changing oil

How do you know when its time to change the oil? Mileage or something else?

well, i guess you don't have a owners manual or a service manual, so if you want to do any work on the bike yourself, get one.  And I think Honda calls for 8000 mile oil changes, so every 8k, Honda wants you to change it, I do mine every 5k and use Mobil1 MX4T Synth Motorcycle Oil.  Yes there is a difference between automobile oil and motorcycle oil. Which ever one you want to use is up to you, but I stick with what is ment for the bike.

I change mine every 2500ish. I started out changing every 3000 or so, and you can really hear a difference when the oil starts breaking down. I would never try to push 8k in one oil change but thats just me. Last time i changed it a little after 2k because i was bored, its winter, and the oil wasn't that bad. After a lot of oil changes and keeping track of how many miles are on it, i like to change mine at the 2500 mark or close to that.

Wow, that is WAY over kill.  What motor oil are you using?

mobil 1 10w-40 full synthetic
 
after 3000 miles, drain the oil and look at it, i wouldn't put it back in for another 5k but thats just me. For what i costs to keep clean oil in my bike ill change it. My cars i let go longer... but not my bike.

I took Honda reccomendation and cut off 3k miles, so I feel pretty safe.  I was also running MX4T in my Katana for 3500miles between changes and that bike is air/oil cooled and runs way hotter then my F4i, oil temp wise. 

5k and good oil isn't too bad. I don't know why honda would recommend 8k. I think that's just pushing it.

i put motul 10w 40 in mine EVERY 3k miles. never go over...ever, usually its a couple hundred before.

I would trust Honda, I mean, they made the bikes, they know what they are talking about. I mean it also depends on how you ride the bike and just because the oil is not light colored does not mean it worn out, most oils turn dark with in a hundred miles or so. I have seen tests for automobiles in which Mobil 1 was used in a LS1 Chevy motor for 18K miles before it was changed out and it still had life left on it.  Granted it was a car, and every 3K they were draining a half quart to send for testing....they only had to change the oil filter once, but that is a pretty good amount of time on a motor oil.

I shoot for even numbers so every 2k for me. I did notice a big shifting difference on the first switch to Honda semi-synthetic from convenentional, but since there has been no diff. I guess I will stretch it 3k and see what happens. I do alot of city driving in the Florida heat, so I really don't wan't to go much past that I guess, although I don't see why not.

My bike oil certainly does not turn dark after a hundred miles. After 1000 miles i can still see through it if i drain it.

Thanks and you are correct I don't have a manual. But I am looking to get one so I don't feel so stupid about working on my bike. The bike has never used synthetic oil so for now I am going to continue with regular oil. Thanks for your response it was helpful!

Ok, no one has said it,  but I cannot STAND when people say you can't switch from Syn to Conven and or back and forth.  That is just a plain out LIE.  The only time a problem will arise if you switch is if the Syn you switch to has more detergents in it.  Sometimes what happens is the conventional oil will leave behind more "crud" and that "crud" will "plug" up small holes and what not, when the higher detergent syn gets put in and after a while it CAN, not always but it CAN clean away that "crud" and you see a leak form. Most people blame in on the syn oil, but infact all the happened what the better oil revealed a problem that was already there.  So switch every other oil change for all anyone cares it will not harm you motor (sorry had to get that out, I got in to a debate at a local Cycle Gear with the guys behind the counted about that...FYI, the guys working at Allentown, PA Cycle Gear...not the best for tech advice)

I do mine every 3000 and if I had the money and time I would do it every 2500.  For $20.00 in oil the performance and jsut overall how much better it is for the bike i feel it is worth it.  I have a cbr900rr with 28k on it so I like to keep it as clean as i can.

I change by time.  I dont ride enough miles, maybe 10k per year.  So I change once to start the riding season (Ohio) and once when I'm about 5-6k which is about half of my expected riding before the bike goes to hibernate.  Some will change oil prior to storage, which essentially becomes a zero mile change because you have to change it upon removal from storage, but I do not believe in changing good oil.  A 3 change season for me would put me at 3-4k per change, and that's a bit overkill so I stick with 2.  Most people here would have a hard time outridng the time schedule (except 3rdgen) so I would just use that.
 
Figure your mileage and then how many changes you will need due to what time of year you ride and how fast you put miles on.  The faster you run up miles, the more miles the oil will last.  Time and usage degrade the oil equally.  If you ride 10k per year, your miles would suggest 5k changes.  If you ride 5k per year, you'd want to change it twice so then you would be down to 2500 per change.  For those that get up there like 20k per year, then its ok to run it out, because your time between changes is shorter than the 5k rider.  I would do 3 changes at 20k so about 7k per change. 
 
Those of you year-round riders can be a bit more even with the changes because you don't have the mandatory spring change.  For those that ride year round, I would recommend six month changes unless you go over 8k within six months.  The time is really the deciding factor.  I hate when I talk to people that are proud of changing their oil once a year because they ride so little.  That is way worse for the motor than overriding a regularly timed change. 
 
And use Repsol for crying out loud, LOL.
 
 

I generally change my oil around the 3000 mile mark but should change far more often than that because I ride my bike quite like most drive their cars.  I guess you can say I really put a lot of wear on the oil.  I have a question for you all, one person hit on synthetic oil, I am curious I am looking at going full syn, what are your viewpoints; pros/cons to this?  I have a 98 900 with about 42,600m on it.

The ONLY CON FOR SYTH is that is COULD have more detergent in, and if you have small leaks being plugged up by crap in your motor(I doubt it), the Synth COULD, MIGHT clear up that junk and reveal a leak....but the synth did not cause the leak, but rather found it....in other words, there really is NO downfall to switching besides price.....

If the only downfall to switching is the price then what would be the positive to switching, does the syn provide something that the regular oil doesn't; power, performance, longevity etc?
 
Is there anyway to determine if the syn oil I just purchased has more detergents that the previously used oil?

I would not worry about the detergents, and to be honest if a leak started I would be glad in a way b/c it pin pointed a problem for me.  The upside is they last longer, vicoisty breakdown is MUCH slower meaning the motor oil last longer inside the motor, they can with stand higher temps and work better at lower temps etc etc.  You will not notice a difference to be honest, but what you can do is extend your drain intervals. Honda calls for 8k miles with conventional oil....knowing that if you wanted you could push way beyond that with a Syth. If you change your oil every 3K with conventional, I would just bump it up to Honda's reccomended oil change at 8K once you go over to Synth.....
 
That is everything in a nut shell....