So, I've got a question to ask all of you. How many of you believe that you can "feel" the difference after an oil change? Can you only tell after the oil's been thoroughly used or do you feel the improvement with each and every service interval?
I ask because I hear people say this all the time: "my bike feels soooo much better and smoother after I changed the <da, da, da>!" (usually oil).
IMO oil changes--while crucial--have a huge placebo effect on many people. If you're changing your oil frequently (regular intervals or sooner) then, in all liklihood, you probably wouldn't notice any change in performance if nobody told you the oil was new. Exceptions might include: highly contanimated oil, different oil weight/properties, longer service interval or an experienced performance rider who is very in tune with his/her bike.
However, I don't have any hard evidence to back up my feelings except for my own subjective experience so I'm willing to admit I could be wrong here. But another reason I suspect it's a placebo is I often hear this coming from inexperienced riders/drivers who are not mechanically inclined, yet they insist they can feel a drastic performance improvement. This doesn't just apply to oil... one of my buddy's who just started riding less than 2 months ago claimed his idle improved vastly after cleaning his chain
(he'd kill me if he knew I posted that lol).
Anyway, what do you guys think? What other maintenance/modifications do you think has a mostly-perceived effect on the rider?
I ask because I hear people say this all the time: "my bike feels soooo much better and smoother after I changed the <da, da, da>!" (usually oil).
IMO oil changes--while crucial--have a huge placebo effect on many people. If you're changing your oil frequently (regular intervals or sooner) then, in all liklihood, you probably wouldn't notice any change in performance if nobody told you the oil was new. Exceptions might include: highly contanimated oil, different oil weight/properties, longer service interval or an experienced performance rider who is very in tune with his/her bike.
However, I don't have any hard evidence to back up my feelings except for my own subjective experience so I'm willing to admit I could be wrong here. But another reason I suspect it's a placebo is I often hear this coming from inexperienced riders/drivers who are not mechanically inclined, yet they insist they can feel a drastic performance improvement. This doesn't just apply to oil... one of my buddy's who just started riding less than 2 months ago claimed his idle improved vastly after cleaning his chain
(he'd kill me if he knew I posted that lol).Anyway, what do you guys think? What other maintenance/modifications do you think has a mostly-perceived effect on the rider?
Tires make a big difference..that's true. Most of it is just wishful thinking though I think.. Maybe a bit better..but I dunno about making a huge difference.
