what oil do you use

Just bought my first bike (85 XJ700X) and I am new to bikes (have 4 quads). I was going to do an oil change but I was just wondering what oil weight to use. The guy I bought I from says he put in SAE 20W40 SE. I don't know if that is the right weight or not I thought it sounds a little heavy. Also Was wondering how many Quarts I should use when changing the oil filter ( my guess is 3). I just dont want to screw up the bike. So some Help Please.

 

Run Racing Oil.
20/50
You can't go wrong running 20/50!

Drain the Oil and Change the Filter
Add 2 Quarts when you are ready to fill it.

Monitor the rest of the Fill-up by watching the Level rise in the Oil Level Window by the rear Brake Pedal.

Add Oil and watch the Level rise until the "Bubble" disappears.
Cap it and run it for 5-Minutes.

Let stand for 10-Minutes
Look at the Oil Level in the "Window"
IF there is a Bubble ...
Add tiny bits more until the Bubble disappears.

 

Hey, for my seca turbo. I run 20/50 mobile 1. just got it a month ago. Do I want the oil to fill up the whole window or just about half way?

 

Another popular oil is Rotella 5W-40 and other diesel engine oils since they apparently have some of the heavy duty ingredients that auto oils were forced to abandon.

 

Pvtschultz- - wasn't that 15W-40 ? on the Rotella ?

And welcome to XJBikes Deadman700 ! Almost any name brand oil meets the minimum factory requirements for vintage XJ's.

DO NOT put in anything that says "energy conserving" or friction modifiers, or has the "star" symbol, that looks more like a Skil saw blade to me. These are bad for the wet clutch.

What I've done, a 500 mile rinse with dino oil, then upgrade to motorcycle specific synthetic AmsOil, and within 20 miles I got the starter clutch grinding noise. I will be choosing another conventional oil.

 

I put in the CHEAPEST 20w50 available. It far exceeds anything these bikes were designed to run with.

 

I use synthetic or synthetic blend 10w-40. BTW the Rotella synthetic is the 5w-40, the 15w-40 is conventional.

 

AMSOIL motorcycle oil (it is synthetic with no friction modifyers for wet clutches) or YAMALUBE but 20/50 works

 

I've never used anything other than Castrol 20/50 Racing Oil.

I pretty much believe that's why I can run the way I do without any harm being done to the Rings and other moving parts.

The Camshaft Bearings are Metal on Aluminum. I need those Oileld with the best stuff I can find.

Castrol 20/50

 

Thanks for all your help I am sure I will be asking many more silly question.

 

so if i'm running full synthetic 5w20 is that wrong or...?

 

when you check that oil do it on the level on the center stand, never on the side stand

 

07spacker:

I wouldn't run 5/20.
You have an Air Cooled Bike.
The Oil NEEDS to be able to handle a lot of heat.

During the season ... 20W50 is a wiser choice.

What are the Factory Recommended viscosity's?

 

Rick,

I think the haynes man says 20w-40, but I am away from the manual currently

 

Manual says 20w40 for warm weather, 10w30 for cold. Manual was written back before we had the big spreads in the multi viscosity oils. I think warm is above 50, and cold is below 60.

I do not believe 10w40 is a good choice for warm weather.

I'm running Castrol GTX 20w50. About $12 for a 5 quart bottle at walmart.

I also like the Rotella T 15w40 or Synthetic Rotella T 5w40.

 

Run 20W50.

You can relax knowing you are doing a good thing for your Bike that way.
Racing Oil.
Even if you don't race. The Bike will be ready too.
And the level of protection will be at its greatest!

 

Just be leary of the synthetics, dont do like i did and cost youself a clutch job.

 

Synthetics per se shouldn't cause any clutch problem. Again, you need to stay away from the "Energy Conserving" oils.

I will say this about the 20w50. I start my riding early and end late. Below 50 deg the bike needs to run a long time before the clutch will release well.

I think this fall I might go with 15w40 and leave it in until we get the spring warm up.

 

WHat is the actual total capacity for a 83 Maxim 750?

Thanks guys, I am learning a bunch about my sweet new to me bike!

