they indeed wanted the bike at 600miles before bringing it in for the 1st oil change. They said that this was recommended by Honda during the break in period... and that changing oil too soon would not allow the bike to properly break itself in. I brought up the fact that the warranty states otherwise, and that it should be changed sooner, but they said that this was the proper way .

So now i am getting worried..... my natural instinct is that it should be changed early as you guys have mentioned, so there is no chance of any metal filings or such in the oil...... i think i better call them again in the morning to find out exactly why they insist on 1000km on this initial change.

 

You do that. LOL

 

I asked the dealer (years ago). They just throw GN4 in there, so there isn't any "special break-in oil" that comes in your bike from the factory. So, how would it hurt to change it to often??? What, dirty oil and an oil filter clogged with metal shavings are going to help your engine in some way??? Even the owners manual recommends the first oil and filter change at 20 hours (150 km/100 miles).

Dont' ride another minute, without changing that oil! Maybe the dealer wants your engine to fail, so they can sell you another bikes sooner!

 

Just thought i'd update everyone.......... i called my honda dealer back and expressed my concern. They said that as long as it had 500km then it would be ready to change. When i asked why i was initially told 1000km they said "well anywhere between 500km and 1000km depending on how you were driving it". Anyways, i got a complimentary oil change from them and bike inspection. Fresh oil, fresh filter, and ready to roll again. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

i have a honda nd iv been riding my whole life im 22 and i change my oil everytime i ride if not i change it every other time and i change the filter everytime i change my oil its good practice to do this if you look at my bike its almost 20 yrs old and i just rebuilt the motor and it didnt even smoke when i did it i just wwnated more power out of her but chainging the oil every or every other time or if not then i would change it after riding 5 hours

 

i have always ran pure mobile one synthetic oil in all my machines and i have never hade any clutchs slip its just when you go with synthetic oil you can not change back to regular oil