Probably due to the clutch friction plates but the oil as seen through the site glass seems to really get dark fast on the KLX.

 

Yeah it gets dark fast. After thinking it through, it makes you wonder why the recommended service interval is so high. Especially if the oil is shared. Not sure I want friction material lubricating my cylinder wall.

 

As long as the oil doesn't have friction modifiers that mess up the clutch.

I'll buy into the "total BS" and use only oils that meet the specs listed in the owner's/service manual. If I pay a little more so be it, probably still cheaper than replacing a clutch*.
*which would pack it in at the least convenient time aka middle of nowhere.

 

Engine oil getting dark relatively quickly and therefore in need of quicker changing is an old wive's tale. Generally speaking the color or darkness of the oil does not reflect the quality or life remaining in a given crankcase oil. Modern oils have had cleaning and suspension agents for decades now that keep sludge, deposits, and combustion byproducts from building up on the internal parts or builing up layers in the oil pan or crankcase bottom. In most all cases oil "should" turn relatively dark relatively quickly. Used oil can only be truly assessed by a lab oil analysis. Most of us don't want or need to mess with sending in oil samples to a lab when dealing with such a small amount of oil in our KLX. I can just about guarantee that all of us are dumping out perfectly good oil in most of our service changes. Dark oil isn't a problem. Do some searches on the issue, and you'll see what's going on there.

I'm old enough to remember when people ran single weight non-detergent motor oils in their cars...the 60's at least. I worked at a GM dealership part time as a kid as a mechanic's assistant in San Antonio. Multiviscosity, detergent oils were just coming into widespread use. When you opened up an engine that had run for a decent time on non-detergent oil, it had gunk built up on just about every component in the engine and a nice layer of sludge in the crankcase and lifter valley. Owners were often shocked when they saw that, and their response was, "I don't understand...the oil on my dipstick was always so clean!" Yep...I'm sure it was...because it certainly didn't clean and suspend the deposits created by the engine.

 

TNC, I agree 100 percent about modern oil. I'm a mechanic my self and specialize in german/euro cars. A lot of them have really high service intervals and lots of cheapie oil change places don't use proper oils. Those two things combined ruin engines internally. I can always tell right away if a engine has proper service just by looking at a cam shaft by opening the oil cap on a valve cover.

I recently sold my 04 Mustang and changed the oil with Mobil 1 synthetic since it was new. At 90k miles the cam shaft where the rocker rubs was the same exact color as the bearing cap. The dip sick had no varnish or build up on it. I swear it looked new, literally like it's second oil change. I see a lot of cars come in that are just terrible by 30k miles. I suppose every 3k oil changes was slightly early or just on the money but wasnt necessary for my car.

I agree about dumping out good oil but I suppose if I change the oil once or twice a year is no biggie. Cheap insurance. With that being said I guess this doesn't really prove anything but it's just my mentality.

IIRC the book says every 7.5, that's too much. The dealer says 3k. I'd say 3k Max. So for me...? I'm not sure yet. This thread has my opinion evolving constantly.

 

Well did my first oil service when I got into work this morning. Like it should be there was nothing impressive, just business as usual. I was actually surprised to see how much cleaner the oil looked coming out then it did in the sight glass. There was barely any sediment on top of the drain plug, not even enough to cover it left to right.

I think I'll increase my oil changes in 500 mile increments until I find that perfect interval to stick with. I'm thinking 1,500 is reasonable, maybe more. I'll know when I get there.

 

I've noticed that it comes out cleaner than it looks in the sight glass as well. I do 2K oil changes or sooner if I'm really gonna beat on it. 3k would probably be fine, but I like to rag on it. I just hit 6k miles on the ODO and the down shifting has finally smoothed out. It was so bad I almost got rid of the bike.

 

You cannot tell the perfect interval by looking at the oil. If this interests you enough, do used oil analysis testing at mileage intervals and determine when the oil needs replacing.

 

Just so you know... "final break in" isn't complete until you're laying in the dirt with a broken collar bone...

 

Haha challenge accepted! Except the broken bone thing...