Rich

 

Total capacity is molded into the top of the transmission case above the oil fill.

That capacity is for a bone dry engine with filter change, you will use less.

On the center stand, fill until the oil level window (which is down low, just ahead of the clutch) is almost full. Then run for a few minutes to fill the filter. Let bike sit for a few for oil to drain back down. Again fill until the window is almost filled.

You always want just a little bubble at the top of the glass. If the bubble goes away then you know you've had gasoline drain in there and we need to talk about that. If it goes down top it up.

Check every day before you ride.

If you look in that little window and only see black or only see your reflection it is overfilled.

 

I use 15w-40 Rotella T because its ~$9 for a gallon

 

I use MotoMaster Formula1, 10W40. Goes on sale every now and then, So I pick up lots. Not that expensive!
Mac

 

Just a little food for thought:
The Air cooled VW guys say that synthetic oil transfers heat better than dyno oil, which allows it to do a better job of circulating the heat away from the engine parts, as the oil also helps cool the engine.... Maybe not quite as much on bikes without an external oil cooler, but it does help. Also hence the cooling vanes on the oil filter housing.

 

I just installed Castrol GTX 20w50. Gallon jugs of motor oil is one of the few things I'm willing to purchase at Wal-mart.

 

Probably is true(I realy dont know, nor want to argue the point)
But putting in Synthetic into an older, more worn engine is not a great idea.
The oil slips past rings and such and doesnt do its optimum job. Even possible DAMAGING the engine.
So you realy must weight the options.
Both CAN be done, but which is better is a whole big new can of worms.

My .02 is that dino is better suited to our old bikes. Or even try a blend....?

 

BS detector is going off on that one.

Dino oil contains polymer molecules of varying lengths.

Synthetic oil was originally manufactured of individual monomers (cracked from dino oil) to achieve polymers of uniform length.

One of the big oil companies developed a technique in the 90s to refine uniform length molecules directly from the dino oil and labeled it synthetic (I don't remember which one). They marketed the oil as synthetic and were sued by a competitor and won. The court ruled that if the molecules are identical to the manufactured ones in synthetics then it is truly a synthetic.

All of the synthetic oils are directly refined now.

The advantage of the uniform molecule length is that you can get a consistent viscosity over broader temperature ranges than you can with the standard mixture.

A 10w40 oil is a 10 weight oil with additives to give it the viscosity of 40 weight oil at high temperature. The additive molecules don't hold up, so it becomes a 10w30 then a 10w20 then a 10 over time.

The synthetic 15w40 has no additives. It won't break down and stays a 15w40 lubricant. Same holds true for the synthetic 20w50 and all the other synthetics.

 

We are talking about a water cooled Maxim X, correct ?

Check this link out if indeed it's an X, if not never mind. So far the 10w40 seems work well in cooler temps of fall, winter, spring of southern Michigan. I may try the 20W50 by the end of June, not certain. 20w40 is what's called for and I've only found that at the dealership and for the price you midas well purchase Amsoil full syn.

Maxim X Web Page

Harald has good info and great ideas on fixes for the Maxim X. We've chatted in the past and he's been helpful. Not that I'd forget to mention MiCarl and RickCoMatic who have helped me get my X running smooth.

 

yeah I was talking about the water cooled. I figured the air cooled would need a heavier weight because it would run hotter than the water cooled. but he said they run the same thing.

 

I used to use Yamalube 20W-40 until thet quit making it. The last oil change I used Yamalube 20W-50, but during my trip to Napa today I noticed Valvoline started making a 20W-50 oil for 4-stroke motorcycles. I think I'm going to give it a try next oil change. I've always had good luck with Valvoline, and it's half the price of Yamalube.

 

I just picked up that one looked pretty good

 

I am running 20w50 from valvoil is that fine? says it is for wet clutches

 

I have started using Rotella 15-40 W. The bike seems to like it and the clutch certainly works better than it ever has. I will try the synth 5-40 W when I can find it. Up here I've only seen it in 0-40 W which will work.

One thing people tend to forget about is as the oil thickens it may not be able to flow where it is needed. I always follow the manufactures upper range recommendation as to the weight range of oil/verses temperature to figure out what weight of oil to use.

