Hi John, I am referring to the suspended metal in the oil causing wear points. The oil filter is supposed to trap these particles but anyone who has ever changed oil on a machine has seen the fine particles that rest on the bottom of the catch pan so obviously some of it never gets filtered or goes through the filter with out being trapped. Changing oil is a good thing but too often might be a waste of time and money. Car manufacturer's stretch out there oil change schedules and seem to have had no adverse effects. When leaded gas was around it caused a lot of clogging in oil journals and hence required that oil be changed quite frequently. Today the biggest issues with oil is carbon and acid build up which is more of a time issue than a mileage issue.
Stephen
Unless I'm missing something here, the suspended metal particles will do nothing on their own no matter what the oil pressure or RPM is if just floating around inside the engine and not in between mated surfaces. The particles will if introduced into bearings, piston rings, gears etc cause more wear between the metal surfaces than with just oil and in fact cause scratches on the mated surfaces.
That would be the oil pressure that forces the particles into the mated surface area and that could be a function of the RPM and especially prolonged RPM during break in. An oil filter is designed to remove these particles from the oil so the particles in the oil do not cause wear points that cannot be rectified on their own especially during break in when particles are more abundant in the oil mix.
Running clean fresh oil will aid in lubrication and remove the particles if changed in conjunction with an oil filter. While the periodic changing of oil and filter can be debated as to the efficacy of the change schedule, changing more often than called for in the OM cannot in any way cause a problem and in fact reduces the possibility of scratched surfaces. The particles do nothing positive for the break in and their removal only can enhance the break in.
Since I used hard acceleration and deceleration to force the piston rings into the cylinder walls with pressure from above and below, I expected to get more particles of metal in the oil than if I went easy on the engine. This accelerated break in did not comply with the OM and therefore an accelerated oil change schedule was required to compensate for the increased particle counts in the oil. At 86 miles the filter had a distinct grey metallic coating on the filter element and the oil itself was clean with a slight particle suspension of grey metallic particles. The stock oil filter did a decent job of filtering the metal particles from the oil but it was apparent that the filter was saturated and should be changed in order to allow the full flow of oil volume and to ensure none of the particles caused scratches in any mating surfaces if returned to the engine.
I used Motul 10-40 regular oil during the break in in order to allow the parts to mate to each other properly. I avoided prolonged operation at any RPM so that I did not put wear marks on the bearings that were from RPM load. I also put K&N oil filters on with each oil change to make sure the metallic particles were removed from the engine. I also changed the oil VERY HOT to make sure it all drained out completely taking any and all metallic particles with it. In fact rocking the bike side to side during the oil drain allowed me to remove another few ounces of oil that would have stayed in had I not rocked the bike. The OM says nothing about this and if not rocked or leaned side to side will allow old oil and metallic particles to remain and mix with the fresh oil.
This is one reason that I do the oil changes myself and do not trust the OM or dealers as they do not specify nor lean the bike to completely remove the old oil.
At 1000 miles, having changed the oil and filter already 3 times, the filter and oil looked very clean when I switched to full synthetic and changed the filter. Has anyone looked at their oil at 1000 to 1200 miles before switching to full synthetic? If there is still metallic particles in the old oil, perhaps the engine is not completely broken in yet and should not be given full synthetic oil yet.
I look at the oil closely to see what is going on inside my engine and to make sure I am breaking in the engine properly. Taking the bike to he dealer eliminates this scrutiny as they just drain, swap filter and refill at the designated schedule points in the OM no matter how you are riding the bike or how hard or easy you are taking it on the engine.
Sorry about the long reply but I think paying attention to the bike is more important than just following a break in schedule and recommended shift points etc. We all ride our own way and those differences could mean you need to deviate from the OM regarding scheduled maintenance as in my case.
