Flat Weight Oil

[Anonymous]

My bike sometimes runs weird at startup, nothing serious, just a little weak, sometimes i see smoke. But once its warm, the machine runs great.

I thought that if i got flat weight oil or maybe something like 20w-40 or 30w-40 it might help things out. Would this help?

Right now i use 10w-40 penzoil. Nothing facy.

PS: i have a gs650e 1982. The things in decent condition.

 

[Dink]

Lets start with the simple questions.
1) where are you?
2) how many miles on the bike?
3) is there any apparent oil consumption, i.e. how often do you need to add oil?
4) when was the last oil and filter change?
5) when were the carbs last cleaned and balanced?
6) what do you plugs look like? any signs of "sootiness"?
7) is is just a "puff" at start up or does it continue for a few minutes?
8) what colour is the smoke? white or black?
Dink

 

[Anonymous]

thanks so much for replying!

1) where are you?
I live in western washington. Right now the weather is dry and cold, 30-50 degrees.

2) how many miles on the bike?
roughly 200k. The speedometer died a year ago, but the past owner rarely rode it far.

3) is there any apparent oil consumption, i.e. how often do you need to add oil?
No, the oilconsumption seems to be minimal. I haven't noticed anything.

4) when was the last oil and filter change?
Last oil and filter change: beginning of summer, so June.

5) when were the carbs last cleaned and balanced?
I tore down the carbs and re tuned them in the summer as well.

6) what do you plugs look like? any signs of "sootiness"?
The plugs look tanish brown, i think one of them is a little too white.

7) is is just a "puff" at start up or does it continue for a few minutes?
Sometimes its just a puff or two, sometimes it goes for a minute or so.

the smoke is sort of white. I used to see white smoke comming out of one of the spark plug holes if i would take off a spark plug directly after starting up and running for a few seconds. (when i was tuning carbs)

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

Regardless of what brand USE a multi grade 10-40 wt that the mfg recomends Nothing else. A heaver oil will cause the clutch to drag when cold & it is hard on the trans when it grinds into gear

 

[redliner1973]

thanks so much for replying!

1) where are you?
I live in western washington. Right now the weather is dry and cold, 30-50 degrees.

2) how many miles on the bike?
roughly 200k. The speedometer died a year ago, but the past owner rarely rode it far.

3) is there any apparent oil consumption, i.e. how often do you need to add oil?
No, the oilconsumption seems to be minimal. I haven't noticed anything.

4) when was the last oil and filter change?
Last oil and filter change: beginning of summer, so June.

5) when were the carbs last cleaned and balanced?
I tore down the carbs and re tuned them in the summer as well.

6) what do you plugs look like? any signs of "sootiness"?
The plugs look tanish brown, i think one of them is a little too white.

7) is is just a "puff" at start up or does it continue for a few minutes?
Sometimes its just a puff or two, sometimes it goes for a minute or so.

the smoke is sort of white. I used to see white smoke comming out of one of the spark plug holes if i would take off a spark plug directly after starting up and running for a few seconds. (when i was tuning carbs)

Ok, lets go through this..First of all I know your lying here.....Response #1 said "western Washington - DRY and Cold, 30-50 degrees.....It is NEVER dry in Washington!! lol!!
No, really, # 2 - You say the bike has 200K on it? I am assuming you either mean 20K, or 200Kilometers on it. If it is 200K Miles it Should be using oil!
#3 - Consumption is minimal, That along with #6 tells me that you do not have much, if any, of an oil problem

What I think it may be, as you have stated warm running is fine, is just moisture/excess fuel coming out when using the choke., especially with moist, cool days. It runs better warm, because you are not using the choke anymore,and the moisture is no longer in the pipes. The type of oil you are using is fine, however, I use Pennzoil 15w-40 LL, as it has a more robust additive package, and the extra 5w in it (at least on mine) helps shift smoother without the heaviness of a 20w-XX weight oil.

 

[Dink]

White smoke is fuel, nothing unusal. may be a good idea to re-clean and balance your carbs if you are noticing a plug colour difference from cylinder to cylinder. As with all older carbed bikes and today horrid quality fuels it cant hurt.
Dink

 

[jimcor]

Flat is what beer gets if you don't drink it soon after opening. The oil you're asking about is called a 'single weight' oil. And as everybody else said, don't use 'em.

 

[crc1214]

Mine does the same......... especially when cold. It's condensation coming off as steam. Heck, when it's real cold and I push the throttle a bit when it's warming up, little dropplets of water will shoot out the pipes.

I thought it was fuel one time, and was scared as hell. Took the plugs out, they looked great......... so I decided to smell the droplets.......... probably should have started there first.....

Chad
Columbus, OH 1978 GS550E

 

[Anonymous]

40wt motor oil is what goes in Yugo transmissions

just as a point of reference


SAE30, 40, 50, etc are designed for heavy sump racing motors, or old vehicles that were designed to run without multiviscosity oils..

even in those cases, at my shop, we often recommend a multiviscosity, as it's easier on teh engine.

the only time i've ever seen someone use an SAE30 or 40 wt oil in a DOHC engine is in a saturn with a blown headgasket that the customer refused to fix. it took 11 seconds for the sump to get the oil to the top of the motor. the 10w allows the oil to flow freely with zero inhibition until around 0? F (i think that's -18?C)

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

Did you ever look at the Hardley oils :roll: 50 60 70 wt?? must be to keep them from leaking

 

[Giblet]

Oil

Oil

I've run Mobil 1 10W40 (same stuff I run in my truck), Valvoline 10W40 motorcycle oil and just switched to Suzuki 4 cycle 10W40. I can say for sure that the clutch response is much more positive now. The one thing that I consistently get from this web site is use motorcycle specific oil. There are supposed to be friction modifiers in car oil that can cause clutch slipping in a "wet clutch" system like ours. I'm sure the Suzuki oil is way over priced but I don't have to hunt for it and I really like the way my clutch feels now. Think thats where I'll stay.

