Service Interval Poll - Middle & Final Drive Oil Change

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Oil

So I just changed my middle and final drive oils and felt like I just waisted good oil out of the final drive. The service manual says to change it at 5000 mile intervals but I changed it at about 8000 miles. The final drive oil looked as good as when it went in and the magnet on the plug didnt have much on it. The middle drive oil was darker and the plug had maybe twice the amount of sludge on it... Im using a Valvoline synthetic blend and I believe the service intervals can be doubled or more if you are using a synthetic blend or full synthetic. I'd like to hear what intervals people are changing their middle and final drive oils at and what oil they use. This isnt intended to be a debate on what is the best oil to use, just what you use and what interval you change it at.

Thanks!

Valvoline "Durablend" Synthetic Blend, SAE 85W-140, meets API GL-5 and MT-1 services... about to go to 10,000 mile interval.

When to change your drive gear oil? Well, it comes down to three things. Load + speed + usage. If you put your bike on the center stand and put it in gear at normal speeds, it would take 100 thousand miles of running and the gear oil would still be fine. If you put a 700lb payload on the same bike and took it through the mountains, your lube would require a lot more changes. Next, if you rode your bike at 100 mph+ speeds, like the autobahn, then the same would apply, more changes. The average guy can safely change it every 8000 miles and be fine, just MHO.

[Dragon Tamer]

Once a year, in the spring. I have been using synthetic, don't know which one and don't have the ambition to go out to the shed and look right at the minute. Most likely whatever was the cheapest at Fleet/Farm. This means an interval of around 20,000 miles or maybe a bit more. It still looks good when I drain it and have never had any problems.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Years

Once a year, in the spring. I have been using synthetic, don't know which one and don't have the ambition to go out to the shed and look right at the minute. Most likely whatever was the cheapest at Fleet/Farm. This means an interval of around 20,000 miles or maybe a bit more. It still looks good when I drain it and have never had any problems.

It would take me years to put 20,000 miles on my bike, in fact it is 33 years old and still doesn't have 20,000 miles on it yet That is why I would change at a lower millage then you or anyone who rides that much, for my oil's age and moisture build up

[TopCatGr58]

Don't shoot me! But hey, the manual also says the brake lines should be changed every 4 years....really!

I rebuilt my bike in 2000, have only put on about 16K miles since then since I'm just a weekend summer rider, not a commuter. I have YET to change mine since the rebuild. I'll probably check it this YEAR now that the temps have finally started to get warm enough to ride without a SKI SUIT!

But since the tranny and final drive are broken in, there isn't any more metal shavings being produced. However, I "think" I used regular 80/90 Castrol brand or Valvoline Hypoid gear oil. I'll probably get some of that fancy 75/140 synthetic stuff for the middle/final drives when I check/drain them this time, so I can IGNORE them longer without any worry! YMMV!

T.C.