Engine oil is the heart of your bike’s engine. It lubricates the parts for smooth functioning and cleans the crucial components in order to make them work properly. This cleaning also helps slow the wear and tear of the internal elements so that the engine’s overall life can be improved. The only worry that comes with bike engine oil is how often to replace it. Various factors decide the replacement frequency of your bike oil.
For your assistance, we have brought here all the details that you should know about the replacement cycle of bike oil.
Factors Affecting Replacement Cycle
You need to look into multiple factors so that you can come up with an answer to your query. Some of them are:
-> Bike Condition
Your bike’s condition is the first factor to consider.
- If you have bought a brand-new bike, you will have to replace the oil at some specified intervals. You can find the duration in your vehicle’s service manual.
- If you have bought a used bike, you need to replace the oil immediately. It doesn’t matter whether the engine oil is fresh or not; it must be changed.
-> Oil Type
The next aspect of the list is the type of oil used in your bike.
- If you use fully synthetic bike oil, you can keep it on for up to 10,000 miles. After that, it must be replaced.
- In the case of semi-synthetic bike oil, you have to replace it after every 5000-6000 miles.
- If you use the cheapest and simplest form of bike oil, i.e., mineral-based oil, you will have to replace it at a maximum of 2000 miles.
Checking Bike Engine Oil
The points mentioned above were some general guidelines that you can follow in order to keep your bike engine oil fresh. But these don’t apply to all the bikes, as different models have different requirements. Here are the two steps that you can follow to check whether your bike engine oil needs to be replaced or not.
-> Step 1: Keep The Bike In Position
Make sure that your bike is straight and on its main stand. There will be multiple things you need to check here. That is why the position of the bike is significant. In addition to this, you also have to ensure that the engine is completely cool. Then only you will be able to touch it and examine further.
-> Step 2: Open The Oil Plug And Check
Once you have made sure that the bike is in the position, you will have to take out the engine oil dipstick. It is placed on the oil canister. Then check these three factors of the oil:
- Level of Oil: If the level is below the marked point, the oil needs to be replaced.
- Color of Oil: If the oil is exceptionally dark and looks nothing like the fresh oil, it must be replaced.
- Viscosity: If the oil has become thick, you will have to replace it.
By checking the oil in this way after every specified period, you can make sure you never ruin the parts of your bike engine.
