Hi Guys 

Do you change your oil every 6 months or as per the kms, or whichever comes first.

I dont ride big kms and its been over 6 months,  I havent done the kms to reach the service interval.

thoughts ? 

Generally change my oil every 5 thousand Ks. Manual says 8 thousand Ks but that seems to far for me. The 6 month thing is a curly one, I seldom do the mileage on my Hilux before the months run out. Does not worry me to leave the oil in for a few more months till the miles are done. Under warranty I would stick to the reccommendations just in case, after that it's a toss up. What if the oil you use has been sitting on the shelf for 6 months or longer before you use it? Reckon you would have to be slightly parranoid to throw it out.

6 months on the shelf wouldn't bother me. Six years and I'd start to wonder. I'd probably shake the bottle and still use it though I have no idea of the sitting life (inside a bike) on oils though...

engine oil and filter every 4000km- half service
engine oil and filter, transmission and primary oils every 8,000km- full service

96ci engine

Engine oil every 4-5k

Once a year, however I'm using a full synthetic oil.

I get mine serviced at ABW HD. Oil and filter / check up on the 5K, full service on the even 10K. Easy to keep track of and economical. Have done so since bought S/H at 17K, now 76K and still going well. 

Oil and filter every 5,000klm with full synthetic oil, gearbox and primary every year.

I'll give a very short answer here for the 6 monthly service overrider, these are only a couple of the many reasons.

Traditionally low kilometre vehicles are mainly used for shorter runs and have both higher than average running time at below optimum running temperatures and have a higher idle percentage than high kilomtre units.

Both of those problems degrade the additives in the oil quicker than traditional higher mileage between services. The base oil doesn't actually break down, only the additives.

They do this because it makes more acids, suffers more fuel wash and carries more moisture. It then cuaes higher than normal component wear so suspends more contaminants. It is like a snowball effect.

Low Kilometre is often categorised as “severe service” by some manufacturers for those reasons. .

If ever you are not sure about your oil go to a truck spare parts place and buy an oil sample kit, they cost $30. Put some of your old oil in it and post it off for testing. You'll get a full report on the oil, including contaminant % etc.

 

every 5 weeks 

Thats good to know Methuselah i reckon it's always best to ask an old bloke.

Methuselah is spot on IMHO
Im Not an expert and the below only my opinion.
I will change every 5000km or yearly whichever comes first. Ill probably do between 5&10 thousand KM per year. I will only use Full synthetic in my 07 twin cam. The synthetics handle the later model twin cam temperatures better. I wouldnt worry too much about the age of the oil in OZ. If we were in a cold climate and the bike sat for long periods I would change more often. Condensation can build up in the oil necessitating more frequent oil changes especially when doing low KM's. In OZ we are probably pretty safe at 5K and yearly.

great info in here guys

not oil again . some people think there harley is a complex space shuttle engine when its more like a tractor only less complex the amount of crap that goes around of the "best" harley oil would fill a book for 30 years and a few hundred thousand klm i put in penrite 20w-50  mineral diesel in the engine type F auto transmission in the primery and 80w-90 in the gear box no problems . people ask why diesel oil ? when you have an air cooled bike living in queensland diesel oil is best for handleing high temps remember alot of new machanics are now just glorifed parts fitters and dont know shit they will tell you bullshit to upsell you shit that your bike doent need there seems to have developed allmost an oil snobbery with dickheads compeating to use the most expensive products and change the oil more often than you need . hey if people want to throw away there hard earned cash on shit that makes no difference then they have more money than brains . 

On my daily ride I change engine oil and oil filter every 5,000km (which is about 4 times a year).

On my other bike; I do less than 5,000km per year so the engine oil and filter change is once per year in late Autumn so that she is stored over winter with new clean fluids inside her.

And I cannot be bothered with the debate on oils, so I use normal Harley 20-50 in my bikes.

I change mine every 12 months or 8000kms (which ever comes first - so far that's been 12 months).

Every 4,000 K's on my own bikes , irrespective of "time" but it's always inside of a year.

Perth WA of course is never that cold , and we can ride all year ( as long as it's dry haha..)

Usually I have 2 bikes at any one time

Twice as often as Harley suggest , but seems correct to me.

Full synthetic throughout , engine oil tank / Primary and Transmission( Gearbox)

Whatever brand I get Bulk deals on at the time , Mobil 1 or whatever.

Not as "wasteful" as it sounds , the trans and primary only have 1Quart apiece ( 946Ml)

The engine oil gets carefully "recycled" into the second family shitbox car , a quarter of a million K's Suzuki Liana hatch

I split hairs and go 6,500klms because I'm a miserable bastard. gearbox and primary every second service I do change a filter every time though.Syn in all holes and the question of oil going off? if I thought Syn oil would go off I would go back to mineral oil? what is it Milk or oil ?

cheers Jimmy