OUCH, my **** hurts. Get that stick out, now!

My local independent charged $40 to check valves, another $20 or so to make adjustments (which weren't needed). Find a good dirt bike shop.

 

Sorry, man. I live in Rio, Brazil. What I pay won't serve much as a reference for you.

 

Appearance of an oil doesn't guarantee it's condition. Dark oil can be fine. Oil that "seems thick" doesn't mean it's good, either. Oil thins as it shears, then it generally thickens as it oxidizes. The ONLY way to be certain you are doing the correct change interval is to send it to a good lab, and have a knowledgeable person interpret the results. I'd be willing to bet the 250.00 oil change cost that 7500 is past generally acceptable oil performance limits on this engine when it has been run at high rpms.

Your oil loss can be due to a couple of things...the oil sheared too thin, and therefore was making it easier to escape, it's flash point dropped so low that it was evaporating (and going out the crankcase vent), and/or the engine is experiencing accelerated wear from oil that is not doing as good a job as fresher oil, and you're simply burning it as it passes the rings.

Another thing...MOST "full synthetic" oils are simply severely hydrocracked petroleum base oils. This is because of the Castrol/Mobil lawsuit many years ago, that Castrol won, which essentially allowed Group III base oils to be called "synthetic". Since then, "synthetic" is a marketing term, not a scientific term. The good thing is, Group III oils perform darn well, and, they are much cheaper than a TRUE synthetic.

Again, "Full Synthetic" is a marketing term, not a scientific one. One last thing: just because one is running a TRUE synthetic, it doesn't mean the oil is performing better than a Group III oil with a good additive package. It depends. There's where UOA's come into play, by sending samples to a good lab, and getting experienced interpretations of the results.

OR, just keep the old mechanic's and wive's tales perpetuating myths going...and we'll have another old-fashioned oil war thread, full of partial truths and ignorance.

 

Back to OP's question...things that he may add:

I don't now how important tear down, inspection and fresh lubrication of the other moving parts are to a mostly street ridden SF, but it seems they should be checked. I'll be doing that again this winter (swing arm, linkage, steering head).

Change sprockets with the chain. Watch the sprockets for wear. The chain has a stretch spec in the manual. Changing one without the other usually causes severe wear in the new part.

How about replacing fork oil?

Check the spokes.

Lubricate the cables (2x per year or so for me).

 

My oil isn't even warmed up by then!

Actually, it is. I have a Thermo-Bob. I change oil including filters in my bikes at 3000 mile intervals.

Ron

 

$75 bucks for an oil change? Glad I don't live in your neighborhood.

Call me curious, bored, ****, whatever but the invoice you show has charges for two different weights of oil. That or my eyes have finally failed. Have the specs changed and now call for mixing weights?.......Just asking. j/k

 

If someone isn't able to do their own oil change for whatever reason that $40 labor charge is pretty reasonable.

 

Yeah but $26 bucks for a quart and a half of oil? I know some shops keystone (double) parts cost and then tack on labor but sheez. I use Castrol Synthetic and want to say my oil cost is around $8/qt, or $12 for the fill (buy em 3 at a time..). Throw in a good filter for 4 bucks and a half a roll of paper towels and I'm still south of $20 for part and out 1/2 hour of my precious time the could be better used reading forums.

 

only had one redline 10w/30 and one 10w/40...used half of the redline 10w/40...not too worried about mixing oils long as it's the same brand...

like to always have spare parts before doing any work on the moto...i'll be more prepare next time...oil was little low, so just wanted to take care of it...woke up and rolled into the shop...was too lazy to do diy...probably keep a spare washer, drain plug and gasket in the toolbox before the next oil change...and some redline 10w/40...

 

Oil change for me is every 3000 kms (2000 miles) At 5 bucks a quart for the cheapest JASO approved oil this is not a big expense. Once a year for plug change and valve check. Every 2 years for swingarm and stem bearings and brake fluid change. 3 years for coolant. I think that sums up my schedule