When I first purchased my 2004 XT, I was waiting until it reaches 200 miles for the first oil change.
Some car forums suggest Not to change oil so soon because a few manufacturers put Special “Break-In” from the factory (Oh Yeah?)
After all, a new BMW requires its first oil change only at 15K.
I have changed many car oil filters before but have never inspected the inside of an oil filter.
The XT come with an open oil filter screen. And to view it is not a pleasant surprise.
There are large flakes of soft material.
My apology for the quality of this pic.
It is very difficult to free hand a Super Macro pic.
At 200 miles the filter is really bad
As you can see there are a lot of cruds and a few metal shavings.
While looking inside the oil filter compartment, it seems the engine painter is 'very generous' with the black paint.
The paint overspray is everywhere as you can see from this pic (tiny black dots)
I hope the black crud is from the paint overspray.
The factory filter got cleaned and reinstalled
I did again another oil change at 300 miles.
Still some black residue but not as bad as the first oil change
At 400 miles, thing looks better but it still have some cruds.
At 500 miles there was some light sediment but nothing major to give you a heart attack.
I decided to dispose the original filter (can’t use it forever) and replace it with the Yamaha filter (pleated type).
The oil has been switched to Mobil 1 MX4T.
Oil will be replaced every 500 miles since we ride mostly dirt.
My lesson is, on the next bike I will change the oil a lot sooner.
[ June 27, 2005: Message edited by: Milano.B ]