Engine oil

[Anonymous]

Well at least my 1979 can't use it and I know another 1980 GS1000 that can't. When it gets into the mid 80's I haven't a clue.

Its definitely not a cut and dry thing Mike--the guys have had both good and bad experiences with synthetic oil.

[Anonymous]

I read everything I could find on the web on this subject. As a result, when I change the oil before putting my bikes to sleep for the winter I'll be putting in 10W-40 automotive synthetic oil. If you avoid the "energy conserving" notation in the circular logo on the rear of the bottle (usually found on the 5W-30 and 10W-30 weight oils we wouldn't use anyway) you should be okay, based on all I learned. The API starburst logo on the front of the bottle is probably universal, and not a concern for me. If I wasn't springing for synthetic, I'd use auto dino oil of the appropriate weight range, and without the energy conserving notation. I'll let you know come spring if I have any problems!

[redliner1973]

If you use synthetic, and your clutch starts to slip under hard acceleration, usual cause is worn springs, and that the synthetics are usually more prone to 'de-varnish' and engine moreso than dino's do. and, when this happens, it does it unevenly on the clutch plates causing them to slip. use of new springs (usually because the old one are 20+ years old anyhow) will usually remedy this problem.