advice needed,bonnieville warrenty oil change

Got a triumph bonnieville 07. warrenty oil change required at 600 miles done at the dealers with what he said is special oil for triumph made by mobile. next warrenty change is 6000 miles which i had done at a local shop and he didn't put in the oil remmended by triumph. forgot what he said he put in but he said baxters cycle who sells new bonnies recommened his choice. and the guy who changed the oil here said the six thusand mile warrenty change was way to many miles on the bike to wait. only that is company manual specs for the bike with there oil. and the next oil change is suppose to be at 12,000 miles with there oil. any opinions advice, i mean why would triumph stear the customer to wrong advice? i do not feel comfortable with the oil that is now in there. everyone is shaking there heads no about the milage issue thanks

Oil

Everyone has their oil!!! My opinion use oil that is made for air cooled four stroke motors not auto oil change when you think you should and ride the wheels off, your not going to have oil problems. Dutch

I use Royal Purple in my Thruxton since I got it new. You will have no problems using a "NON ENERGY CONSERVING" oil (look at the little wheel emblem with the oil specs in it on the label) as long as it's a synthetic. Mobil One, Royal Purple, Amsoil, all are great and completely compatible. Energy conserving oils have phosphates and disulfides which can imbed in clutches of wetsump engines.
After break-in, usually about 3K miles, you can then extend change time to 12K miles, or more, until the bike gets high mileage and you get fuel and blowby contamination. Figure about 60K miles. You should also then change the filter only every other oil change. The filter works better with a light cake of material on it, will filter finer particles. Stick a healthy magnet on the filter housing. I also have them on the banjo bolts for the oil cooler.
I use 10-30 Royal Purple and am quite happy with it. Will be experimenting with 5-20 change after next.

I dunno about anybody else, and I'm sure there will be varying opinions but I would DEFINITELY change my oil more than every 6K miles, more like every 2500, along with a new filter. I run syn oil in all vehicles and bike, even my dirt bike for that matter.....JMO

The great oil debate

Thank you everyone. I will reach a happy medium on this. and the thruxzton has the same cc as the o7 bonnie so its all good. keep it changed more frequent with a choice of those oils. thank you again susan fireitup

won't argue the oil. the milage interval 2500 to 5000 is the range I would stay in depending on recomendations by the manuf. 12000 is just asking for trouble on your scoot (I don't care what oil you run) and I would definately change the filter with the oil. the air filter is more efficent after some use but an oil filter if bypass type is just as it states it's a bypass when it starts to plug it starts to by-pass allowing contaminated oil to the rest of the system (dirty oil is better than no oil) and the non by-pass is that it fiters till its plugged then no oil will get to the rest of the system, or it sucks the filter in to the systen plugging the gallys, ether way things then stop motion. unless you have a restriction indicator on the filter you won't know if you should have changed it till its to late. remember oil and filter changes, preventive maintanace in general is not an expense its an investment, the filter mags good idea. I myself run amsoil and dump it every 4500 to 5000 as mine are mostly hiwy miles and the filter every time.

A broken in bike running a good synthetic oil makes virtually no wear particles, hence the cake that builds up on the filter element is exceedingly fine and simply decreases the size of the particles which can pass. Pressure increase is tiny, filtration effeciency is substantial. You could probably run a filter put on after the first 3-5K miles (on a bike with good air filters in place) for 20 to 25K miles with no significant impairment of the oil flow. I had an aftermarket oil filter on my 68 Bonneville until the 35K mile mark after a rebuild. After two filter changes and thorough post mortems on the filters, I concluded that the aftermarket filter was just extra weight, so I pulled it off. The bike ran another 57K miles before pulling it down. The engine, so far, looks excellent.
Synth. isn't nearly as hygroscopic, hence picks up less water from the atmosphere and less from combustion. Therefore it doesn't become saturated with acids from the combustion gases.
The molecules are far more resistant to shear and to oxidation from thermal breakdown.
The molecules are nearly all the same size and uniform in constitution.....so it lubricates better. Imagine having the balls in a bearing of several different diameters.
Synthetic oil, like any quality part, lasts longer. Changing it every couple of thousand miles is like changing a nearly new tire. Yeah, it might make you feel good, but it's certainly not necessary. There are enough things I'd like to take care of with the time and resources I would otherwise use wasting perfectly good oil.
What it boils down to it that the rules are different with synthetics, the reality is different. You can use your old habits if you want to, but it's a waste of time and money. I suppose you could also pull your top end off every 10 thousand miles to "decoke" the engine.....but that would be waste of time and money, too. And just as outdated a concept.

i look at my oil when it starts getting dark it goes. that dark crap in there is likely carbon. if i have 4,000 on it and it looks like it did when it put it in; it stays awhile. :devil:

Sooty carbon is harmless, exceedingly soft. It's the metal bits you can't see which are the problem.

The Bonneville has a very reliable and strong motor in it. I would suggest 4000 mile oil changes. A good quality motorcycle oil synthetic is all you need to worry about. I have a Thruxton with a built motor, I like Amsoil, always change the filter with the oil. The Triumph branded mobile 1 is also very good. If you have questions or need help you might give Breeze Cycle a try as I have found them to be very easy to deal with. Oil is the life blood of your motorcycle and changing it more often never hurt a motor I know of. I ride fairly aggressively and I check my oil regualarly and have had no problems with any of my Triumphs. Cheers

oil change

Wow. You guys sure know oil. This Bonnie I have seems to me to be a real good bike. With the dependability of the old Japanese bikes. Still feels like an old bonnie does. I didn' t realize about oil break down. and i will check now in the little window they provide. And use a good synthetic oil. Good advice that oil is cheaper than parts. So even if i end up over changing it it is a better mistake than the other way around. thank you Susan fireitup