Ridden Hard And Put Up Wet
Monday, February 6th, 2017
My CB750 has served me better than I have served it.
I’ve never claimed to be overly concerned about upkeep on my motorcycles, but I think I just hit a new low. I’m actually embarrassed.
I’ve known for some time that I was well overdue on changing the oil in my Honda CB750 Custom. I did change that oil on Saturday and oh my gosh. That so-called oil was the dirtiest, ugliest, sludgiest mess of stuff that I’ve ever seen. Slap my hand, hard!
With three bikes, I only ride this particular one about 600 to 800 miles a year. If you figure 3,000 miles between oil changes that’s nearly four years. Yes, I know you should change the oil every six months even if you don’t put that many miles on but I just haven’t done so. But what I hadn’t thought about until recently was that this bike also burns some oil. After it sits awhile, when I start it up it has a bunch of oil that has seeped past the rings that has to be burned out. It can get a little smoky.
What that means, of course, is that it was also low on oil. In the last couple months I’ve added a bit here and there but never topped it off because I figured I’d be replacing it soon. Which I finally did.
When I drained it there was probably less than two quarts that came out, while it’s supposed to hold nearly four quarts. And as I said, it was incredibly ugly stuff. I guess my only saving grace here is that this CB750 motor is one of those bullet-proof motors that will take just about anything you throw at it. Like the slant-six motor in my Dad’s old Plymouth Valiant.
So I put in a new filter and filled it with good, clean, fresh motorcycle oil and fired it up there on the center stand. It just seemed to run better than it had for a long time. Then I rocked it down and took it out for a spin. It really seemed to be running better–happier–than it had for a long time.
OK, I admit it. I’ve been a bad owner. And now the thing is, I have two other bikes that are also overdue for oil changes, though nothing like the Honda. And neither of them lose or use oil the way the Honda does. The V-Strom had its oil changed about 18 months ago, about 3,000 miles ago. The Concours has more months and more miles since its last change.
This is where it gets rough. With the Honda and the Suzuki, oil changes are easy. With the Kawi it is necessary to remove some of the body work and then there are two drain plugs rather than just one, plus the filter to be removed. That’s what always discourages me from doing what I know needs to be done with that bike. Anything that requires removal of body work gets put off.
Oh well. I did finally leave the National Park Service again, this time I hope for the last time, so now I have a lot more time at my disposal. I guess I owe it to my bikes to devote more of that time to them.
Biker Quote for Today
Payday! Let’s order some bike parts!
