Engine flush

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wonkiwheel
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Engine flush

Post by wonkiwheel »

Oil change ahead!!! Thoughts on using an engine flush,?? The oil seems quite black in the window, not had the bike long. Going to use mineral, not sure what is currently being used.
banner001
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Post by banner001 »

dont do it is the best i can offer :D

the best thing you can do is to go for a ride and get the oil up to temperature, then come back and drain it along with a new filter, leave it to drain for about an hour add new oil and a new filter...and just use that, it will be fine.

if you think there is something in the oil that you want shot of, or if you really want to clean it, go for another ride with your now "new" oil, do about 50 miles and then dump that along with the filter, and replace with more fresh clean oil, and another filter.

engine flushes just add crap that you dont need to be in there. the oil will darken pretty quickly as you will pretty soon have a bit of clutch material in the oil, you only need a bit for it to start looking brown and crappy.

remember also that the fzr1000 exup (definitely the R, maybe the RU and genesis too) has part of the sump thats lower than the drain screw (bad design) so unless you tilt the front of the bike by ~20 degrees you will never remove all of the old oil.
Current bikes:
1989 UK FZR 1000 EXUP-R Streetfighter @48,000 miles
1993 ZXR 400 L3 UK-spec Track-bike @21,000 miles
1994 ZXR 400 L4 UK-spec Commuter @48,000 miles
1999 Malaguti Phantom F12 scooter with 70cc kit+mods @14,000 miles
banner001
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Post by banner001 »

i use 10W-40 semi-syn motul in mine, works fine, but then i rebuilt the engine fully not too long ago so it had better be fine :D

change your oil every 2000-3000 miles to keep your engine in top condition.
Current bikes:
1989 UK FZR 1000 EXUP-R Streetfighter @48,000 miles
1993 ZXR 400 L3 UK-spec Track-bike @21,000 miles
1994 ZXR 400 L4 UK-spec Commuter @48,000 miles
1999 Malaguti Phantom F12 scooter with 70cc kit+mods @14,000 miles
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Purity Vendetta
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Post by Purity Vendetta »

I tend to go along with banner on this one. I couldn't recommend engine flush as most of them are designed for car engines which are very different than bike engines. The oil in a bike engine lubricates the clutch as well and additives in products designed for car engines can contain additives which can damage wet clutches.

If your oil is very dark it just means the engine cleaning additives in the oil are doing their job and dissolving the combustion by products. Engine flushes have been known to dislodge undesirable bit's and bobs we'd rather stayed put.

I had a really interesting conversation with an oil company guy about this at one of the trade shows.
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wonkiwheel
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Post by wonkiwheel »

Thanks for this, id read some good some bad, it goes to show how invaluable experience and forums like this are. Cheers :)
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