[HiFi Guy]

My first shipment  came in from our sponsor so I spent some time today working on my new B5.

I upgraded the headlight to a 7" and fitted a throttle assist. Then I changed the oil and filter. The bike has 260 miles on it.

The oil looked good when I drained it, but I was shocked when I found the metal screen nearly 100% blocked with garbage. One piece was silver- tge rest I can't describe other than brown and nasty. Also, the magnets were quite furry as well. Ill change it again around 600 miles- is this anything to be concerned about? The bike runs fine.

Also I used Motul 4T 5100 ester based semi synthetic 15W50. I hope this is acceptable?

[Arizoni]

The stuff you found is similar to what many of us have seen, especially in the UCE powered motorcycles made a few years ago.

It was a standing joke that some Indian's job consisted of putting old shop towels into the engine as one of the last steps in building them.

The small metal filings and magnetic fuzz found in the screen and on the drain magnets is normal.

After doing the first oil change on my 2011 G5 at 300 miles, I rode it for about 600 miles (900 on the odometer) and changed the oil and filter again.

That second oil change didn't show any shop towels on the pump inlet screen but there were still a few metallic bits on it.  Also, some fuzz on the magnets but much less than the first oil change.

[sparklow]

What you found is not uncommon for these bikes. I changed my oil at 300, 600, and 1000 miles. After these changes things cleared up fine. I used Shell Rotella 15W-40 dino oil for the 300 and 600 mile changes as I was only leaving it in for 300 and 400 mile intervals. At 1000 miles I switched to a full synthetic 20W-50 motorcycle oil.

[The Old Coot]

Well from what I've seen it's not unheard of for most bikes. Both my C5 and my KLR looked like someone had dropped the floor sweepings into the crankcase.
Like Arizoni I changed the oil at 300, 600 and then 1,000 miles. Oil's cheap motor's cost money.

[Ice]

 Iron Barrel bullets did not come with magnetic drain plugs so I put them in mine.

At the 300 mile oil change I found out  why they did not come with them.

[Rattlebattle]

The filter on my new C5 was clean when I changed the oil at 302 miles. There was dark grey paste on both magnets, just like I used to get on those in the gearbox on my oilhead Beemers, but there were no metal flakes. The dealer put 10W/40 in from new, but I used the specified Motul 20W/50 SL semi synthetic and shall continue to do so. I'll probably change it again at 1,000 miles.

[Kevin Mahoney]

After about the 2nd oil change you will most likely find nothing more. In early UCE's they relied on the supplier to deliver "clean" parts, big mistake. While they were clean they were not "modern clean". That lead to a lot of swarf. They then put in their own parts cleaners which helped. There is/was a lot of cotton material which got caught in the filters. These were from the cotton gloves the workers were not supposed to wear but did. They did it out of self-defense because the engine cases were hot as hell when they came out of the ovens when the bearings were dropped in. I believe they have changed that process as well.
At any rate unless  you have a piece of real metal that is more than just fuzz etc. don't worry.

[HiFi Guy]

Thanks for all the help guys!

Kevin, funny you should mention the cotton gloves, because looking at the screen filter, I was thinking it looked like cotton, but that couldn't be- it made no sense. Now I understand.

[Rattlebattle]

You couldn't make it up, could you?  I feel disappointed that mine didn't have any free gifts, unless they're in the air filter....

[HiFi Guy]

I hit 600 miles so I changed the oil and filter again. The suction filter mesh was totally clean, and very little fur was on the drain plug magnets.

I filled her up with fresh Motorex 15W50 semi synthetic (Cycle Gear was out of Motul) and I'll run that until I have 1000 miles.

After that, I'm thinking Mobil 1 V Twin 20W50 and a filter replacement at 2,000 mile intervals. It's good oil, less expensive than the "boutique" oils I've been using, and readily available nearly everywhere.

[Rattlebattle]

I'm going to do mine again at 750 miles tomorrow as it looks like it'll be a nice day to ride the 30 miles I need to get to this mileage. I'll report anything untoward, but so far I've had no extraneous "gifts". I'll carry on using the specified Motul 15W/50 SL spec oil.