I wanted to inquire a bit more into your Honda CB5OO X,F,R Maintenance.
My Bike is nearly 9000km, and as per the dealer (Honda) here in my country, Oil changes are every 2500km, I've done it that way since I bought the bike brand new, though since the 6500km oil change, I used a Bel-Ray EXS Synthetic Oil 10W40, apparently it is way better than the standard used at the dealer's.
Anyways, also, when would be a good estimate on changing the Air Filter, I want to change the OEM for the K&N Air Filter, though, from you guys experience, when would it be appropiate to do it?
And, also, chain lubricants you use for your CB500, and chain adjustments periods, say for example, every 10,000 km.
Thanks for your input into this forum thread and happy riding-:smile:
That dealer is taking you for a ride if they are telling you oil changes every 2500km!
The maintenance schedule stated in the manual clearly states every 12,000km; even if like most, you half that and change it at half intervals of 6,000km you'd be on check. But 2,500km that's just excessive mate.
I lube the chain after every 2nd fuel fill, so 600-800kms
What lube... just don't buy cheap stuff; opinions on what's best will be longer than your intestines and just as hard to sift through the sh!t.
Check chain slack when I'm lubing it, so touch it up as needed... anywhere between 5,000-10,000km, it really depends how hard you ride and accelerate.
You can change your air filter anytime, just note the mileage so you know when to service it. On such low powered bikes the "performance" gain is negligible. Realistically any benefit you get would only be for long term owners of the bike where the cost of reoiling the filter works out cheaper than buying X number of oem filters of the same period.
Yeah, thanks for the input. I spoke to the dealer yesterday and he said if I used fully synthetic oil, it should be fine to change it after 5000km, not 2500km as they said at the beginning, guessing he was against the wall when I realized that the manual said 12000 km. I am using fully synthetic oil since the 6500km maintenance, Bell Ray Synthtic Ester Blend 10W-40 4T Engine Oil.
I am very thorough with my bike's maintenance and keep it clean enough, lubing its chain and having the tires with the right pressure.
I wanted to inquire a bit more into your Honda CB5OO X,F,R Maintenance.
My Bike is nearly 9000km, and as per the dealer (Honda) here in my country, Oil changes are every 2500km, I've done it that way since I bought the bike brand new, though since the 6500km oil change, I used a Bel-Ray EXS Synthetic Oil 10W40, apparently it is way better than the standard used at the dealer's.
Anyways, also, when would be a good estimate on changing the Air Filter, I want to change the OEM for the K&N Air Filter, though, from you guys experience, when would it be appropiate to do it?
And, also, chain lubricants you use for your CB500, and chain adjustments periods, say for example, every 10,000 km.
Thanks for your input into this forum thread and happy riding-:smile:
The dealer told you that because he wants to make some money on labor.
Read the manual, oil changes are every 12,000 km (!), personally I change it every 6,000 km. Air filter change and so on is all described in your manual!
And if Honda says 10W30 I wouldn't use 10W40 - I am not smarter than the Honda technicians who developed the engine!
If you want a quick access to your service requirements there's a google doc link in my signature that I created. You can access this on your phone anywhere so if you need to take a peek, it's easy to access.
If you convert the miles to kilometers I'll add them into the document.
Synthetic oil is much better that regular oil in most respects.
However, it still gets just a dirty as conventional oil.
Which mean the filter becomes more important when you extend the oil service intervals.
Costa Rico is fairly humid, so chain maintenance could be done more frequently.
Do you have a paddock stand, or does the bike have a center stand? These make chain maintenance much easier.
I tend to be excessive in the preventive maintenance, but I adjusted my chain at 40 miles when I got the bike home from the stealership (a tad tight and rear wheel ever so slightly crooked) and haven't needed to adjust it since. I lube the chain with ATF every 100-150 miles for around town riding, and every 200 miles or so when touring, keeping a couple of zip lock bags with a nitrile glove in one and a sock top saturated with ATF in another along with a small bottle of ATF in the tank bag for touring. I did 3200 miles in 8 days on scenic roads returning to Montana for a 40th reunion of my old elk-hunting group, last summer, lubing mid-day and at night. I'm sure that this is not for everyone, but, it works for me.
Hi, yes, Costa Rica is quite humid, and weather conditions may vary very quickly. Right now we are at summer, though there is light rain at some parts of the country, I live at the mountain, so most likely there is going to be rainy conditions.
I do my chain maintenance almost every week after I clean my bike, what I use is a Jack Stand, non Hydraulic, and position it at the exhaust pipe, that way I keep the rear tire free to make any kind of maintenance.
I put around 500km weekly strictly riding from my house to the office, of course more if I go touring every now and then.
I like to keep my bike clean and well taken care of. haha
It doesn't matter if you're using the best synthetic or unicorn spit as your oil, but if it's not formulated at 10W-30, it's wrong.
