First oil change

just did the first oil change..bike has just over 200 miles on it. Not sure when the manual says to do the first one, but wanted to get it done and out of the way. Engine should be plenty broken in by now.

Anyway, the oil filter was really dirty. Is that normal for the first oil change on these??

I did mine at 600 as per Yamaha's recommendations. I don't know if I'd really say your engine is "plenty broken in" by now. Not saying changing the oil was a bad idea. As far as a dirty filter, are you sure it was actually "dirty" and not just the color of the oil it was still retaining?

I have rode it pretty hard since day one, so that is why I am saying its broken in now. It is really hard not to hit the rev limiter on the little 250.

The only point of reference I have is when I would change the oil in the DRZ, the filter did not look nearly as dirty. And it looks very dirty, not just shades darker from being wet as opposed to dry.

I'll see what it looks like on the next oil change.

You only have 1.5 quarts of oil for engine and clutch.

It gets "dirty and dark" looking real fast on these bikes.

motokid wrote:

You only have 1.5 quarts of oil for engine and clutch.

It gets "dirty and dark" looking real fast on these bikes.

OK, good to know. I am guessing doing single track and spending hours in lower gears makes that happen quicker too.

I know people on TT always pushed changing oil on the DRZ no more than 1000 miles. Anyone do WRR oil changes sooner than the 3000 mile intervals in manual?

DougZ wrote:

motokid wrote:

You only have 1.5 quarts of oil for engine and clutch.

It gets "dirty and dark" looking real fast on these bikes.

OK, good to know. I am guessing doing single track and spending hours in lower gears makes that happen quicker too.

I know people on TT always pushed changing oil on the DRZ no more than 1000 miles. Anyone do WRR oil changes sooner than the 3000 mile intervals in manual?

Many people change oil like it's their underwear.

Do what makes you happy and comfortable.

Just don't stress if you go a little longer than you think is needed.

Yamaha says 3000 miles for oil, and 6000 miles for filter.

I do oil and filter at same time around 3000 miles-ish.

Or whenever I think it's time. The wr's designed and built to be a bullet-proof bike.

You can also send an oil sample in and get it tested. I use Blackstone Labs and add on the TBN test to see how much life is left in the oil.

DougZ wrote:

just did the first oil change..bike has just over 200 miles on it. Not sure when the manual says to do the first one, but wanted to get it done and out of the way. Anyway, the oil filter was really dirty. Is that normal for the first oil change on these??

I changed the oil and filter the first time at 20 miles while doing the Motoman thing. Oil and filter were really dirty. I think I posted pics here somewhere of oil in glass vials and the corresponding filter. Both looked fugly. Amuse yourself after your next oil change, grabbing regular looks through the oil level sight glass after an oil change. See how quickly it darkens up, even if you go to great lengths to get as much of the old oil out as possible.

Quote :

Anyone do WRR oil changes sooner than the 3000 mile intervals in manual?

I change mine around 1500 miles, sorta, more or less. I'm sure the oil still has life in it, but as I see it, when you look at how cheap Walmart sells Rotella 5/40 wt, how little oil goes in the little bugger, and how little time it takes, I change the oil often. Can't hurt, and with the small volume of oil might possibly help.

OK, thanks for the feedback.

In any case, I am doing less oil changes than i did with the DRZ, and its a whole lot easier. Not that the DRZ was hard, but the WRR has half the things to deal with.

Oil weight issue???

I went riding yesterday with some buddies, and started having a hell of a time to get the bike in first after stopping. I had to start in second and rev it to get going. I then started to get it in first before coming to a stop, but then having to keep the clutch pulled in while waiting to start off again. It was a PIA.

Anyone ever experience this issue??

I recently changed the oil and put in Yamilube 10W40.

Should I have used a lower weight oil??

When pressing the shift lever down to select first, if it doesn't go straight in, let the clutch lever out a little bit for an instant while keeping light pressure down on the shift lever.
Once you get used to doing that, you won't have a problem.

This has been the case on some of my bikes.

Sometime, the gear dogs and slots on the sides of the gears aren't aligned like they need to be in order for the transmission to go straignt into first gear, and letting the clutch lever out a bit rotates them.

Yamalube 4 10/40 is just fine and dandy.

YZEtc wrote:

When pressing the shift lever down to select first, if it doesn't go straight in, let the clutch lever out a little bit for an instant while keeping light pressure down on the shift lever.
Once you get used to doing that, you won't have a problem.

This has been the case on some of my bikes.

Sometime, the gear dogs and slots on the sides of the gears aren't aligned like they need to be in order for the transmission to go straignt into first gear, and letting the clutch lever out a bit rotates them.

Yamalube 4 10/40 is just fine and dandy.

OK, thanks, I'll try that. I was thinking the oil since it is the only thing that changed recently, and I not remember it doing it at all before I changed the oil.

If I were going to try a different oil viscosity to cure it, I'd go with a 10/50, 15/50, or 20/50.
It may or may not.

I noticed once I went to the Rotella 15/40 it doesn't do that anymore.

OK, thanks peops.

Change the oil again at 600 miles. Then maybe again at 1500 miles. After that, change it every couple thousand or so. Typically I run between 1500 and 3500 miles between changes, I change when the shifting gets notchy so that time varies depending on the riding and conditions I've been in. I changed the filter every change up to about 15,000 miles, now I tend to do it every other.

YZEtc wrote:

When pressing the shift lever down to select first, if it doesn't go straight in, let the clutch lever out a little bit for an instant while keeping light pressure down on the shift lever.
Once you get used to doing that, you won't have a problem.

This has been the case on some of my bikes.

Sometime, the gear dogs and slots on the sides of the gears aren't aligned like they need to be in order for the transmission to go straignt into first gear, and letting the clutch lever out a bit rotates them.

Yamalube 4 10/40 is just fine and dandy.

I am quoting and thanking you again for the advice. I started trying it today and it worked great.

i did the motoman style break in i changed oil and filter after 20 miles both where super dirty and filter had tiny metal flakes in it im glad i changed my oil after 20 hard miles bc i wouldnt want that crap in there while i was riding then i installed new K&N oil filter gytr magnetic drain pug and new oil and rode my bike till 780 miles thats when my oil finally got dark it took alot longer than id expect then i changed the filter with a newer K&N one and checked my magnetic drain plug and there was a very fine metallic dust pasty stuff that it caught it was a pretty decent amount im glad i bought that magnetic drain plug it works really good then i changed o-rings and oil and now im still riding it and oil looks good in glass im at 1030 miles