[how often for oil change?] - ATV Riders Forums - Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Polaris, CanAm, Arctic Cat, Kymco ATVs

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how often for oil change?
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Posted by: drew3623

i have a 400ex. how often do you guys think i should change my oil.

Posted by: MixMasterMike

once a month

Posted by: ride hard man

I change mine once every 2 or 3 months... But I don't go riding every day, so pretty much it depends on how much you ride it..

Posted by: Trevor

2 times a year but I don't ride all that much not even every weekend.

Posted by: yfz450rider11

wow u guys keep up with the high maintance. really u should change it about every 5-6 rides.

Posted by: Angus

Where is the actual fact sheet saying when you should change the oil? I've been riding since I was about 3 years old- first quad was the Suzuki 50cc. I have always changed when ever it looked dirty- yes I check it everytime I ride and no I've never had any problems what so ever. I think most people get their ideas from the dealers, which for the people that don't know how to change it them selves it just helps the dealer out that much more.

Posted by: jdboy

As per Honda, the oil and filter in a 400ex should be serviced every 100hrs. or 600 miles of riding. Also the oil screen in the oil tank should be removed and cleaned every 200hrs. or every 1200 miles of riding. These figures were taken from a Factory Honda Service Manual. Each bike or quad is different. Also every manufacturer will have different maintenance schedules as well. With that, the tranny oil in my CR500 was to be changed every 3 races or 7.5hrs. of riding. With my quad I'll be lucky to ride 100hrs. in a year, so I change it once a season or whenever it begins to look black and dirty when I check it. A small hour meter can help with keeping up with service schedules and are very inexpensive.

Posted by: Sjorge300EX

every 3-4 races.

Posted by: Donkey1

Do it every few rides. Its alot cheaper than an engine.

Posted by: Glamis400ex

I change mine after every " week" of riding in the dunes. That probably equates to every 50-60 hours. Deep, soft sand is very hard on the motor so it breaks down quicker.

Glamis

Posted by: suzuki_ltr_stud

i change mine every 2 months on my lt-r

Posted by: DaleJrFan

I change mine every 15 to 20 hours depending on how hard I have rode in the previous time span. If you race or dune alot, I would reccomend changing it after every weekend outing.

Posted by: 94F450SD

although it is way overkill but i change mine every 2 weeks.i ride on sunday only but when i ride i ride it hard.im talkin bouncin off the rev limiter doggin it on hills and wheelies.oil and filters are cheap,motors are expensive

Posted by: evileyesracing

I race MX and drag so I usually change mine every 5 rides depending on how hard I rider her...

Posted by: GooseZ400

every 15 - 20hrs just to be on the safe side. oil is cheaper than rebuild

Posted by: CannondaleRider

Jesus....I must be the only "overkill" person when it comes to maintanance.

I change my motor oil, along with changing the oil filter, and the oil inlet, every 5 hours..

Tranny ever 10 hours...

Posted by: nosliw

all depends

but say a nice hard ride in the trails, then maybe every weekend of riding (10-15hours)

Posted by: ryanh250ex

10-15 hours

i run the snot out of my bike

Posted by: guinness77

It depends on how hard you ride it. If you're out there pounding the living daylights out of the throttle and the bike, expect more frequent changes. If you're out there just put-putting around, you can go longer. I find that an oil change after 15 to 30 riding hours is good. Oil is cheaper than a re-build.

Posted by: yamadjs08

I change mine about every 10-15 hours. It depends a lot on the machine too. Newer higher performance 450s, I would definitely change it every 15 hours tops, just the demands of a high performance engine. But the thing to remember on an air cooled machine is that the oil also helps cool it, so frequent oil changes on an air-cooled machine probably doesnt hurt either.

Posted by: 300ex mxracer

every other weekend after the races.

Posted by: AR15 guy

quote:
Originally posted by Donkey1
Do it every few rides. Its alot cheaper than an engine.

Yea thats what I do. I change it a lot. Its cheap and easy. No reason not to.

Posted by: NacsMXer

I change mine every one to two rides at the MX track. That's flogging it all day from about 10 AM - 6 PM with breaks in between obviously. I know the synthetic oil can go much longer but I like to change it often to keep the motor happy

Posted by: frignitor

We have these old honda trykes there 82 or 84 nd we they were my dads nd those things have never ever not once had an oil change nd they still run like beauty so idk wat all this 5 to 6 runs i udnerstand thats riducols be we feel if we change it now it will never start agian soo... thats my story for ya

Posted by: idontknowwhoiam

I have a 94 fortrax 300 4X4 thats was bought new and has only seen 2 oil changes? and runs perfect...My 400 though i putt around here and there during the week, and go out every sunday for the day. ill check my oil,lube my chain and kick my tires........... when ur oil looks like Chit change it

Posted by: x.system

I change mine after every race day, normally between 20 to 30 laps depending on where were racing. Running dexron 3, I've gotten every holeshot except for one this season so it works for me.

Posted by: Sjorge300EX

im down to every 2-3 races. Im hard on my quad, the good kind of hard, and I dont have an oil cooler so yeah. My race is about 1.5 hours.

Posted by: JForestZ34

I've seen everybodys post and I say every 5-6 rides for me. When I ride I'm pretty hard on mine not rough but hard. I just think it's just cheap insurance for a rather expensive rebuild.

James