I have a 2009 KLX250SF and I'm about to handle the first oil change.

Flipping though the manual it states the oil is 10W-40. However, it also states to you "may need to change" to a different viscosity due to "atomspheric conditions."

I live in Central Florida so it rarely gets below freezing. Possibly for a couple of days (spread out) through winter. And I wouldn't be riding anyway when it's that cold.

My riding temps are between 50 to 90 or more. And there's the humidity here.

The manual says the 10W-40 is for temps up to 104. It doesn't get that hot but it may be above that with the "real feel" temp when you include the humidity on some days (temp is 95 but real feel is 105).

Anyone have thoughts on changing my oil viscosity due to my climate?

Maybe changing to 20W-50?

Thanks.



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Just checked the manual. 20W-50 would be a good choice for your bike/climate.
The humidity effect on how temps feel affects us not our bikes. Humidity will have slight affects on the air/fuel ratio.

 

20w-50 is fine. Rotella 15w-40 is great for it, too. Rotella 15w-40 is within 0.3 Centi-stokes of being a 50 weight, so, it's ALMOST a 15w-50. Speaking of 15w-50, Mobil 1 makes an excellent 15w-50 that would be great in this bike, although it will be more expensive than the Rotella.

No matter what you choose, just change it out every 1000-1500 miles, and you'll be fine. The need to change wet-clutch-shared-sump oil a bit more often (due to the shed material of the clutch pack) is self explanatory, but, many motorcycles are shear-monsters...that's the real reason we need to change out the oil so soon.

I spent about 1000.00 in oil analysis on several bikes and cars (the KLX was NOT one of them), and off-road thumpers are generally very hard on oil. I'd run several of my cars 15000 miles before changing them (backed up by Used Oil Analysis), but, not so on these bikes. Honda Goldwing? Sure, it may be able to go nearly 10,000 miles between changes, depending on the conditions.

Oh, and change your filter every other time, if you're putting 1000 miles between changes.

 

I have used both 10w-40 and 20w-50 oil before. I prefer the 10w-40 weight oil for being easier to start with and still providing the thickness for high heat. The temps around my area in the summer may reach over 100*F, and the KLX runs fine with the 10w-40 oil. Now, if race or off-road most of the time, then the 20w-50 will be the better choice against thermal breakdown. But for street cruising and the occusional off-roading, the 10w-40 works best.

FYI: Don't use the 20w-50 oil when it get cold, like when the high for the day is below 50*F. KLX engine doesn't like it, and takes too long to get warmed up. So it drives sluggish.

 

Do you guys recomend syn for the oil or not...I run syn in everything

 

Ever since Castrol won a lawsuit against Mobil 1, the term "synthetic" means very little...it's now a marketing term, not a scientific term. MOST synthetics (funny that this now includes some Mobil 1 products) are actually just severely hydrocracked Group III mineral oils. The performance benefits of thes Group III oils are ALMOST as good as anything made in a laboratory, at MUCH, MUCH lower cost.

It won't hurt anything to run "synthetics" (again, because MOST of them aren't REALLY synthetic), but, you stand to gain perhaps no real benefit from them. Modern, true synthetics don't have the seal swelling problems of old, and you surely aren't going to hurt your engine...the only thing that's really important is to not try to extend oil change intervals too much with synthetics in a carburated, wet-clutch, shared sump thumper. That's a reason to use Rotella 15w-40. Then again, the KLX doesn't hold a big volume, so, it's not really expensive if you choose to use a synthetic and still change it often.

 

Itīs really hot here in Spain , in the summer the temps get over 90 - 100 F . I ( and many of my friends ) use Castrol Power 1 10W50 or Castrol GPS 15W50 as a cheaper alternative .
Allways change the filter . If you ride the bike hard change the oil more often ( 5000 Km )

 

Cool, thanks everyone for the great info.


I guess for me it's whether to stay with 10w-40 or "step up" to 15w-40 from Rotella.



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We ride at 110+ F here in the desert...it makes sense to use a 50 weight, or, something close to a 50 weight, such as Rotella. The thing about the filter is this: they get MORE efficient as they age, up to a point where they get overloaded. Based upon UOA's from thousands of samples, if you are changing oil every 1000-2000 miles on a motorcycle engine, and you don't have anything wrong with it and aren't thrashing the heck out of it continuously, you could leave the filter in for many changes before it got overloaded. Every OTHER oil change is more than enough, and your insoluables will be LOWER after the second run, if you compared run One to run Two.

 

The thing about filters is correct.

In MY opinion.

Importance of oil change in this order:

1. Frequency Most important. The manual is usually close, but we ride single cylinder engines with wet clutches and transmission sharing the motor oil. More often is a good thing. If you don't change your oil at all, the engine will have a shorter life.

I change mine every 1,000 miles and not always the filter. It only holds a quart and a cup. $5.00 for mineral oil plus my time. Cheap!

2. Viscosity. Use what the engine was designed for. Do not put straight 60 wt in anything designed for 10w 30. 10w40 or 15w50 are both close enough for our bikes. Make sure the oil meets or exceeds the specs in the manual.

3. Brand of oil. If you adhere to one and two above, I don't think it matters one bit which brand you use or how much you pay for it.

Flame away. Thirty years experience and two years of automotive college taught me this.

2000 BMW R1100RT 125,000 miles on it. Always had Valvoline 10W40 mineral oil changed every 3,000 miles with filter. Burns about a half quart between changes. Holds 4 quarts.

199 Dodge truck V6 218,000 miles. Uses NO oil, changed oil and filter every 3,000 miles since new.

2009 Kawasaki big bore.... Changed every 1,000 miles. Just getting broken in. 6,000 miles on bike.

David