Motorcycle oil is responsible for your motorcycle engine maintenance. It has important tasks to do: lubricating and protecting the engine. With that being said, you need to ensure that you get the best oil possible.
As time passes and you enjoy doing miles and miles on your motorcycle, it affects the oil, and impurities will accumulate. That is why you need to change it regularly to ensure that your engine works smoothly and without a problem. Stay with us as we will show you how to change the oil the easiest way possible.
So how do you change your motorcycle oil? As a general rule, you need to drain the old oil out. Warm up the engine a little bit since it will make it easier to drain the old oil. Take off the old oil filter and put on a new one. Return the drain plug and pour fresh oil. Once you have poured the oil, check the oil level.
We will show you a lot of useful stuff further in this article, so stay with us if you want to learn more.
Table of Contents
How to Change Motorcycle Oil?
The type of oil that you are going to use depends on your motorcycle type. The best way to know what kind of motorcycle oil suits your bike best is to check your motorcycle’s manual. There are some suggestions that you should use oil that is recommended to the weather conditions that you ride most of the time.
Things you will need:
Before you start the process of an oil change, make sure you have the following things at your hand:
- Oil filter: You can get a cheaper version of an oil filter; it can be a third-party filter. Just make sure it fits your engine because there were cases where riders installed the wrong filter, and it fell off during the ride
CAUTION: If the filter falls off, it will let the oil outside, and the oil can get on your tire, leading to you falling off your motorcycle. This is a very dangerous situation that can have a fatal outcome.
- Engine oil: Refer to your motorcycle manual to know the correct type of oil. We recommend you to get a little extra amount of oil just in case you need to refill it over time or it happens that you need more oil than you thought on the first hand.
- Oil filter removal tool: You can use a wrench for oil filter removal
- Oil drain container: Take a container in which you will drain the old oil
- Sealing washer
- Funnel: It will help you to refill engine oil
- Wrench and socket: You will need it for removing the drain plug/filter
- Torque wrench: You can use it to torque the filter and sealing plug
- Gloves: You can harm your hands with hot engine oil, so it would be wise to get yourself a pair of gloves to protect yourself
- Wood blocks: This is useful to check your motorcycle engine oil level, place them under the side stand
These are the items you will need to perform an oil change, and now we are going to guide you step by step in completing the process.
If you want to learn How to Change Motorcycle Oil Filter, click on this link.
Step 1: Warm Up the Engine
A warmed engine will make it easier to drain the oil out. Ten minutes of the working engine should be enough for the oil to get warm enough.
Step 2: Drain the Old Oil
Put the motorcycle on the side stand and place the oil container under the motorcycle. Take off the engine drain plug with a socket and wrench. Remove the sealing washer and put the plug in a dish.
CAUTION: Be careful while performing this step, and don’t touch any hot engine parts because it can harm your skin and cause burns.
Let the oil drain completely before going on to the next step. You can shake your motorcycle a little bit to speed up this process.
Note: Don’t do this if your bike is heavy since it can fall and do a lot of damage.
Step 3: Remove the Old Oil Filter
Put the filter removal tool on a wrench and use it to unscrew and detach the old oil filter. Once you remove the filter, there is a little bit of oil left in it, and it will come outside the filter, so leave it to drain completely and use an old rag while separating the filter, so you don’t get your hands messy.
Step 4: Put the New Oil Filter
When there is no more old oil left inside, you can take a new oil filter and prepare it for reinstalling. Take new oil and put a little bit of it on the filter sealing ring. Install the filter. Use your hands to screw it, then use a wrench with a filter adaptor to tighten it completely.
Step 5: Return the Drain Plug (Sealing Plug)
After all the oil is drained, take a new sealing washer and fit it on the engine drain plug. Use your hands to screw the plug into the washer and make sure it is fully tightened. Use a torque wrench to screw the plug completely. If you have any trouble completing this step or are unsure how much torque is recommended, you can always use the motorcycle’s manual to see recommended torque settings.
Step 6: Pour the Fresh Oil
You need to check your motorcycle’s manual to see how much engine oil is necessary for your motorcycle model. Take off the plug on the engine fill hole (it is on the right side of my Kawasaki Z750), put the funnel into the hole, and pour the fresh oil. Pour the oil carefully and try not to overfill it. Pour approximately two-thirds of the total oil amount, and the rest one-third, you should pour slowly. There is a little transparent window on the side on which you can check your oil level and determine if there is enough oil or you need to pour more.
Step 7: Check the Oil Level
You can start your engine and leave it for around 5-10 minutes to warm up a little bit after pouring the appropriate oil level. Take a look at your oil pressure light and ensure it goes out once you start the engine. Once the engine is warm enough, you can turn it off, place the motorcycle on a flat surface and perform one more oil level check. This will take you no more than 5 minutes, and it will have great benefit to double-check the level since the level too low can lead to many problems, and we don’t want this to happen.
If you want to learn How Motorcycle Clutch Works, click on this link
How Often Should You Change the Oil?
There are many factors to take into consideration when answering this question.
Most of the riders, including myself, change the oil once a year, usually before the motorcycle season starts. For most riders, there is no need to change the oil more than once a year; exceptions are riders who have bigger touring motorcycles and make more than 1000 miles trips across America, Europe, or Asia (like some of my fellow friends do).
If you want to learn How to Fix a Motorcycle Clutch, click on this link
There are some tips to change oil every 3-4 months or every 3000-3500 miles. I personally wouldn’t change oil every 3-4 months, but this tip to change the oil every 3000-3500 miles would be smart to perform at race motorcycles that work on higher RPMs such as Yamaha R1, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R, and other motorcycles in that range.
Top 5 Motorcycle Oil Manufacturers and Their Best Products:
1. Motul 5000 4T, 10W40 Motorcycle Oil 4 Litre
Motul is French oil manufacturers and one of the best lubricant specialists on the market; their lubricants are first-class premium quality products.
2. Yamalube All Purpose SAE 10W-40 Oil
This oil has anti-friction additives and can be used in scooters, motorcycles, ATVs, and side-by-side vehicles. It keeps your engine running smoothly and healthy.
3. Lucas SAE 10W-40 Semi-Synthetic Motorcycle Oil
This semi-synthetic oil made for a great performance of both wet clutches and engines. It performs best with ATVs and motorcycles.
4. Castrol 06112 POWER 1 4T 10W-40 Synthetic Oil
Castrol is a British company specialized in producing auto-moto oils. It has a long history dating all to 1899 and is one of the biggest oil companies that sponsor popular sports events like NASCAR races.
5. Royal Purple Max-Cycle 10W-40 Synthetic Motorcycle Oil
Royal Purple is an oil company based in Texas founded by John Williams in 1986. This company has a reputation for producing one of the best synthetic oils for diesel and gas engines.
Watch this video if you need any help with oil changing:
Final Thoughts
Oil changing is an important part of your motorcycle maintenance. What oil replacement does is clean and remove metal fragments and other debris that could damage your engine or transmission, and by draining old oil out, you take these impurities out of the motorcycle system. Change your oil like it is recommended in your bike’s manual unless you are racing, then you should change it more frequently.