Motor Oil, What to use????????????

[Anonymous]

Hi, A friend of mine bought a new Kawasaki Vulcan about 4 months ago. He went to have it serviced for the first time at 600 miles. After having it serviced he went to purchase new oil and filter to do it himself the next time, so he got Kawasaki oil and filter and the mechanic said, you dont want that, I just put Honda oil in it because it is better, so now my step father who just bought a Yamaha V-Star, had his serviced. Same thing, we dont use Yamaha oil in these, we use Honda oil, and if you dont like the price, he should go to Wal-Mart and buy his oil there because Yamaha buys oil from other companies and sells it for more with their name on it! Is this or could this be true? I have an 86' Suzuki GS550L and now I dont know what to run in it?? I just use 10-40w Castrol oil and was told to use synthetic oil because it runs cooler but then again was told not to use it because of the transmission and motor using the same oil?? Any thoughts or knowledge on this would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks In Advance! Jake

[spots25]

well, since you've got a wet clutch, IMO you want to use oil without any friction modifiers (energy saving) Pretty much any 10w40 oil is that way. There is fully synthetic 10w40 that doesn't have friction modifiers, you just need to read the bottle. At any rate, I think the whole oil vs oil argument is plain dumb. Oil is oil, and as long as it meets the standards put forth its okay in my book

[SqDancerLynn1]

Synthetic oil will make it run cooler, but with an old GS you will end up with a bike that leaks from the old seals & gaskets. I just use conventional 10/40 castrol gtx. in the summer you can use 20-50 but it will cause the clutch to drag when cold. I usually change the oil every 1000-1500 miles with a filter every other change

[humhead]

but with an old GS you will end up with a bike that leaks from the old seals & gaskets.

This statement isn't 100% true. My bikes don't leak a drop & I use Mobil 1 15/50.

Terry

[Jethro]

I as well use Mobil 1 15/50 red cap, and when the tensioner gasket is installed correctly it does not leak a drop.

I have used Castrol also, it's 1/5th the cost and it performs just as well. Don't know why I use the Mobil 1, the previous owner did, so I stick with it.

Whatever you use, as long as you change it at the specified interval (not by the oil manufacturer, the bikes reccomendation) you're all set.

Jake, do a search on motor oil, you'll have plenty of reading for the next few weeks.

[jimcor]

I like the HDEO oils like Rotella T or Delvac. 15W40. But like Lynn I change my oil every 1000 to 1500 miles or so, and Dollar Tree stores have Phillips 66 (Conoco-Phillips) Trop-Artic 10W40 SL/SM rated oil for a buck a quart. Picked up a case for the bikes and one of 10W30 Synthetic Blend for the car. Can't beat the price. And the oil is never in the bikes long enough to worry about shearing.

[Jethro]

I see that Rotella T at Wally World all the time. Man, $7 for a 5 quart jug is aweful tempting. I'm might try it next time.

[shortlid]

Fleet oil, oil gets dirty in GS's??

I think Fleet oil 15W-40 might be a good bet cause my '80 GS850G seems to dirty up oil in like 1,000 miles or less!! Also starts using a qt. every 500 miles when the oil gets dirty?? When clean fresh oil in less cunsumption?? :?

[Anonymous]

I was thinking about someone at one point tellig me that to put a synthetic oil in an older engine before rebuilding could actually put the car ina situation where the interior bolts could loosen up. So I was poking around and found some more info on synthetics and regular oils.

http://www.go-synthetic.com/amsoil_testing/amsoil_testing.html

It is from a company that makes syntheic oil so yeah it is kinda biased. I wanted to point out the other oils in the charts moreso than the company that did the article.

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/15378/

This a nice article by Carcraft on Synthetics and regular oils.

http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/oiltest1.htm

This one is about Motorcycle oil vs. auto oil.

http://www.detnews.com/2003/autosconsumer/0304/02/g03-125602.htm

Detroit News published this one about Royal Purple Synthetic.

I didn't find anything about the aforementioned issue with internal bolts. What I do feel is that with the viscosity of synthetics being thinner than fossils, it could be a possibility. If the bike is being maintained fairly well I don't see a big problem with it as several of the members have posted. I would just be careful if the bike has not have a rebuild in awhile and has regular oil in it that the change in thickness could be an issue.

[jimcor]

Re: Fleet oil, oil gets dirty in GS's??

I think Fleet oil 15W-40 might be a good bet cause my '80 GS850G seems to dirty up oil in like 1,000 miles or less!! Also starts using a qt. every 500 miles when the oil gets dirty?? When clean fresh oil in less cunsumption?? :?

Guy over on the Concours Group used that in 2 of his bikes and never had a bit of oil related problems.

[Poot]

I as well use Mobil 1 15/50 red cap, and when the tensioner gasket is installed correctly it does not leak a drop.

I have used Castrol also, it's 1/5th the cost and it performs just as well. Don't know why I use the Mobil 1, the previous owner did, so I stick with it.

Whatever you use, as long as you change it at the specified interval (not by the oil manufacturer, the bikes reccomendation) you're all set.

Jake, do a search on motor oil, you'll have plenty of reading for the next few weeks.

ditto.

[jimcor]

Went by Auto Zone today to drop off a jug of used oil. Checked the motorcyle oil prices.

Mobil 1: 10W40 and 20W50 both 100% synthetic $7.99 a quart. 8O Valvoline 10W40 dino motorbike oil $3.19 a quart. 8O

Both companies offered a two cycle oil but I didn't bother to check on those.

[Anonymous]

oil

Sorry for the late response but I thought I checked the box for recieving emails about this subject and I apparently didnt. I currently run Castrol 10-40 in mine but since I just got the bike running right after buying rebuilt carbs, I have another question? When I bought the bike the guy told me all it needed was a gas tank, so I brought it home and decided to put a small tank from a garden tractor on it just to see if it would run (I know, why buy something you didnt hear run first??). Well the guy I bought it from was someone my wife went to school with and she thought he was descent then, well after buying coils and a tank numbers 3&4 were running rich all the time. So to make a long story short, having the gas tank from the tractor made it as if it were on prime (didnt know that) so from sitting, some of my gas was running into the cylinders, therefore going into the crank case, will this hurt anything or should I change the oil now?? Thanks in advance! Jake

[gspaul]

Yea, change the oil asap.

[jimcor]

Yes, change it before you run it.

Good article, but long. http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html