Keith Lane
Forum Newbie
A couple of weekends ago, I rode to a place about 50 miles away to meet up with a friend for lunch.
Insert a bit of anecdotal history here:
I have a 1980 GS1100E with about 43,000 miles on it since new. I first purchased it in 1982 from a local dealer friend, and rode it for about 18 years. I relocated to Atlanta (1998) and had a pretty gnarly commute (24 miles each way). The traffic was getting super crazy and I pretty much parked it.
Along comes the friend that I refer to in the above in 2000 and wanted the bike so I sold it to him for $1000. He loves it (who wouldn't?) and relocates to Utah where he rides it for about 3 years before a skiing accident prevents him from walking for a year, let alone riding. When he returned to riding he buys a V-Strom and parks my old bike. He relocates to South Carolina, a n hour and a half from me. I start asking about my old bike and after a while he agrees to sell it back to me for... $1,000! Hmmm same as the price I got for it 18 years before. But... I wanted it and paid up. Well it turns out he gave me back all but $2 bucks and said to take the $998 and "make it run", since it had sat for 14 years with gas in the carbs, it was a challenge. I had already owned this bike 18 years myself, so I am familiar with the carbs. 3 months later I was riding it regularly. This was 2 and a half years and 3,000 miles ago.
Back to two weeks ago.
We meet up for lunch (yummm). He now rides a BMW 1200 sport touring bike. After lunch I asked if he wants to ride my bike for old times sake and he does only if I will follow on his behemoth.
I've never ridden behind my own bike, and I noticed a little bit of blue smoke coming from the exhaust (Vance and Hines 4 into 1). I saw no drop in the sight glass from the pre-trip check, but I can definitely see a bit of blue smoke if I am sitting in traffic. It only smokes after getting up to operating temperature however. I should mention the weather was hotter than the gate hinges of Hell that day with in traffic temperatures probably 100?F!
Finally, the question:
The oil viscosity is supposed to be 10W40. Would there e any harm in running 20W50? I ask because of the wet clutch, mostly. A bit more warm up time before heading out wouldn't hurt I suppose.
Thoughts anyone? Sorry for the long post.
Insert a bit of anecdotal history here:
I have a 1980 GS1100E with about 43,000 miles on it since new. I first purchased it in 1982 from a local dealer friend, and rode it for about 18 years. I relocated to Atlanta (1998) and had a pretty gnarly commute (24 miles each way). The traffic was getting super crazy and I pretty much parked it.
Along comes the friend that I refer to in the above in 2000 and wanted the bike so I sold it to him for $1000. He loves it (who wouldn't?) and relocates to Utah where he rides it for about 3 years before a skiing accident prevents him from walking for a year, let alone riding. When he returned to riding he buys a V-Strom and parks my old bike. He relocates to South Carolina, a n hour and a half from me. I start asking about my old bike and after a while he agrees to sell it back to me for... $1,000! Hmmm same as the price I got for it 18 years before. But... I wanted it and paid up. Well it turns out he gave me back all but $2 bucks and said to take the $998 and "make it run", since it had sat for 14 years with gas in the carbs, it was a challenge. I had already owned this bike 18 years myself, so I am familiar with the carbs. 3 months later I was riding it regularly. This was 2 and a half years and 3,000 miles ago.
Back to two weeks ago.
We meet up for lunch (yummm). He now rides a BMW 1200 sport touring bike. After lunch I asked if he wants to ride my bike for old times sake and he does only if I will follow on his behemoth.
I've never ridden behind my own bike, and I noticed a little bit of blue smoke coming from the exhaust (Vance and Hines 4 into 1). I saw no drop in the sight glass from the pre-trip check, but I can definitely see a bit of blue smoke if I am sitting in traffic. It only smokes after getting up to operating temperature however. I should mention the weather was hotter than the gate hinges of Hell that day with in traffic temperatures probably 100?F!
Finally, the question:
The oil viscosity is supposed to be 10W40. Would there e any harm in running 20W50? I ask because of the wet clutch, mostly. A bit more warm up time before heading out wouldn't hurt I suppose.
Thoughts anyone? Sorry for the long post.
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