 

[earlfor]

Re: Oil

Re: Oil

Mobil 1 15w50. Half the price, twice as good.

earl

I've run Mobil 1 10W40 (same stuff I run in my truck), Valvoline 10W40 motorcycle oil and just switched to Suzuki 4 cycle 10W40. I can say for sure that the clutch response is much more positive now. The one thing that I consistently get from this web site is use motorcycle specific oil. There are supposed to be friction modifiers in car oil that can cause clutch slipping in a "wet clutch" system like ours. I'm sure the Suzuki oil is way over priced but I don't have to hunt for it and I really like the way my clutch feels now. Think thats where I'll stay.

 

[Giblet]

Mobile 1 15W50

Mobile 1 15W50

Tried that last summer because of the heat here in NE Texas 8) . Same slipping with the clutch. Maybe they'll make a Mobile 1 for bikes some day.

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Lubes/PDS/NAUSE2PVLMOMobil_1_Motorcycle_Oils.asp

just for you, bub

 

[earlfor]

Re: Mobile 1 15W50

Re: Mobile 1 15W50

"same slipping with the clutch" verifies the clutch is the problem, not the oil.

Earl

Tried that last summer because of the heat here in NE Texas 8) . Same slipping with the clutch. Maybe they'll make a Mobile 1 for bikes some day.

 

[Anonymous]

X-GS X, seems that your original question has been lost in the discussion, but here are some things to think about.

If you leave the bike on the sidestand, oil will pool in the exhaust cam valley above cylinder #1. When you start the motor a little will be sucked down through the valve stem seal, which is probably only sealing 99.9% and not 100%. This means some smoke at startup. If you leave the bike on the centrestand this oil will flow to the sump.

The choke can also make the bike smoke at startup. Try easing it out as soon as you can to maintain warmup revs as low as possible.

The electical system on many bikes, especially the old Suzies, has some idiosyncrasies. One of these is that if there is not sufficient battery charge to keep the electronic ignition absolutely happy it will just turn off one cylinder and that plug can sometimes oil up. And even though each coil is operating two plugs, only one is effected. This does not happen to everyone, just to selected citizens of the "old bike universe". The selection process is not clear.

When you start, make sure that the headlights are off, the electric handwarmers are off, the CD player is off, check that everything that might be an electrical drain on the system is off. (Keep the starter motor connected )

Check that your battery is OK, especially that each cell is filled.

Kim

 

[Giblet]

Re: Mobile 1 15W50

Re: Mobile 1 15W50

"same slipping with the clutch" verifies the clutch is the problem, not the oil.

Earl

Tried that last summer because of the heat here in NE Texas 8) . Same slipping with the clutch. Maybe they'll make a Mobile 1 for bikes some day.

Sometimes I'm just not very clear. What I meant to convey was that the "slipping", as in starting off in 2nd gear was the same with both weights of Mobile 1 (10W40 & 15W50). With Mobile 1 there was enough mush in the clutch (hey! that rhymes) to allow the bike to move without killing the motor. Now, with motorcycle specific oil, that scenario will almost kill the motor. It also feels more positive under acceleration. I like Mobile 1 and run it in my '00 Sierra and '97 Stratus.

 

[jimcor]

Re: Mobile 1 15W50

Re: Mobile 1 15W50

[quote="Giblet wrote] Maybe they'll make a Mobile 1 for bikes some day.[/quote]

They do. In two 4 cycle grades and a two stroke.

BTW... The 4 cycle oil is 8 bucks a quart! 8O 8O

 

[earlfor]

Re: Mobile 1 15W50

Re: Mobile 1 15W50

I have to ask. Why do you start off in 2nd gear?
You are seeing the difference between Mobil1 and motorcycle specific oil because the motorcycle oil does not have the lubricating capability of the Mobil1. Using a less "slippery" oil and increasing friction, masks a faulty clutch problem. Commonly, if gas to any degree has found its way into the crankcase oil, a loss in clutch friction is cumulative. Gas saturation of clutch disks is not completely removable, with oil changes. I have ruined clutch disks in the time it has taken to get a faulty petcock or faulty float bowl valves repaired to stop fuel leaks.

I have yet to work on a GS and find that Mobil 1 was the cause of clutch slippage. (I work on GS's as a small side business, so I work on more of them than the average rider)

Earl

Sometimes I'm just not very clear. What I meant to convey was that the "slipping", as in starting off in 2nd gear was the same with both weights of Mobile 1 (10W40 & 15W50). With Mobile 1 there was enough mush in the clutch (hey! that rhymes) to allow the bike to move without killing the motor. Now, with motorcycle specific oil, that scenario will almost kill the motor. It also feels more positive under acceleration. I like Mobile 1 and run it in my '00 Sierra and '97 Stratus.