Lucas oil additive for thee but not for me?

[DrDankNuggs]

So I changed oil when I First got my 82' GS650GL, I got her out on the road for the first time last night & got the new oil filter in the mailbox today. Thought it would be as good of time as any to see the forums thought & opinions on additives oil gas whatever!
At the moment I'm thinking about Lucas oil. If was only an engine I wouldn't even hesitate to throw it in there, adding the wet clutch into the mix gives me pause, I have used the google machine & have read some conflicting thoughts on the interwebs thats being said in thegsresource(s) I trust so I figured I would turn here for the final say.

If you want to add any additional info on fuel additives that you like too Im all ears.

 

[Nessism]

Need link to products under consideration.

 

[wymple]

I don't know about the Lucas and wet clutch, but when I was a newbie I added STP to my 1100. The motor would flat run away from the clutch on a hard pull and several oil changes still didn't take care of it. I had to pull the clutch plates and wash them down thoroughly to get it all off.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

I know Dale Walker was endorsing X-1R at one point, but that one contains chlorinated paraffins, and I've read some less than stellar discussions of what the long term use of that stuff can do to your engine, especially if you aren't religious about 3K oil changes.

Today's oils are more than good enough without dumping mystery muck in.

 

[bwringer]

No mouse milk is ever needed in a GS engine's oil or gas and is very often detrimental.

So no.


If it's the mouse milk in the white bottle, Lucas recommends a maximum of 10% in motorcycles with wet clutches. That tells me (as if I didn't already know) that it doesn't belong in there at all.

 

[93Bandit]

The first question is why do you want to put additives in your oil or gas?

High quality modern engine oils have plenty of additives in them already, so rather than trying to mix up your own concoction of oil and additives, just look for an oil with additives that meet your needs.

Rotella T4 15W-40 Diesel oil is popular with many members here. I use it as well and have had good success.

If I add additives to anything, it's fuel stabilizer in the tank when I store the bike over winter. That is all. Most of the time, people use additives as snake oil to "fix" an issue that really should be addressed head on.

As always this is just my opinion.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

I do add Startron to the Harley's fuel to deal with the ethanol. It seems to bump the mileage up slightly as well, but mainly I just do it to keep the fuel system solid.

 

[BigD_83]

i would hesitate adding any additives to the oil. I experienced some really bad clutch slippage on the one occasion I was forced into using a "modern" oil with additives.

Good old Rotella T4 and nothing else works just fine.

 

[rphillips]

Like BigD, I tried an oil additive once, no doubt, slicker than oil, as it made the clutch slip really bad. That being said, Any old oil that meets spec. should be fine. Most here like the more expensive name brands, but the store brands seem to work just as well, many times the same as big brands, just in a different bottle.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

I think Rotella is probably the most popular oil here, and I wouldn't call it an expensive brand ...

 

[rphillips]

Sorry man, I meant the store brands, Super Tech @ Walmart, O'Rileys @ O'rileys, CarQuest oil @ CarQuest, or Napa oil @ Napa stores. Normally cheaper as opposed to brand names, Rotella, Castrol, Quaker state, Valvoline that can be bought at the same stores.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

Sorry man, I meant the store brands, Super Tech @ Walmart, O'Rileys @ O'rileys, CarQuest oil @ CarQuest, or Napa oil @ Napa stores. Normally cheaper as opposed to brand names, Rotella, Castrol, Quaker state, Valvoline that can be bought at the same stores.

Oh, gotcha!

 

[DrDankNuggs]

So a little late to respond to my own thread but, I had asked the question because my Boss said he used to use %5"ish" mix in his old bike. Then said his brother (a classic car mechanic) put straight Lucas stabilizer in the final drive of his bmw. I wasnt considering the additive in the gearbox but my boss seemed to think the %5 "ish" mix in his engine worked good. I asked him today why he tried it, he said his mechanic told him he used that %5 mix in all his wet clutch bikes, he said he never had louder than normal valve noise but that mix just quieted the little valve noise down even further.
I doubt the 5% is going to hurt anything, but if the consensus here is that its useless than I'll go with that!

As far as other additives I've added one ounce a SeaFoam per gallon per my boss's suggestion (may need to start re-thinking his suggestions ) The bike cold starts on the first push of the button without prime on just half choke, so no complaints as far as fuel goes!

 

[chris]

i would hesitate adding any additives to the oil. I experienced some really bad clutch slippage on the one occasion I was forced into using a "modern" oil with additives.

Good old Rotella T4 and nothing else works just fine.

yes I agree very much with that for the GS's . Own six well running bikes and I never use any type of oil additive. AS for fuel, I use stabilizers for storage, don't have a favorite brand but I swear by them as I hate taking carbs apart if I don't have too. Back to additives, I remember reading in a factory manual for one of my Honda motocross bikes, it mentioned oil additives and said they have tested many types and found that none had any benefits and they only increase the cost of maintenance. I also think synthetic motor cycle oils are worth the money, use them in most of my bikes. In 2017 I did 16,000 commuting kilometers on my gsxr1100 with motul 7100 , when I drained the oil in the fall it looked and felt perfect. Just my experience

 

[bwringer]

It's not completely useless... as a resident of Indianapolis, the money people spend on Lucas products helps support our local NFL stadium.

Lucas does make some fantastic products - their fork oil, for example, is great (although whether it's any better than other fork oil I dunno). They make a lot of legit motor and gear oils, lubricants, greases, cleaners, etc.

But for some reason they're best known for the additives, and no one's ever really proven any additives of any brand do anything except increase cost. Lots of people believe in additives, but that doesn't mean they actually do anything useful.

And in the case of motorcycle engines, additives in the engine oil can damage the clutch. It sounds like this particular additive, at least when used in small amounts, doesn't seem to hurt clutches, but it's also unlikely it's doing anything useful. For a GS, I'd much rather put the money towards frequent oil changes.