10W-40 can simply be "too thick" at certain temperatures to get where it needs to be to lubricate properly. All you running 10W-40 "without any problems", just may not know it was a problem until the longevity of the engine is cut short on the back end.
10W-40 is probably the most common motorcycle oil, so your dealer is probably a lazy hack and doesn't want to look up that it clearly shows in all of the 500 manuals that I've seen, to use 10W-30. They may not stock it, and they just want to charge you for what they do have.
I don't overkill on maintenance and have never had a problem (Talking from 60K to 87K on bikes).
Oil - Use Valvoline MC oil from WALMART at $3.98 a quart and Fram Oil Filters from Walmart (every 3000 or 4000 miles, sometiems 5000).
Air Filters - Once in a while (Maybe every 25000 miles or 40000 miles).
Radiator Fluid -- Every 3 or 4 years.
Brake Fluid -- Every three or so years.
Chain - Have used Dupont Teflon from Walmart (bad thing is chain shows rust). Been using Champion from Walmart (like it OK). Wipe chain off and lube every 800 to 1000 miles and adjust when needed. Never have used any cleaner on chain, just wipe it off. Sometimes if very dirty (ride gravel some), wipe it off, spray a little lube and wipe off again, then lube good.
Valve adjustments has varied. First Bike Honda (VLX 600) 71000 miles Let dealer do it regularly (waste of money).
Second Bike (KAWA 800) 87000 miles Let dealer do it as had a service contract, then went 40K miles after service contract without adjusting.
Third bike (Burgman 650 Scooter) 73.800 miles Never changed spark plugs or adjusted valves. CVT (Transmission) went out and I ended up selling it broke down. Engine still ran great.
Fourth Bike (NINJA 500) 60000 miles I did a valve adjustment myself at 50000 miles and it was needing it (Exhaust was very tight. Intakes OK, but I made an adjustment).
Fifth Bike (Burgman 400 Scooter) - 40000 Miles and have not adjusted or changed spark plugs.
Sixth Bike (CB500X) 23000 miles and never adjusted valves or changed plugs.
Already asked and answered but here's my two cents: I use Motul chain cleaner and chain lube every couple of weeks, sometimes I go a little longer if I forget. We get a lot of rain here in Seattle, so I really should be doing it every week.
I commute on my bike and average 170 miles per week. It has 6100 miles on it since July 2015 when I bought it.
I had the oil changed per the manual: 600 miles, 4000 miles, and next at 8000 miles with the regular services.
The dealer said not to use synthetic oil until the engine has at least 10,000 miles on it. Something about the piston rings needing to get seated properly.
Update on this topic, I've been looking for Motul 7100 10W30, and it has been hard to find around my area, in my Country, I finally found it, its not cheap at all, anyways, I ordered through Motul Official Dealer, and its going to be delivered by next week.
I have found through some other members that using the 10W30, is the right choice in order to get the transmission smoothness and the motorcycle's best .
And thinking Im going to make the change myself, since I bought separatedly and not as a service. Going to get the oil filter and will be all.
The Beginners Guide To Oil | How It Works | Motorcycle Cruiser.
I have been using Rotella T-6 5w40 Jaso Ma approved for years in many different water boxes. I bet the new Africa twin crossing the Sahara is not using a 10w30.
I am not an advocate of Rotella, but I can use the same oil in my tractor, mowers, trucks and 4 motorcycles, without having to stock 10 different oils and it readily available @ Wallyworld.
Irppcer. Present me with one documented (by a qualified mechanical engineer) engine failure or an engine prematurely wearing out because someone used a 5w40 instead of a 10w30 oil, on any engine. The reality is these 500 engines will last anyway, with basic maintenance and normal riding, 80-100k miles, everything else will fall apart first. Yes, I will continue to use 5w40 T6 in my X and F. If I lived in Texas again and my cooling fan was staying on all the time I would use a 10w50 or a 20w50. If you are happy using 10w30 please continue.
It was not my intent to get into a pissing match with you personally about the issue, so, no I will not be jumping through any of your hoops. Many riders coming here are new or getting back into riding and are just looking for good information. All I am doing is presenting what two representatives from a major oil company say, which is to use what the manufacturer recommends. You linked to a good article on oil...that says the same thing. The Honda manual clearly shows 10W-30. If they wanted to recommend a different viscosity for different climates or ambient air temperatures they certainly could have put that in there like it is for many other bikes and vehicles, but...they didn't. It only lists 10W-30.
You, of course, are free to put whatever you want into the equipment YOU own. So is everyone else. No argument there. I do find it a little irresponsible and confusing to recommend to others something different than what the manufacturer recommends and what the article you linked to says.
I recommend to those with new bikes, especially those under warranty, use what the manufacturer recommends in the manual. Bottom line.
watch the world best ever motorcycle on YouTube: the Honda Cub.
the engine oil was replaced with domestic cooking oil with no SAE rating whatsoever.
if you're in Thailand you can even pour in snake oil.
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