All about motor oils for motorcycles

[singletrack]

A buddy of mine sent me this article, I didn't realize how little I knew about oil until I read it.

Never again will I use regular old 10W40 oil.

http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

From your "mega-welcome":

A Few Words About Oil
I'll tell you what I use and why. I use Rotella-T Heavy Duty 15w40 oil. It is actually diesel engine oil and contains more anti-wear additives, phosphorous and zinc, that these older high-revving engines love. At about $12 a gallon from Wal-Mart, it's less than half the price of many motorcycle-specific oils, and is the best "bang for your buck" value. The synthetic Rotella-T is just fine too, it won't hurt your clutch. If you like, continue reading the links below for everything you ever wanted to know about oil but were afraid to ask.

Here's a great article on motorcycle-specific oil in general.
Here a 2nd great article, also on motorcycle-specific oil.
Sport Rider Magazine ran a feature awhile back on motorcycle oils as well, and included some testing with detailed results provided. Well worth the read!
Sport Rider "Oil's Well That Ends Well" Part 1
Sport Rider "Oil's Well That Ends Well" Part 2
Richard Wildman (of Richard's Corvair) explains in layman's terms all about grades, viscosity, shear, additives, specs, etc.
Richard's Corvair - Selection of the Right Motor Oil for the Corvair and Other Engines

And, of course, Bob the Oil Guy is a fountain of information.




Thank you for your indulgence,


BassCliff

 

[gpd211]

its about time we got another oil thread going :clap: now to go grab a beer and watch the posts add up.

 

[Guest]

oil

oil

Oooooh my God wot have you started, here we go again?.
they just got me running me Gs1085 on a semi castrol motorcycle oil power1.
you have dragged it all up again.
but will say Gs gearbox is alot happier with itso smooth now.
well anyway HI & welcome.

 

[Nessism]

I love oil threads.

 

[cowboyup3371]

I love oil threads.

Can I start another one just for fun in about a week or two? Please?:lol:

 

[singletrack]

Yeah yeah, I'm a noob, what can I say. FWIW I did search for the link before posting, but nothing came up. Been a while since the "mega welcome", guess I should revisit it eh?

It was a great read. So thanks Basscliff

 

[DanTheMan]

Oil, it's for cooking fries, isn't it??????:dancing::twistedevil:

 

[Steve]

its about time we got another oil thread going :clap: now to go grab a beer and watch the posts add up.

Oooooh my God wot have you started, here we go again?.

I love oil threads.

Can I start another one just for fun in about a week or two? Please?:lol:

Oil, it's for cooking fries, isn't it??????:dancing::twistedevil:

Popcorn, too.

.

 

[koolaid_kid]

I am against global warming, so I only use recycled oil from my local Seven Eleven, preferably non-detergent so it doesn't wash off my cylinder walls.

 

[dardoonk]

I like oil threads... Never can get enough of them..:lol: Personally, I use oil in all my bikes and find it very helpful in maintaining a long engine life.
5W, 10W, 15W 20W 30W, Dino, Syth, --- used 'em all.. They get dirty, they get changed, and so forth.. Always the same result... can anyone tell me what I might be doing wrong

 

[bobthebiker88]

regarding the original article. too long, did not read.

 

[Steve]

regarding the original article. too long, did not read.

After all, it did say it was "All About Motor Oil".

.

 

[Planecrazy]

Remember ... if you ADD oil you're going to USE oil!

Regards,

 

[mike_of_bbg]

Hello Singletrack. That article has appeared here before and is a good read (for those choosing to take the time to read it). I'm not sure why the search didn't turn it up, unless URLs are not indexed for the search function. Obviously you know now that oil threads are a bit of a raw nerve here

Now if you start a tire or a torque wrench thread we're going to give ya the boot :lol:

 

[DimitriT]

Oil in the motor can only lead to one thing: leaks. No oil, no leaks.

 

[Nessism]

The problem with oil threads is the topic by definition is technical in nature, however few people are knowledgeable enough to have a considered opinion but that doesn't stop them from spouting off about urban legend or "I heard" statements and misconstruing them as facts. When the non technical person is corrected, or worse, contradicted with more incorrect information, the thread is down the drain and argument ensues. Good fun!

 

[mike_of_bbg]

Factual research is expensive in terms of time and attention. Most people would rather find a guiding philosophy to match their desired outcome or predetermined beliefs and accept it without question. The regurgitation of said philosophy is usually half from a desire to be helpful and half from a desire to be validated - as if majority consensus or conversion of others' opinion were somehow a proof of fact.

That of course goes for so much more than motor oil...

The problem with oil threads is the topic by definition is technical in nature, however few people are knowledgeable enough to have a considered opinion but that doesn't stop them from spouting off about urban legend or "I heard" statements and misconstruing them as facts. When the non technical person is corrected, or worse, contradicted with more incorrect information, the thread is down the drain and argument ensues. Good fun!

 

[bonanzadave]

regarding the original article. too long, did not read.

It must be getting dated. Rotella T @ Costco for $6 a gallon ? Really :-s ?

 

[rustybronco]

I love oil threads.

They are a good read that's for sure!
http://www.widman.biz/uploads/Corvair_oil.pdf

But note also that viscosity of the Amsoil 20W-50 is close to the 5W-50 oils at 40? C. It appears from their spec sheets that with a 3600 Cold Crank Test at -15? C, their 20W-50 oil could be labeled as 10W-50 or 5W-50.

So what is my bottom line recommendation in xW-50 oils? Of all the specs I could find (in a reasonable amount of time), there are only two oils in this group with excellent pumpability, and excellent high temperature protection. Amsoil?s 20W-50 is the only one of these that also shows excellent shear strength, and tops it off as a CI-4/SL. It might not be the best option for catalytic converters because of the phosphorous content, but based on available data from this selection, it would be at the top of my list. I would use this in any engine where 5W-50, 10W-50 or 20W-50 is recommended

I ran amsoil 20w50 for over 5K miles in my '82