Motorcycle Repair: Changing to Synthetic Oil, suzuki bandit 600s, ualberta ca

Question
Hey Chris,

I currently own a 2001 Suzuki Bandit 600S with 4000km on it, and I am thinking about switching to a synthetic oil when i do my next oil change.  Its probably a dumb question, but is it sufficient to drain out all the oil in there now, and fill up with synthetic?  Or do i have to flush all of the old non-synthetic oil out first, somehow?  If you could get back to me, it would be greatly appreciated.

John Kjellbotn
jdk@ualberta.ca

Answer
Hi John.
 In any case where you are switching from one type of oil to another, you should always flush out the system.  The only exception is if you are switching from a natural oil to a hybrid (or blended) oil, or from a synthetic to a hybrid oil.

The reason for that is because a hybrid oil is made up of both natural and synthetic oils, therefore it will not hurt to have small amounts of one or the other in there.

Other than that, I really would recommend using the oil type that is recommended by the factory.

Good luck.
FALCON