 

I ran Shell Rotella T 15w-40 diesel oil until my last oil change when I switched to Quaker State 20w-50 High RPM. Seca loves 'em both!

 

I use Mobil 20w50 V-Twin

That ok?

 

I was doing some valve work today, and while I was digging around, I noticed a little bit of galling on the cam lobes. The wear appears to be relatively minor at this point, but the bike only has 10K on it, and I'm not sure I like the trend.
Bearing in mind that I'm riding a wet-clutch bike, is synthetic oil the magic cure for this problem? I ride year-round, and I don't mind changing grades as the seasons dictate, but I'd feel better knowing I was doing the best I can to protect my engine and transmission at all times. Rick? Anybody?

 

Since 1980, I have pretty much always run Castrol 20w/50 in all of my bikes and most of my cars (older, higher mileage cars).

If it's a really cold winter here (in South Carolina that isn't very often), then I run Castrol 10w/40.

I tried Mobil synthetic a while back for a while, but I didn't like it. Seemed my engine was noisier and, believe it or not, it didn't seem to shift as well to me. But maybe that doesn't make any sense to anyone else.

Rusty

 

I just got an '80 XJ650 That I'm about to do the second oil change in under a mile. Previous owner said he got it from someone who said it sat for a while in a barn. Told me he did an oil/filter change before startup then again after 1000 miles and that the oil/filter in it when sold to me had under 1000 miles on it.

So, I decided to do just an oil change since I am new to riding and will be doing very short runs for a while. I just wanted to "clean it out" a bit.

I used Valvoline 10w40 motorcycle oil that I bought at Auto Zone. No filter change. Emptied and re-filled. Cranked the bike and went around the parking lot twice. The site glass turned pitch black.

So, I went today and bought a filter. While in the bike shop the counterman asked me if I wanted oil and I said yes. He brought me 3 quarts of Castrol 20w50.

Looking at the bottle it says it has "Advanced anti-wear" additives. Is this the "stuff" that's bad for wet clutches?

I use Castrol 20w50 in all of my Air Cooled Volkswagens. Best thing since buttered bread. But I'll go looking for motorcycle specific oil if I need to. Maybe I can find some Castrol 4T.

Synthetics run thinner at high temps and leak past rings and metal-to-metal mating surfaces. Putting synthetic into an older air cooled engine is not a good idea. If you want to switch to synthetic do it after a complete teardown/rebuild.

 

I am using Lucas 20W50 and my 82 750 Maxim seems to like it. It has been a cool summer so far here in MN so it takes about 5 miles to warm up though.

 

Almost forgot, the goldwing seemed to like the Lucas oil as well although I didn't get to ride it much as I am in the middle of a carb overhaul (1st time). The PO left it out for the winter and didn't prep it very well so I am trying to solve a stickky throttle (only at higher RPM's and stalls if I try to let it idle). Goes down the highway smooth as silk except for when I shift gears when the throttle sticks.

 

Welcome phorce1, the Castrol anti-wear additives package is not a problem. It is the API badge that says "Energy Conserving" that you need to worry about. And the GTX 20/50 doesn't have it. Neither does their motorcycle oil.

 

That's complete BS. :roll: A 10w-40 synthetic has a viscosity of 40 weight at high temperatures just like 10w-40 conventional oil at the same temperature. If it ran thinner it would be labeled as a lower viscosity oil.

The only real difference between synthetic and conventional oil is that synthetic lasts longer before it starts to break down.

If you change your oil at regular intervals, use whatever non-energy conserving oil makes you happy - conventional or synthetic.

If you want to go longer between oil changes (which I don't recommend) a synthetic is your best choice.

I use Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10w40 in both bikes because it makes me happy.

 

I visited the local Yamaha Dealership and discussed Oils with the lead Tech.

Yamaha is now recommending 20W/40 in the early machines as opposed to the 20W/50 that was recommended in years gone by.

Synthetics indicating approval for use with Motorcycle Clutches are also recommended.

Where 20W/40 is not available ... 10W/40 is the recommended alternative.