Defer maintenance 1000 miles?

[Niehart]

+1

 

[philter]

Having lost my brakes once on a steep curvy road due to lack of maintenance, I always recommend changing brake fluid like Chicago voters vote, early and often.

 

[Bounce]

I wouldnt defer fluid changes on a bike with unknown history. Once that was done, I would not sweat going a thousand miles over. I did 5,000 mile intervals for much of the life of my last fjr.

UK and several other markets specify 6000 mile intervals (or 10000 km, 6200 miles) for oil changes. Maybe that's because we do fewer miles over the perceived life of the bike, however a few here have done high mileages without issue.

Probably because the overall average ambient temps in the UK are lower than the US. When was the last time you did 4000 miles in 90-120ºF?

Never!

Most of my riding is between 0C and 25C (32F to 77F). One of my riding friends has ridden in 40C (104F) on a couple of his European jaunts - he didn't like that.

But Yamaha do specify different oil viscosities depending on ambient temperature, which should mitigate temperature effects to some extent.

But it does show one possible reason for extended services in the UK compared to the US (which is all I was trying to do). I'm not their engineer so can't tell you what they were thinking to reach this recommendation, but I do ride here and can definitely tell you that it's not uncommon to spend a month above 100º every summer.

 

[Pterodactyl]

I wouldnt defer fluid changes on a bike with unknown history. Once that was done, I would not sweat going a thousand miles over. I did 5,000 mile intervals for much of the life of my last fjr.

UK and several other markets specify 6000 mile intervals (or 10000 km, 6200 miles) for oil changes. Maybe that's because we do fewer miles over the perceived life of the bike, however a few here have done high mileages without issue.

Probably because the overall average ambient temps in the UK are lower than the US. When was the last time you did 4000 miles in 90-120ºF?

Never!

Most of my riding is between 0C and 25C (32F to 77F). One of my riding friends has ridden in 40C (104F) on a couple of his European jaunts - he didn't like that.

But Yamaha do specify different oil viscosities depending on ambient temperature, which should mitigate temperature effects to some extent.

But it does show one possible reason for extended services in the UK compared to the US (which is all I was trying to do). I'm not their engineer so can't tell you what they were thinking to reach this recommendation, but I do ride here and can definitely tell you that it's not uncommon to spend a month above 100º every summer.

I believe it just may be that this was less a recommendation than it was a fiat from their CFO.

Most riders, including FJR riders are not much like the riders you see on this and other forums. I know three other FJR owners here in podunk Montana. None of them have a clue about working on their bike and no interest in learning. They are not on forums and probably never will be. Maintenance to them is something you pay other pepole to do when the bike will not run. I know dozens of BMW riders here as well. Some do their own maintenance, but in general thay are also maintenance ignorant.

A simple change in a bike's maintenance schedule can have significant financial ramifications for the dealerships and manufacturer. As in most any other operation, in a corporation one need only to follow the money to know why decisions are made.

 

[Fred W]

Im a bit sceptical that ambient temperatures affect oil replacement schedules on liquid cooled motorcycles all that much. If we were talking air cooled bikes I would be all on-board, but regardless of whether you are running the bike in a place where summer temps are 80 or 100 makes very little difference to a liquid cooled bike. It regulates the important temperatures inside the engine to where they need to be pretty much regardless of ambient.

I think the idea that certain markets predetermined what would be acceptable maintenance intervals to their clientele is more believable. Vehicle marketing departments have a lot of influence over engineering decisions, for better or worse. The good news for us is that it seems to have little influence over the reliability of these workhorse bikes. So, after warranty, you are pretty much free to do whatever makes sense to your own personal sensibilities.

 

[Bounce]

Sadly, you make good points. You remind me of the meetings I was in where Marketing wonks over-promised we (who would shoulder the burden of delivery) could accomplish.