Specs of metal in oil

[Petorius]

My bike has been track-only this year. I went longer than planned between oil changes (7 TDs), and when I drained the oil yesterday I noticed some metal flakes in the pan afterward. This has not happened in the past, I have been using T6 since I got the bike 2 years ago. I have not noticed any issues with the motor.

Thoughts?

[TheIglu]

What kind of bike?

[Petorius]

SV650

[Paul_E_D]

Probably a little gear grinding. Pretty normal.

[Jim]

it's normal

[carsick]

Thoughts?

You might want to consider halving your maintenance intervals, if only to put hands and eyes on all parts of the bike to find impending issues.

[Stromper]

If your nervous

Get a cheap oil like walmart anything...

run it for like 20 miles and drain it as a flush

then change oil and filter as normal.

I have been having great success with a blend of

1 qt Ester real synthetic (redline or motul) and the balance t6 ... shifts like buttah and looks clear when drained
because I am cheap

[number9]

You could send it away to get it analyzed. They can tell you the composition of the metal, and can infer what's going on. For example, copper fragments could be bearings, iron fragments could be piston rings, etc.

This is one place that does it. I have never used them though: http://www.blackstone-labs.com

[Dave603]

If you still have the oil take a magnet and see how much of the particles are ferrous. Most likely being the first time you really stretched the legs on your sv650 your experiencing some gear mesh wear that you normally wouldn't get from leisurely strolls on the street. This will show up almost entirely as ferrous metal shavings. Not too much to worry (internally engine wise) as long as you can still make your shifts. If you start to miss your shifts on the track change your oil more frequently that will help. As for the wear, not really much you can avoid unless you can send off your transmission gears to be relief cut so that the portions which you are experiencing wear on are already cut away for smoother shifts in the future.

Let me know what you find as I am experienced with engine oil sampling and signs of wear. We have an extensive oil analysis program at my work and I directly oversee the maintenance program for our 34.7 MW diesel electric plant. So I can at the very least point you into the right direction regarding the metallurgical properties of the insolubles found in your oil.

[Stromper]

Its summer ride the bioych then check

[burnham]

If you still have the oil take a magnet and see how much of the particles are ferrous. Most likely being the first time you really stretched the legs on your sv650 your experiencing some gear mesh wear that you normally wouldn't get from leisurely strolls on the street. This will show up almost entirely as ferrous metal shavings. Not too much to worry (internally engine wise) as long as you can still make your shifts. If you start to miss your shifts on the track change your oil more frequently that will help. As for the wear, not really much you can avoid unless you can send off your transmission gears to be relief cut so that the portions which you are experiencing wear on are already cut away for smoother shifts in the future.

Let me know what you find as I am experienced with engine oil sampling and signs of wear. We have an extensive oil analysis program at my work and I directly oversee the maintenance program for our 34.7 MW diesel electric plant. So I can at the very least point you into the right direction regarding the metallurgical properties of the insolubles found in your oil.

thats a biggun. how often does it run?

[Dave603]

thats a biggun. how often does it run?

All the time. We only shut down once every 5 years for maintenance which we can not perform while operating. The power is spread out over 4 generators though. Not like we have one or two massive slow speeds but instead 4 medium speed diesels.