what oil do you use

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.