OIL, the three letter word, that often spawns use of four letter words when it is used in a internet forum post.

This write up is singular in purpose. It is not a recommendation of what brand to use, or even what weight. You will see some recommendations, and they are just that, oils with have a great track record of working well for all conditions and preventing the single issue this article references.

Stator Failure due to improper oil types and extended oil change intervals

The stator on a DRZ motor resides inside the left sided cover along with the flywheel and various other bits. This cover is open to motor oil, and that oil is used to cool the stator.

That design defiantly can help extend the stators life in normal conditions, but has some draw backs as well.
If oil temperatures become extremely high for whatever reason, extreme use of the motor, wrong type, quantity and weight oil or any other reason, they stator is no longer being cooled. This can cause or accelerate the stator windings insulation breakdown, and ultimately failure of the stator.
The other drawback of the stator being bathed in motor oil is, when poor quality, improper type motor oil is used the oil can bake on the stator windings.

This problem is aggravated with extended oil change intervals.
Again as I said in the beginning, this article is not going to delve in the slippery slope (pun intended) of what is an extended change interval or what is a bad oil.

There are some recommendations as to what works, proven by thousands of end users, tens of thousands of service hours by professional maintenance technicians
[BREAK=Basic recommendations that work]

What follows are basic recommendations on types of oil, weights and oil change intervals.

It’s been said. When it comes to an oil discussion. Ask 10 riders about an oil question and you’ll get 12 opinions…. That’s how volatile and opinionated the topic is.
With that said,, Here are some recommendations shown to mitigate the type of stator failure seen above. These recommendations are “An Answer” not the answer. So read on, understand there are many other ways to successful maintenance of your DRZ and life of the stator.
Here is one way we know it works
OIL Type: 100% Ester based
OIL Weight: 20w50 (with focus on the 50wt second part)
Oil Change Interval:
On road: 1000 street miles in a aggressively used DRZ.
On road or off: After every race.
Off road: After a long weekend of riding, or every event if you’re going to put the bike away for a length
Is this overkill? For some, yes no doubt. But for a lot it is a key part of maintenance and survival of your motor. How you choose between the recommendations above and what is right for you???

Read, make an educated decision and then, ride. Or become a master service tech, and see the results of thousands of user’s best intentions time and time again. :thumbsup:
In no way directly or by implication does this article desire to state your DRZ will fall apart, blow up or fail if you do not agree or follow the ideas presented here. Nor is there any ill will directed toward anyone who has found or otherwise believes all oil is the same, it lasts for as long as the owner’s manual says it does, ect ect. Oil and its use are hotly debated... The above is an educated opinion, use it, lose it, or modify it