Service Time vs Mileage

[mpgscott]

Due to work mainly this last couple of years have meant my poor 2010 twin cam has seen very little action. More time spent cleaning it than riding it sadly.

Back in July of 2020 i last serviced the bike myself which also include a rebuild of the final drive. I used BMW oil and filter and this was at 32500 miles. Bike has not only 34000 miles, so the question is prior to getting it back on the road is it best practice to give it an oil change? Reason i ask is that i cant see good quality BMW oil spoiling after such a short period. Bike is garaged.

Im thinking im best for the sake of £80 to just give it a change but wanted to get everyones thoughts.

Cheers
Mark

 

[landmarkjohn]

Drive on I say. This oil will not kill your bike or shorten it's lifespan IMO. And it will boost your green credentials.

 

[PitaNaanRoti]

Pisses me off that BMW insist on annual services irrespective of the mileage covered or they tell you your warranty is invalid.

 

[AberdeenAngus]

The oil is already 65 million years old. A couple more won’t hurt.
Replacing it would be wasteful.
I do all my servicing based on mileage except brake fluid.

 

[Santa-2512]

Mines going to get an oil change next month,

Time wise , its 12 months since the last change,

Mileage no where near,

But , i have a warranty, and if it means i have to move things to preserve, than so be it

hell its not the end of the earth, and yes it's main dealer prices, but its not the end of the world price wise

feck me we bough bikes worth 20k, so £200 odd annually is small change

 

[Deleted account 220319001]

Pisses me off that BMW insist on annual services irrespective of the mileage covered or they tell you your warranty is invalid.

It's a relatively recent scam from most manufacturers, they cottoned on to not many garage queens do 6k a year so they need to make money and came up with this one, I guess if I owned a BMW the warranty would be needed so best get it done yearly for when you need their warranty, Yamaha on the otherhand..pah...

 

[GSite]

If the oil appears reasonably clean then leave it especially if it has synthetic qualities

 

[wessie]

Miraculously, if you owned a Seat Ibiza, your fancy, synthetic oil would be good for 20,000 miles or 2 years...

 

[Steptoe]

You may not have covered many miles, but it depends on the type of miles … short rides, stop start traffic, change the oil. Long distance rides, don’t bother.

 

[PitaNaanRoti]

Lockdown, working away and a shattered collarbone requiring several operations means 6k a year has been 4K in 2.5..
It certainly isn’t a garage queen unless you count the number of times it has been in BMW’s workshop for electrical faults and corrosion.
Currently there now after deciding to lose any throttle response Friday afternoon. A mandatory annual service isn’t going to change that.

 

[Stevie4scoops]

Due to work mainly this last couple of years have meant my poor 2010 twin cam has seen very little action. More time spent cleaning it than riding it sadly.

Back in July of 2020 i last serviced the bike myself which also include a rebuild of the final drive. I used BMW oil and filter and this was at 32500 miles. Bike has not only 34000 miles, so the question is prior to getting it back on the road is it best practice to give it an oil change? Reason i ask is that i cant see good quality BMW oil spoiling after such a short period. Bike is garaged.

Im thinking im best for the sake of £80 to just give it a change but wanted to get everyones thoughts.

Cheers
Mark

I wouldn't change it but ride it until you had reached the mileage specified before doing so.

A triumph dealer insisted that I have the oil changed on a Street Triple even though it had only been ridden 50 miles since they had changed it earlier that year at its first service.

This seriously pissed me off because it was a waste of time/money/oil.

I had a Yamaha FZ1 which only required its oil filter to be changed every other oil change.

 

[er-minio]

Pisses me off that BMW insist on annual services irrespective of the mileage covered or they tell you your warranty is invalid.

It used to be mileage OR annual service if you don't cover enough mileage in order to have one service per year.

 

[Pukmeister]

What Steptoe says......

I just serviced mine, its done very low mileage during Covid as I commuted by scooter instead of the GSA. When I dropped the oil it was piss thin and smelled of petrol despite being a good grade of oil and low miles.

 

[botus]

esso super unleaded (if not up north or in Devon it should be E0 - just legally has to carry an E5 sticker on the pump)

E10 is dangerous rubbish - unbelievably it grows bacteria that eat metal - especially bad if you do low miles as more time to breed - it also warps plastic tanks - and eats natural rubber - and absorbs water - aka it destroys the bike

 

[GSite]

Apparently the water which becomes separated from the fuel as a result of ethanol grows the bacteria.
There are some products which are supposed to attack this bacteria, looking into it to decide if these products are worthwhile.

 

[mpgscott]

Cheers guys, its all been long runs to be honest. Last year was one long run around the top of around 600 nice miles.

Have held off starting her up just got a trickle charger on it and will fire up when im taking it out for another nice run. Well out of warranty so not fussed on that count, more just making sure im not doing the bike any harm..