What kind of oil do you use?

c21aakevin · Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 11:42 am Post subject: What kind of oil do you use?

I have been out of street bikes for some time. I just picked up a Seca, and I am going through this winter getting it ready for spring. I have ALWAYS use Yamalube (non-synthetic) in all my bikes. Even the non-yamaha's. I know with the technology now a days, there are several different advances in additives and mixes of oils. I am just wondering if there is anything out there better, that is about the same price.

I am not against synthetics, I just can't see spending the money. I keep my oil changed on a regular bases, and don't see how it would benefit my engine. Maybe if I was going 10K miles on an oil change or something, but I about the longest I have gone in the past is about 2K miles between changes.

So what do you use?

xulf13 · Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 6:42 pm Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

I stay away from synthetics as well. I use rotella It works great on my bike and it's price can't be beat. the less additives in the oil seems to work great on these bikes.

dwcopple · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:03 am Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

Rotella or whatever diesel 15w40 oil is on sale

parts · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:36 am Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

castrol....when the yama dealer told me the full syn was $16.00 a qt
i laughed.he tried to give me the "you can't use reg car oil in bikes"
sales pitch. of course he was only about 23 yrs old.
i asked him what he thought went in my bike when it was new?
he said yamalube.
i reminded him that yamaha doesn't make oil- they just re-pack it
with thier name on the bottle.
he thought friction modifiers had always been there, and all car oils had them.

wamaxim · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:00 am Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

Castrol 20W50 4M for motorycles. I use it in my XJ650, ny Honda SilverWing, and my BMW K1200 LT. Castrol 4M meets the specs for all of my bikes, is cheap (about $4 per quart) and is readily available at discount auto supply stores.

Read their website and you will find that their 4M blend retains the additives necessary to support high reving, high heat, high pressure motorcycle engines. Seems like the additives were magnesium and zinc? They were required to remove these additives from their auto oils. Emissions ya know.

Good stuff and dino to boot.

It's interesting to me that the SilverWing and K1200 use the same oil as the air cooled Maxim. If it's good enough for the Maxim
then I guess it should be OK for ther others!

Good stuff. I also use Bosh filters where possible and Royal Purple in the final drive (and Beemer gearbox).

parts · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:26 pm Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

wamaxim, thanks for the heads up on the 4m type by castrol,
i haven't seen it yet in any stores in this area but i'll ask at the
next change.
i've been using castrol gtx without issues.

danmar1963 · 1st gear Joined: Oct 06, 2008 Posts: 39 Location: So Cal

Shell Rotella

I read here and on a offroad forum it is the best for older wet clutch bike

and it's 5 bucks a gallon

parts · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 7:56 am Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

$5.00 a gal??????????

I know that shell makes a quality product, but at that price
the warning " you get what you pay for " comes to mind.

even the off brand oils cost more then that here.

dwcopple · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:02 am Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

Where in the heck do you find Rotella for $5 a gallon?!? It is at least $12 here.

xulf13 · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:56 am Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

Yeah, Five bucks doesn't sound right at all. I pay $11 when it's on sale here. There is no way, I want to see a scanned copy of your receipt danmar.

Carvall · 3rd gear Joined: Jun 19, 2009 Posts: 97 Location: Seattle

Here is a good article about oil options!

Carvall

skippy344 · Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:15 am Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

Been pretty happy with Yamalube 20W50 in my bikes, except for the Kaw. She wants synthetic! Ouch!

chuckles_no · Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:19 am Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

I was using castrol syntec 10 w 40 or 20 w 40 depending on the season. Switched to AMS oil just because I have 6 gallons of it that I didn't have to pay for. But I actually had rotella in my 400 and my 650 when those were around.
And ya... synthetic is good for cars but I run at about 5500-6500 rpms on the freeway. Don't need it in my bike. For cars its great. Actually coats parts in... well used to be tephlon(sp) and you could actually run a motor for quite a while drained of oil... after running the synthetic. A lot longer than conventional. But I have seen what parts look like after synthetic in a bike and conventional.

TECHLINETOM · Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:39 pm Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

Royal Purple Max Cycle 20w50.
Shifts really smooth.

chuckles_no · Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 1:07 pm Post subject: Re: What kind of oil do you use?

Just tried the valvoline motorcycle oil for my winter oil change. Took it out for a ride right after I was done and I think it is the best I have used in this bike for sure. I barely even feel the gear shifting now and I feel a difference in the friction zone in my clutch. Its smoother than before and my clutch action seems tighter.