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Discussion starter · #22 ·
I agree with KJ7687 about oil changes being subjective, just how there are different opinions about synthetic vs conventional and brands. That was actually the reason for me bouncing off this idea within the forum and I think all opinions are welcome and valid. If you had multiple bikes and never an issue with not doing them, great! If you’re uncomfortable thinking there’s a bunch of gunk in the oil after break in, then that’s cool too. Let’s just learn from each other’s experiences, that’s what this is all about.
 
New engine manufacturing technologies, tight tolerances, materials used in bearings, rings and cylinder walls, coupled with the cleanliness of factories today, fine surface finishes applied to the cylinder wall and reciprocating bearing surfaces, and factory initial fire up processes - mean that there is virtually nothing in the oil and filter after 600 miles, except oil. Just stick to the factory specs. 600 miles for the first oil/filter change.

The engine/trans is designed to operate on Yamalube 10W40 and 10W50, that meets both API SG and JASO MA specification (MA2 is aplos applicable as it exceeds the MA rating). This indicates the intended specific oil is Yamalube FS4, which is fully synthetic. Interestingly, the SG specification is obsolete, so we can assume that SN or SP will be adequate as the modern standard - however, API specifications do not cover motorcycle engine oil use directly. The JASO MA standard, which covers engines where the engine and transmission share the same oil, is actually more applicable in the case of the R3. This includes their MA2 rating, and now the latest T900 and T903 specification. At this time, the following oils meet both standards:

Yamalube FS4
Yamalube GP Racing Spec 4T
Yamalube HP High Performance 4T (available in a change kit with filter)
Valvoline 4-Stroke Synthetic Motor Oil
Mobile 1 Racing 4T
Amsoil Synthetic Metric Motorcycle Oil
Motul 300V 4TMotul 3000 Plus 4T
Motul 5000 and 5100 4T
Castrol POWER1 4T
Castrol Actevo Synthetic Motorcycle Oil
Castrol Actevo X-Tra T
Silkolene Pro 4
Silkolene Comp 4
Silkolene Super 4 (semi-synthetic)

While there are many who feel that any motor oil will work, and will attest that they have never had a single issue running whatever brand they find at the auto parts store, there is no harm putting in a little extra effort to utilize a proper motorcycle lubricant that covers the needs of the gear box and clutch, rated JASO MA, MA2, T900 or T903. I have personally found that Yamalube gets the job done, and have been running it in pretty much every motorcycle I have owned for years, including Kawasakis and Aprillias, etc..
 
I also changed my oil a bunch of times for break in, I use regular car motor oil (not synthetic or even no synthetic blend) right from the start. I do the first one at 10 miles, second at about 40 and so on. I also run the engine right up to redline right away and always vary the rpm as much as possible. There is a web site that shows why this method works from a while back that even shows pictures of the pistons after this method of break in vs the baby the engine method of break in and the hard break in pistons show like no visible blow by, meaning much better piston ring seal, while pistons from a normal (low rpm) break in show lots of blow by from the piston rings.
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
Interesting, thanks for sharing!! Probably too late for me, I’m at about 230 miles now with an oil change at about 40. Did go full open throttle but never went above ~7,500 for a second or two. Here’s a picture of what the filter looked like although I wasn’t sure if the gunk was from the engine or from me cutting it open. I was pretty careful though.

Hand Product Finger Material property Gas
 
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