How and when to change the oil of your moped?

Changing oil is one of the most essential maintenance tasks you must perform as a moped owner. Clean and sufficient oil provides the necessary lubrication, removal of wear particles and cooling of the engine. Do you want to know which oil to use? Then read out blog "What kind of oil do I use in my 4-stroke moped?".

When to change the engine oil?

With a new engine or after overhaul, we recommend changing oil after the first 300km. This ensures that most wear particles from running in are removed in time. After that, the advice is to change the oil every 1500km. Perhaps at some point you'll notice that the oil is still fairly clear and fewer wear particles are no longer drained when changing the oil, in which case you could stretch to 2000km or even 4000km (according to Honda). Don't get the mileage? Then change the oil annually.

How to change the oil?

To drain as much dirty oil as possible, it is useful to let the engine run for a while beforehand. The oil then becomes warmer and thinner, allowing it to flow out of the engine block more easily. The dirty particles are then better loosened, float in the oil and flow out with the oil. 
Some confusion sometimes arises when looking for the oil drain plug at the bottom of the engine. On most 4-stroke mopeds, the oil drain plug is the one with the aluminium tab in front of it. See the picture below of the oil drain plug a Honda C50 Little Cub. The drain plug can be loosened with spanner 17. On engines with a horizontal cylinder, you can see another plug under the engine. This plug (key 14) is placed in an angle. This is the timing chain tensioner plug, so do not unscrew it!



When draining the oil, make sure you have an oil-resistant drain pan large enough to catch the entire contents at once. Keep an old cloth nearby to clean up any spilled oil immediately. To drain the oil, loosen the oil plug a few turns with a 17mm ring or socket spanner. Carefully unscrew the plug by hand and do not drop it into the drain pan 😉. Collect the oil in the drain pan.
Screw the oil plug, with a new gasket ring if necessary, back into the engine and tighten it firmly but not too tight (25Nm).

After replacing the oil drain bolt, you can refill the engine with the recommended oil. While filling up the oil, make sure you do not add too much or too little oil. Screw the dipstick into the engine. Start the engine and let it run for a few minutes. Turn off the engine and wait a few minutes. Then check the oil level again.
 

What about the oil filter?

In most 4-stroke mopeds, the clutch housing functions as a centrifugal filter. Centrifugal forces trap solid wear particles and dirt in the clutch housing. Above the drain plug is a small screen that traps large dirt particles such as dust and pieces of metal. This screen is located before the inlet of the oil pump. To check and clean this screen, the clutch cover must be disassembled.
Honda recommends checking the screen and centrifugal filter every 12,000km.


 

The oil system schematics

Have you always wanted to know which route the oil takes through your engine? Honda has shown this very nicely in the image below:


(source: Honda ST50 (AB23) shopmanual 1988)
 

Nice video: How does a Honda run on used cooking oil?

If you don't take life and especially this blog so seriously, take a look at this classic Discovery Channel video where they replace the oil of a Honda C90 with used cooking oil (from 2 minute and 5sec) 😊
 

Do you have any questions regarding this blog?

Do not hesitate to contact us.