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I'm going against the legal/marketing dept that wrote the owners manual. They don't ride nor do they have a clue in most cases.
U change ur oil every 10 hrs? I'd say its pretty safe to say that the trail riding ur doing isn't that hard on ur bikes? I dunno. But I know that it can't be harder than the time I spent on my CRF racing MX. And I was doing 30 hrs before changes. To each his own but I think its safe to say u might be going overboard.
I've never blown up a engine yet. And while that might seem odd to some here, I find other behavior odd. Such as free reving a fuel injected bike while at the starting gate of a MX race over and over as the bike is overheating. Yet that same racer also changes their oil every weekend and spends bookoo bucks on parts to make the engine run cooler.
Stay off the rev limiter. Engines last longer and so does oil. Also, suspension works better. Nothing wrong with upshifting.
FWIW, guys who ride 350s over at KTM talk claim they make oil changes every 750-1000mi (roughly 7-10 tanks), equal to about 30 hrs.
I dunno if u read the entire thread or not, but I'm not racing this bike. Its being ridden at low RPMs mostly 6th gear on road. Very easy time on the motor.
And ya, I'm also one of those people that knows better than to change my cars oil every 3k miles. Another waste of money. 10k minimum. Every time. Zero issues.
The oil debate is a classic. Never to be settled. But consider the audience.... Most would spend $1500 on a exhaust that saves 3/4 a lb of weight and makes less HP than stock instead of simply laying off the JackintheBox and losing the weight where it matters, their waistline.
The Shop
I got ahold of Munn Racing and he emphatically told me that I got nothing to worry about. Same filter.
Put another 50 mi on the bike today. Damn I love this bike. I'm definitely still in the honeymoon phase.
Oil changes are cheap and give me peace of mind. During changes, I do see a few metal flakes on the magnet..maybe due to my Rekluse. It's nice to check that, if nothing else, to ensure there are no preventable problems that need to be addressed.
by the way I change my oil at 10 hours but I do a lot of tight singletrack riding and the engine gets hot from not enough airflow so I don't mind changing at 10 hours and do the oil filter every other change.
Car oils do not have the sheer additives the MC oils have to keep the oil from breaking down from the constant grinding of the oil between the trans gears and wet clutch.
Thinking about a NEW Husky my self.
FX,TX,XCF and XC= Off road race bike and some MX
TE and XCW= 2 stroke dedicated off road bike
FE and EXC= 4 stroke dedicated off road bike+ street legal
XCFW on longer in production but it was a dedicated off road bike not street legal. Pre 17 FE's were the same.
Hope that helps.
As Ive said, Ive never blown up a motor. Then again, I also upshift when necessary.
(Quote) "The W stands for wide ratio transmission, but does that mean the EXC-F doesn't have a wide ratio despite being a dual sport?"
AFAIK. The XCW has a wide ratio 5 speed. The EXC has a 6 speed.
The explanation by a OEM engineer was this:
- not everything in the owner's manuals are written by techs. Some stuff is written by the bean counters
- they are more worried about warranty issues than they are worried about your wallet, so they play everything on the super safe side
- one of the ways they do this is to ask that you change the oil hyper-frequently. They have to cater everything to the lowest common denominator. They wrote those recommendations for the knucklehead that doesnt warm up his bike, doesnt do a proper break in of the motor, and lives in 2nd gear no matter where he is on the track.
Four-strokes tend to have pretty loose fitting pistons these days because they all run so damn hot, which leads to a lot of blowby until the engine gets up to temperature. That fuel mixing with the engine oil Im gonna safely assume isnt a good thing. Simply not warming up your bike properly is going to break down your oil faster. Ask yourself how many people actually warm up their bikes? Taking the extra moment to let the bike idle so my oil doesnt get gas in it is just one of a few ways I avoid having to change the oil every other ride.
I think a lot of it depends on how you ride. I go easy on my bikes. But heck, go check out a world enduro race sometime. Those guys put their airfilters & engine oil thru hell and the bikes do just fine. Those are the gnarliest conditions a bike can be put thru and while they get their filters & oil changed during the races, the time in between can be several hours of hell on the engines. I dont think the weekend warrior even comes close in comparison.
I think a lot can be said for letting the bike warm up properly and upshifting. I truly believe that the "4strokes are timebombs" problems are user created.
Everyone knows that a bike will last longer at lower RPM's. 4strokes have plenty of torque to live in the mid RPM range. And suspension is easier to set up and works better at lower RPM's. Learning to ride that way has so many benefits but to each his own. I think it's understandably hard for most to shake the 2stroke habits.
Pit Row
Post a reply to: understanding KTMs (and other enduro type questions)